Harris Cole is sheepish about his music and uncertain about his management?•but at 18-years old, wouldn't you be to? The young producer from Chicago is still figuring things out, and despite a successful EP release and a co-owner stamp on Blvnt Records, he's humble as hell about things.It was while treading through the thick brush of SoundCloud that I stumbled upon Harris Cole. Each of his tracks teem with a luscious, velvet sound that would flatter any lone stone session. Much of his music samples old, classic jazz and soul songs that'll perk up Grandpa's hearing aids. While others dip into a J. Dilla that pleas for chronic head nods. Each is a suave, honeyed listening experience that Harris says merely comes from "how he feels at the time." He must feel sexy, constantly.After sharing the stage with Tek-Lun and Gravez in Chicago the night prior, THUMP sat down with Harris on Skype to find out more about his musical inception, including a quaint dubstep beginning.Until then, press play on his Northmix above and see what he had to say below.THUMP: How did you find yourself producing this jazzy, soulful of electronic music?
Harris: It's funny because when I first started, I wanted to be a dubstep producer. At the time a lot of my big inspirations were people like Skrillex, Rusko and Datsik. I had thought that's what I wanted to make. But then I found Pretty Lights, who incorporates that dubstep style and some of the style I associate with now. I started trying to make sample-based, electronic stuff, while still implementing the soulful samples. I eventually found Flying Lotus and came to the conclusion that those wobbly basses and dubstep elements I had been trying to make were just tampering with an organic sound. I took a lot of inspiration from Flying Lotus. It was the fact that he was able to produce truly anything at all, really inspired me. Specifically Cosmogramma, "Intro: A Cosmic Drama" where he sampled the pianist Alice Coltrane. The song is so textured…it's an inspiration.How has living in Chicago effected the music you produce? Has the scene in Chicago influenced you in any way?
It really hasn't, unfortunately. I don't really dip into the scene very much. The thing about Chicago's scene is that it's so segregated. Everyone is doing their own thing and has their own clique. I feel like they don't work outside of their cliques very often. There's a lot of underground artists that I love, but there's a lot of music here that I straight up don't like. I just try to focus on myself and the artists I'm working with, from wherever they are. With how things have worked out, these people typically aren't from Chicago.The plus side is that this kind of environment gives me the chance to create my own opportunities. We can talk about the stand outs?•Vic Mensa and Kayne and whatever?•but they're not really affiliated with Chicago at this point because they're so international. I'm trying to create opportunities for myself and the artists that I care about without having predetermined stuff about Chicago effect it.You're a part of the Midwest Collective label. Can you tell me how you got involved with them?
I'm with them, but I don't really do much for them. They were like my stepping stone, my first affiliation. They were giving me love on Soundcloud for a while and I reached out and told them I'd love to work with them. They were totally down. Although it wasn't anything too serious, I met a lot of new people. Like Dr. Dundiff, he was one of the guys who got on board with Midwest and eventually came with my endeavor, Blvnt Records.Tell me about Blvnt Records.
It's a label myself and my co-owner Bob Rigg started. We're based in both Chicago and Detroit. He works behind the scenes mostly, while I'm more of the face of Blvnt Records. I handle social media, I constantly reach out to artists online, and try to keep things together with the day-to-day stuff. As opposed to Bob, who handles the financial stuff like setting up accounts, and handling our Bandcamp.We have about 18 artists right now, which includes CYGN from France, Ian Ewing from Milwaukie who I've made a couple tracks with. We also have artists like Fitzroy from France, who's done a lot of shit with Stwo lately.How has the response been to The High Tape release?
Crazy. I really don't get it, (laughs). Although I've received incredible feedback, it's also one of my least favourite projects. I hate it to be honest. I'm extremely self-conscious about it. It's mainly that I struggle to make really powerful music alone. Most of my music is a collaboration with someone, but I'm trying to get to the point where I don't need anyone else. That's a lot of the reason I don't like The High Tapes, because it's mostly collaborations. I've been pushing myself to make solo stuff lately, though.You're a young guy?•actually extremely young for someone in this industry. What do you think it takes for someone to stand apart as this grows into such a huge market?
You need to be genuine. That's really it. You need to be honest with yourself and with the people you work with. You need to make sure the work you're doing is representative of who you are at that time, and not what you want people to think about you. I don't really make anything that follows current trends or fads. I put out what sounds good to me at the moment. Other than that, you need to be unique in any way you can be?•which is hard?•but that comes hand in hand with being genuine. If you're genuine you're going to be unique, because that's not prevalent in this industry right now.What is in the future for you?
