Interview with:Dale Harris [daleharris]
MUSIC
 | What do you do? What is your musical specialty? I am primarily a classical guitarist and perform the standard repertoire like many others. Moreover, I have recently been performing many of own transcriptions of music that I feel should be heard on the guitar: examples of this include Robert Schumann's piano work 'Kinderszenen' and Richard Wagner's orchestral preludes from 'Tristan And Isolde'. Other styles of music such as jazz or rock and pop are important to me but they are by no means a specialty. |
| Do you work alone or in a group? If in a group, who are the others you work with? I prefer to work alone, yes. A solo musician must be prepared to spend many long hours developing an array of skills such as physical and mental preparation, repertoire, and also the hard slog of self-promotion via the internet and other sources of publicity. For me, the whole solo thing would fall apart if I was to just 'perform'. Others need to know that you exist that's for certain!
That said, I do enjoy being able to communicate with others. So I have been developing links with other musicians. I find it refreshing to play with the very talented guitarist-singer and songwriter, Albert Nuijten. We often play together in Spain. Albert and I try to help each other improve our guitar playing and we also to help each other learn to play in a relaxed manner. That is, we help each other in order to avoid aggravating our guitar-related physical injuries."Ater in 2012 I get to play with master-guitarist Roland Chadwick where we'll be playing mostly 19th Century duos. Roland and I perform together at the annual UK Guitar Fest at South Hill Park Arts Centre. If it wasn't for such collaborations, I wouldn't get to enjoy the 'real' guitar repertoire. By that, it's not just the Segovia classical legacy but the Hendrix or Django Reinhardt legacies that are equally valid, to me at least. |
| Is there a web address where one can listen, see, or read some of your work? That's simple! Go to my website: http://www.dale-harris.co.uk
All the links are there: youtube, mp3's, cd releases, biography, tour dates, even a 'twitter' if you enjoy that sort of thing! |
| Please list discography in which you have participated. My main releases have been:
1. ESPIRITU DE LA GUITARRA (Dale Harris, solo guitar, CMZ 001)
2. DARK TALES (Dale Harris & Jez Henderson, CMZ 002)
3. REVERIE ON A HILL (Dale Harris, solo guitar, CMZ 003)
Espiritu and Reverie were both traditional classical type affairs. However, Dark Tales is really a kind of Spanish-Jazz fusion where I experiment with a range of traditional and entirely new sounds including a midi-synth triggered electric guitar and sitar sounding steel-stringed acoustic guitars (strung with the thinnest strings known to man in order to facilitate micro-tonal string bends).
Incidentally, I did some work via the brilliant producer Pat Collier (of Katrina And The Waves 'I'm Walking On Sunshine' fame) where I played electric and acoustic guitar on several tracks on a CD in the early 1990's by a defunct band called 'Pretty Blue Gun'. I was ripped off by the company and band and I will never see my royalty cut from this project. This is partly why I like working alone as there are some unsavory characters in the music industry! |
| How did you begin making music? Who introduced you? Well, it was my father who had guitars around the house so it was him and his record collection of guitar music that did it for me! I had access to a spanish guitar, plus a Les Paul electric guitar and amps at the age of about 4 years, or maybe even earlier. I just loved the shape and sound of the guitar. We had an old record deck, and I played 45's or 33's of Segovia playing Bach, Mozart symphonies, The Shadows, Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed, The Beatles 'Revolver' album, etc. Great memories! My father taught me a few chords and some simple melodies. He was really a skiffle or rock n roll player in those days. |
| What was your musical education? My formal musical education includes a first class B.A.(Hon) degree (1995-98), an M.A. in music performance (1998-99), a PhD (1999-2004). There was also a two-year music foundation/diploma course I took when I left school. My guitar teachers have included Jeff Alexander, John Mills, John Myhill and Grahame Klippel. |
| When do you have your most lucid moments, in the morning or night? They can be at any time of the day! It's ideal for them to be in the morning as that's when you can make the biggest stride, rather than start late and spend the rest of the time 'catching-up'. It's when with musical friends on a late night that some really magical things can happen though. I love jamming out anything and going on to the small hours sometimes if work commitments allow the lie in the next day! |
