RS: So what are you working on these days mix-wise?
Josh Harris: I'm finishing up my work on Rachel Panay's album. I'm
not doing the whole album but I'm producing the majority of it. I'm
going to try to go after doing for some remixing for more rock bands.
I'm going to be taking on management soon and we're going to sort of
shift gear and go after some high profile rock bands and getting
remixes done for them.
RS: How long did it take you to put the compilation together?
Josh Harris: I worked on it over several months. It was a pretty
intense undertaking because I was trying to envision a compilation
album without having all the tracks done first. The exclusive tracks
were done towards the end of sort of picking out a set list. So I
kind of knew what I wanted to do with some of these exclusive remixes,
but they weren't totally finished. I basically worked a lot of like
last September, October and November on getting it together and then
licensing the tracks took a little while with all that paperwork and
back and forth. It was several months.
RS: Did you mix the CD live?
Josh Harris: I did mix it in Ableton and the reason that I chose
Ableton was that I knew that I was going to have to go back and
probably recall it and make some changes. I didn't want to have to
physically DJ the same set over and over and over for the label to
approve it and what-not, and then just become very uninspired by the
whole thing. When I did my first draft of it, it was too long, so I
had to go back in and shave-out time. I mean initially the CD was
eighty minutes long and we needed to get it down to under seventy-five
minutes. So I had to go back to cut out intros and get in to records
a little bit earlier than maybe I had initially wanted to, but that's
just part of putting a compilation together and trying to fit thirteen
songs on it.
RS: Of all the mixes you've done up till now what's been the
most challenging?
Josh Harris: That's a good question. I'd have to say probably one
of the harder remixes that I had to do was actually a couple of years
ago was the "Exodus" remix for Utada. The reason that was challenging
was that it was a weird time stretch and we weren't going to be able
to have her re-sing the vocal, so it just presented a tough situation
for trying to get vocals that were sped up twenty to twenty-five beats
per minute to sound decent and fit them into a remix context. It
sounded good and believable and I'd say that from like just a vocal
treatment standpoint, that was probably one of the more challenging
records that I had to work on. Probably more recently now, I'd say
the "Too Little Too Late" remix for JoJo. That was difficult too
because I had to slow it down and do a double time on it. I had to go
in and deal with cleaning up some of the phrasing so that it didn't
feel like it was dragging too much. Usually when remixes are
difficult it's because of the vocals and trying to get them to fit and
sound believable.
RS: Is it harder to remix a rock band?
Josh Harris: Usually in the rock world they're skeptical of remixes
to begin with. They don't like dance mixes and they're afraid that
it's going to kill the integrity of their song and give the band a bad
image. So management listens, the band listens and the label listens.
So I'd say that for doing remixes of a rock band, I think there's a
few more layers to get through as opposed to if you were doing a pop
or R&B remix where it's expected and it's pretty much done for all the
big records that are out there. You have to win the rock audience
over a little bit with dance remixes.
RS: What's been the most interesting response you've had about
your remix from the rock crowd?
Josh Harris: I would have to say the "Somebody Told Me" remix I did
for the Killers. That still is probably one of my bigger remixes that
I've done. It just was one of those things that came together at the
last minute and the band liked it and it really had a fresh sound when
it came out. To this day I get a lot of people complimenting me on
it, telling me they play it and it still seems to have a pretty good
life out there in the clubs.
RS: I think you were robbed of a Grammy nomination for that.
Josh Harris: You know why I didn't get one? I didn't submit it and
neither did the label. I think I would have gotten a nomination if
that would have been turned in, but oh well, what are you going to do?
RS: A lesson for everyone. So what would you like to say to all
your fans out there?
Josh Harris: Thanks for all the continued support. Look for me on
the DJ circuit and definitely go and check out the album.
