FADER Mix: Danny L Harle
Brace yourself for an EDM-pop assault from the PC Music hitmaker.
PC Music producer Danny L Harle's "Broken Flowers" is a smash hit in a parallel universe. With its sweet-toothed refrain scattered over a skippy, dancefloor-ready beat, it's reminiscent of the kind of female-fronted dance-pop hits that would go to number one in the U.K. in the early '00s, like garage duo Sweet Female Attitude's "Flowers" or Rui Da Silva's "Touch Me." Recently re-released on major label Columbia, the nostalgic yet uncannily new single has a footing in the real-world industry. But if you take a listen to its B-side, you realize it's rooted in something far weirder. On the self-remix "Awake For Hours," the classically trained and detail-obsessed Harle puts his foot on the accelerator and blasts the same track into outer space, all unsteady bass throbs and trance synths that should come with a strobe warning.
It's a similar warning that should be issued before you take a listen to the London-based producer's new FADER Mix. As much as it's hilarious—packed with garbled SFX, air-punching moments, and a tag announcing "Huge Danny"—it's also a full-throttle journey through trance, nightcore, and general high-speed, bent-out-of-shape pop, hitting a peak with a chest-bursting remix of Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball." Proceed with caution—and find out which pop stars Harle dreams of working with IRL in our interview below.
Where are you right now? Please describe your surroundings.
Lying in my bed working at my computer with my cat Luna sleeping on my chest.
Tell us a bit about this mix. What are you hoping people will do while listening to it?
I’ll be happy if people get enjoyment from it, however that manifests itself.
What makes the perfect pop song?
I can’t get enough of "Kiss From A Rose" by Seal. It’s got such an organic structure but it’s also totally bonkers, the verses kind of act like choruses, I can’t get over it. Recently I was in a tiny bar in Tokyo with my girlfriend and the drunk bartender accidentally put it on loop, it was one of my favourite nights ever.
Which pop stars would be your dream to write/produce for?
Ariana Grande, MC Finchy, Grimes, Nicki Minaj.
Any dream collaborations in the pipeline?
Yes but I can’t tell you.
What's your earliest musical memory?
Uncontrollably laughing during my Dad’s performance of "Panic" by Harrison Birtwistle at the last night of the Proms in 1995, it was very embarrassing for my mum. "Panic" is now one of my favourite pieces.
And finally, what's your favourite dish to cook and how do you make it?
I'm really good at cooking rice.
Tracklist:
Dan C, Jason Brown, Scoot MC Kookie & Steal 3, Excerpt from ‘Masters Of The Northern Sound’
Nightcore, "Be My Dream"
S3rl, "MTC"
Danny L Harle, "18ECKING 8ALL"
Alexei Rybnikov & Dmitry Rybnikov, "Storm"
Sound Rush, "Frozen"
Krome & Time, "This Sound Is For The Underground"
Prodigy, "Crazy Man"
Spongebob Squarewave, "Fly Swatter"
Dux Content, "HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?"
DJ Striden/DJ Harmonics, "Hamster Dance Remix"
Refuzion, "Without You"
Andy Vilo VS Trinity X, "Forever"
Danny L Harle, "B2"