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CWE native DJs, remixes and performs with Seal
(by Jeff Fister - May 28, 2008)
In January, Central West End native Josh Harris found himself playing keyboards onstage in Las Vegas with one of his musical idols — someone so famous, he’s known by just one name: Seal.
“It’s been an incredible experience,” Harris said. “I’ve been a fan of his for a long time and now I’m actually playing with him!”
Harris was hired late last year to play keyboards in the British R&B singer’s band. Seal is known for his hits “Crazy” and the Grammy-award-winning song “Kiss from a Rose.” Seal called Harris last fall because of Harris’ work as a music remixer and producer. One thing led to another, and Seal asked him to join the band.Harris grew up in the CWE, attended New City School and graduated from John Burroughs high school in 1989. After graduating from Lawrence University in Wisconsin with a major in music, he lived in Chicago and Nashville, and worked as a keyboard and piano player in several bands.
But he always had an interest in recorded music and began a varied musical career as a producer, a dance-club DJ and a remixer. Harris explained the different roles this way: Producers are like movie directors, overseeing all aspects of a recording sometimes playing musical parts himself. DJs — who once just “spun” records at a club — now need to be entertainers themselves, shaping a song list to a particular crowd. Remixers are a specialty kind of producer who take an artist’s original recording and mix it with new beats and music to create a new version of the song.
In 2001, Harris had enough business to quit regular band gigs and to produce full time. He set up a home in Newmarket, N.H., and a nearby studio in Dover. Harris chose the location because it’s between New York City and Boston.
He’s been twice nominated for “Remixer of the Year” by the International Dance Music Association, a trade group, and has remixed more than 100 songs for artists including the Killers, Korn, Madonna, Cher and the Backstreet Boys.
The way it works, he said, is that music labels contact numerous producers like Harris and ask them to remix an artist’s song. The label then chooses just a few versions of the remixed song and releases it to radio stations and DJs.
Harris said that his particular remix style features rock guitar and keyboards, while most remixers favor adding new beats. He said he grew up listening to classic rock bands like Yes, Asia and Electric Light Orchestra and liked their use of synthesizers.
“It helps me that I’m also a classically trained musician,” Harris said. “I often play the new parts myself that I add to a song.”
It was this mix of experience, he said, that led to his job with Seal. Harris said he did a remix of Seal’s song, “The Right Life,” and Seal liked it so much he called Harris.
“It was totally out of the blue, I got a call on my cell phone and this guy is talking to me,” he said. “It took like 10 minutes before I realized who it was.”
Harris said Seal eventually asked if Harris was a musician. When Harris said he played keyboards, Seal asked if he’d like to audition for his band. “’Sure,’ I told him,” said Harris, who figured he could also keep working as a producer between gigs. “It was the right decision. The chance to play with a world-class musician will help the rest of my career.”
They practiced in Seal’s living room in Beverly Hills, Harris said. “It was almost completely unplugged, I played piano and Seal walked around barefoot playing guitar and singing,” Harris said. Joining them was guitar player Mark Summerlin.
Harris said that depending on the event or the venue, Seal uses different sizes of backup bands. Harris has been playing with just Seal and Summerlin, doing private or “corporate” shows. His first show was Jan. 19 in Las Vegas for the grand opening of the Palazzo Hotel before 5,000 people. “Nervous? Sure I was, but my years of playing in other bands helped out.”
Harris also uses his knowledge as a producer for Seal, sometimes coordinating computer-generated sounds and backing tracks that are played during shows. “Seal likes to recreate the songs people are used to hearing on his CDs, so like most bands, he adds pre-recorded music to his live shows,” Harris said.
According to Harris, Seal is a nice guy who’s not pretentious or ego-driven. “He’s not really a classic bandleader like Sting, but he sets the direction for the practice or the show. He also allows backing players to be creative and to add their own ideas.”
In between shows with Seal, Harris continues to produce. While he does have a studio, most of his work is done on his laptop. “The internet has made it possible to do a lot of this work anywhere,” he said. “Musicians can e-mail me their parts and I can put them into the song without having to be in the same room. I can then send the finished product to the music label from my computer.” The studio is still necessary for Harris to play his own parts and occasionally others will record there, but “being able to work on a computer makes it possible for me to do shows with Seal.”
Harris said he’s been enjoying the luxury of playing with someone at Seal’s level. Exotic locations, private planes, well-organized tours … it’s a long way from playing in a blues band in Nashville. He recently returned from a resort in Cancun, where Seal played.
Harris said he’s not sure where things will lead with Seal. In addition to doing the shows, he hopes that he might be asked to produce new music for him. But since Seal takes long breaks between albums — he’s only released five since 1991 — Harris is not sure what might happen.
He said he wouldn’t mind a DJ job in St. Louis, but in the meantime, he’ll keep producing music and wait for the next call.
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