| How do you know when a song is finished or needs no more changes? When I feel I can live with it. It is sometimes important to let go and put it out there, even if it is not exactly perfect. There's a point though when you think something might ruin your career if you release some thing that is half completed in which case it's back to the drawing board. |
| What part of your job is your least favourite? It has to be the endless administration, record keeping, tax requirements. I run a Limited company and the red-tape imposed by the UK government is most discouraging! |
| How often do you practice? Every day ideally, but the muscles don't always allow me this luxury. Tendinitis and such injuries can creep up on you if you don't listen to your body and take a break, as I have found at least once a decade to my peril. Archimedes wife advocated taking a bath before the eureka(!) moment so a break can be good too! |
| How do you feel right before going out on stage? Good. It's what I live for really. I cannot do without it, I want more of it! Being under-prepared isn't good though, but I'll still put myself through that very experience just for the challenge of seeing how I'll cope. The whole music business is a test of character. The better you know oneself the better you'll cope. Some people call this selfish. Quite the contrary I think, it's part of knowing who you are and what you can do. A bit like being an explorer of the north pole. You'll be dead if you don't understand your own limitations. And that's true for music! |
| Which musicians or groups have been inspiring to your career? John McLaughlin the jazz-fusion guitarist, John Williams the classical guitarist. I told myself when I was younger: if they can do it, then so can I. Nothing is impossible. The Beatles, which many find hard to believe. However, I admire such creations in popular culture: Sgt. Pepper, Revolver, Rubber Soul. What great albums they are! Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Django, Joe Pass. I could go on.
I also find inspiration in sportsmen such as the great Formula 1 driver Ayrton Senna - what a great driver, quick-minded, fast, with the dexterity and awe of a Segovia! Steve Davis snooker dominance of the 1980's was truly remarkable and a big inspiration to me. |
| List three songs that are key to your life. 1. Rodrigo's Concierto De Aranjuez
2. The Beatles: A Day In The Life
3. Myers: Cavatina |
| What should be done to stop piracy? I agree with the stance taken by Derek Sivers, the man who founded cdbaby.com. Derek argues that for every hour dealing with piracy you might have well spent the time creating new products or developing the assets that you already have. I know this view isn't politically correct but he has a valid point. Some people will always commit crime, no matter the consequence. But that is a matter for the police, not musicians. The piracy argument is one spouted by large corporations. So lets leave the major record labels spending their time trailing pirates. That gives us independents a chance to catch them up! |
| What type of music do you detest? One mans sugar is another mans salt. But I need some salt in my life. There's nothing wrong with a bit of anguish is there? |
| What time did you get up this morning? Late for me. 9:30 am. That's two and a half hours beyond my target! I had a late night rehearsal so there's no point getting up early and being tired all day. |
| What other things have you done to make a living? I've worked in dog kennels, casino, office data-inputting or filing, basic accountancy, kitchen work that often involved vegetable preparation or washing up, cleaning in the local airport, security guard. Too many to name here! |
| Have you ever played on the street or in the subway? How much did you collect each day? I've played in the subway for fun, not money - but only if I needed the extra practice! |
| Who would you play with, without a doubt? This'll be a long one! John Williams, John McLaughlin, John Etheridge, Paco Pena, Paul McCartney, Sting, The Cardiacs, James Galway, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Richie Blackmore, Jeff Beck, Yngwie Malmsteen, any of the Zappa family, even Ringo Starr! If any good orchestra is out there, please, please pick me! |
| What advice would you give to someone starting out in the business? Ask questions. Get yourself involved with every aspect of your industry. For me it meant sitting in on music sound production sessions with a BBC radio producer, playing anything from rock, pop, country (I toured with the Lorne Gibson Trio, a country music outfit for a few years), Indian classical, avant-garde, punk, metal, etc. Learn web-design, network like mad, go to gigs and make new acquaintances. Educate yourself. Go to University. Try to go beyond just being on a music course: jump through their hoops and set your own at the same time!
Be prepared to give it 110%!! |
| 
820 visits Whohub
Dale Harris
Shepperton-England
|
95592 interviews created
![[daleharris] Dale Harris](http://www.whohub.com/_pics/8688.jpg?1337207052)
INVITE YOUR FRIENDS