Featuring this week’s Guest Mix is Ross Harper along with compelling tracks that show his support for Ukraine’s crises. With Ross Harper’s music, his pieces bring about the emotions of psychedelia that will draw and hook listeners in.
Ross compares his music to Wiliam Gibson’s literature works, particularly ‘The Sprawl Trilogy’, a science-fiction piece. Just like Gibson’s works, Ross finds that his music also creates the same feeling of exploration that takes a listener away.
But Ross’s attachment to techno and electronic music is also traced beyond books and authors, another story to Ross’s interest in techno is one that reaches deeper into his past. Ross explains, “I’ve had an unswerving devotion to electronic music ever since my drug-induced baptism in the 90s London rave scene, this resulted in an intense 5 years of studying music production to get under the skin of the music. After graduating I’ve spent years delving deeper and deeper into production, as such there is now a huge body of unreleased work which is just starting to see the light of day. The talent has not gone unnoticed with DJ support from Martin L Gore (lead songwriter for Depeche Mode), Nemone on BBC Radio 6 Music, and Laurent Garnier.”
I’ve had an unswerving devotion to electronic music ever since my drug-induced baptism in the 90s London rave scene, this resulted in an intense 5 years of studying music production to get under the skin of the music.
Ross Harper
As with every mix, there is always a musical influence from other artists. For Ross, the influence for the Guest Mix and for his own tracks have been Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Portishead, Morcheeba, and everything 90s rave. Growing up in a single-parent household, Ross’s greatest influence on them all is his mother. These influences have shaped him to be the current label owner of ‘City Wall Records‘, a label that has seen over 100 releases and garnered support from many A-List DJs including Dubfire, Laurent Garnier, Danny Tenaglia, and Dave Clarke to name a few.
Another influence behind this week’s Guest Mix has been Ukraine, and the ongoing crises it is facing currently. Many amazing techno artists and tracks have hailed from Ukraine, and Ross found it befitting to share tracks that will not only bring awareness to the crises but to express the unity that Ukraine has shared worldwide, musically.
He shares, “As with everyone the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has deeply disturbed me. So I took this opportunity provided by 6AM to voice my heart about how I feel. And although I don’t often play rock music in my DJ sets, as a 90s kid I was exposed to so much incredible music that seemed to pour from that generation, and it all stays with me to this day. and sometimes it all just comes out. When I was 14 years old I used to go to Grunge and Indie nights at the Camden Palace (I grew up in North London), of course, that thread of music soon got taken over by the likes of Prodigy and Orbital and ultimately rave. In my sets and my productions, the grunge influence is there, hidden in the distortion. This one is for Ukraine, whom I love.”
When I was 14 years old I used to go to Grunge and Indie nights at the Camden Palace (I grew up in North London), of course, that thread of music soon got taken over by the likes of Prodigy and Orbital and ultimately rave. In my sets and my productions, the grunge influence is there, hidden in the distortion. This one is for Ukraine, whom I love.
Ross Harper