TF Archives

Technova's David Harrow on Leaving Tottenham For LA: I'm Happier Than Ever

Author: Jonty Skrufff
Sunday, May 9, 2004
"I know it sounds odd but I feel safer here than I ever did in London, though maybe that's because I'm heavily armed. I was always so tense when I lived in the UK and ready for road rage, whereas living here I am so mellow. It's all about chill-axing (chilling and relaxing- slang Ed."

12 months after he quit North London's mean streets for the boulevards of California, electro pioneer type David Harrow has embraced the LA lifestyle to the full, driving an SUV (as in off road gas guzzling monster car) and owning a gun.

"Just a nice understated Smith and Wesson police special, a semi-automatic silver grey gun that holds eleven shots, with a smooth action and little or no recoil," he points out.

"I score a respectable 2 inch grouping on a 75 yard firing range when I go target shooting."

He's also relocated his London studio lock, stock and barrel and has already recorded a new album Electrosexual, a so-mo techno trash album (as his PRs put it) featuring guest vocal contributions from local drag superstar Vaginal Davis (an old mate from back in the day). Though he insists its title is just a play on words, the album's certainly camp enough to qualify as metrosexual and electro-pop enough to fall under the electroclash term, which is cool, since 20 years ago, he started his career as a bona fide pop star in Germany, making electro music to back Anne Clark's poetry. While his intervening years included stints with Jah Wobble, Psychic TV and Adrian Sherwood's On U System, he's about to collaborate with Clarke again, after years spent completely apart.

"Being honest, when I first agreed, I wasn't exactly looking forward to the shows, but then I started working with a programme called LIVE and now I can't wait because the music sounds so much better than the originals I recorded in the 80s," said David.

"Now if we can only bear being in the same room as each other then things will be great."

Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): What's with the Anne Clark reunion; why have you decided to do it now-


David Harrow: " For many, many reasons; the main one being that 'they' are offering me way too much money to turn down. The other principal reason is because it's now possible to do all the old material from the eighties and really do it justice just using a laptop and a few choice applications. On a side note, Anne was the first person I knew than was seriously into hardcore pornography, I used to spend hours guarding the doors to video cabins when we were on tour in Germany."

Skrufff: How's your new studio working out in LA-
David Harrow: " It couldn't be better, actually. l I just finished the first in a series of remix albums of old jazz recordings of Billie Holiday, Marylin Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald and before I start the next series which features Leadbelly and Louis Prima, I'm scoring the sequel to Sex Lives In LA, an art documentary about street hustlers on Santa Monica Boulevard. I love the challenge of scoring film music, and have also been providing music for TV shows such as Las Vegas and Miss Match."

Skrufff: DJ Hell's got Amanda Lapore as his icon, whereas you've got Vaginal Davis as your new guest star: what is it about transvestites and transexuals that you find interesting, are they back in vogue-

David Harrow: "I've got Vaginal-- sounds catching. Don't you know- You simply must have your own drag queen nowadays. Although strictly speaking, we like to call her Miss Davis, or Vadge. It's pronounced VAG-inal by the way, with the emphasise being on Vadge, not vaGIN (e)- al. She used to be called Miss Vaginal Cream Davis but she's cut out the dairy nowadays. What could be more interesting than a tiny white girl trapped in the body of a 7foot tall 300 pound negress-"

Skrufff: Does she take orders in the studio easily-

David Harrow: "Miss D is the consummate professional, she's a seasoned performer who recorded most of her vocals in one take. H
Tags