I'm not sure. I'm just trying to work hard, see what offers come my way, and play as many shows as possible. I mainly want to refine my sound and make it really powerful, without the help of others. But I'm still going to trying to work with more rappers and singers, like this guy SPZRKT from the show I just played. My management has a whole plan for me, but I don't know how I feel about it yet. They're trying to convince me to become a live act. So I'm trying to find a balance between what they want to do and what I want to do. You know, that sort of stuff.Harris Cole is on Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter
Blvnt Records is on Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter
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Harris: It's funny because when I first started, I wanted to be a dubstep producer. At the time a lot of my big inspirations were people like Skrillex, Rusko and Datsik. I had thought that's what I wanted to make. But then I found Pretty Lights, who incorporates that dubstep style and some of the style I associate with now. I started trying to make sample-based, electronic stuff, while still implementing the soulful samples. I eventually found Flying Lotus and came to the conclusion that those wobbly basses and dubstep elements I had been trying to make were just tampering with an organic sound. I took a lot of inspiration from Flying Lotus. It was the fact that he was able to produce truly anything at all, really inspired me. Specifically Cosmogramma, "Intro: A Cosmic Drama" where he sampled the pianist Alice Coltrane. The song is so textured…it's an inspiration.How has living in Chicago effected the music you produce? Has the scene in Chicago influenced you in any way?
It really hasn't, unfortunately. I don't really dip into the scene very much. The thing about Chicago's scene is that it's so segregated. Everyone is doing their own thing and has their own clique. I feel like they don't work outside of their cliques very often. There's a lot of underground artists that I love, but there's a lot of music here that I straight up don't like. I just try to focus on myself and the artists I'm working with, from wherever they are. With how things have worked out, these people typically aren't from Chicago.
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I'm with them, but I don't really do much for them. They were like my stepping stone, my first affiliation. They were giving me love on Soundcloud for a while and I reached out and told them I'd love to work with them. They were totally down. Although it wasn't anything too serious, I met a lot of new people. Like Dr. Dundiff, he was one of the guys who got on board with Midwest and eventually came with my endeavor, Blvnt Records.Tell me about Blvnt Records.
It's a label myself and my co-owner Bob Rigg started. We're based in both Chicago and Detroit. He works behind the scenes mostly, while I'm more of the face of Blvnt Records. I handle social media, I constantly reach out to artists online, and try to keep things together with the day-to-day stuff. As opposed to Bob, who handles the financial stuff like setting up accounts, and handling our Bandcamp.We have about 18 artists right now, which includes CYGN from France, Ian Ewing from Milwaukie who I've made a couple tracks with. We also have artists like Fitzroy from France, who's done a lot of shit with Stwo lately.How has the response been to The High Tape release?
Crazy. I really don't get it, (laughs). Although I've received incredible feedback, it's also one of my least favourite projects. I hate it to be honest. I'm extremely self-conscious about it. It's mainly that I struggle to make really powerful music alone. Most of my music is a collaboration with someone, but I'm trying to get to the point where I don't need anyone else. That's a lot of the reason I don't like The High Tapes, because it's mostly collaborations. I've been pushing myself to make solo stuff lately, though.You're a young guy?•actually extremely young for someone in this industry. What do you think it takes for someone to stand apart as this grows into such a huge market?
You need to be genuine. That's really it. You need to be honest with yourself and with the people you work with. You need to make sure the work you're doing is representative of who you are at that time, and not what you want people to think about you. I don't really make anything that follows current trends or fads. I put out what sounds good to me at the moment. Other than that, you need to be unique in any way you can be?•which is hard?•but that comes hand in hand with being genuine. If you're genuine you're going to be unique, because that's not prevalent in this industry right now.What is in the future for you?
I'm not sure. I'm just trying to work hard, see what offers come my way, and play as many shows as possible. I mainly want to refine my sound and make it really powerful, without the help of others. But I'm still going to trying to work with more rappers and singers, like this guy SPZRKT from the show I just played. My management has a whole plan for me, but I don't know how I feel about it yet. They're trying to convince me to become a live act. So I'm trying to find a balance between what they want to do and what I want to do. You know, that sort of stuff.Harris Cole is on Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter
Blvnt Records is on Soundcloud / Facebook / Twitter