Rupert Harvey could be a perfect name for a comicbook character. A combination of two iconic comic personages: Rupert the bear and Harvey Dent aka two-face. A lot of classic comic history in the mix with one of Batman’s most intriguing enemies. But what if you combine those elements into a DJ and producer? One who has travelled already a long journey through music and then flips his coin to decide what he’s going to do.
Rupert Harvey was born in a musical family. Rockabilly, blues and all the good music people made in the 60’s were never far away. When puberty kicked in he discovered hiphop. Icons like the Wu Tang, Dre, De La Soul and Biggie formed the base of his still growing oldskool vinyl hiphop collection. He shares this passion for urban music with Loco Dice. One of his personal favorites who started as a hiphop dj. His brother in law, the in Ibiza based Antony Nardella, introduced him to deejaying with the intense and pure techno from artists like The Advent, Jeff Mills and Chris Liebing. The first vinyl Rupert bought was ‘Watch It’ by Robert Armani. Harvey set his first steps in Belgian clubscene at the iconic Cherry Moon where he discovered music we now call retro. Artists like Speedy J, Green Velvet and Laurent Garnier filled his recordbag. When Cherry Moon closed, it left a black hole. Hardtechno took that place in his life and in his sets after Manu Kenton’s legendary birthdayparty in Lagoa with Marco Remus.His girlfriend tried getting him into the new minimalsound. But that gap in BPM was just a little too big. He bridged the gap between hardtechno and minimal with artists like Carl Cox and Dave Clarke. But it was Tom Dazing’s set at Forest Festival that convinced him he could combine the classics in his recordbag with the new sound. Rupert Harvey found his sound and Tecnum saw that it was a unique combination. He gave him a residency at his travelling party Djingel Djangel. It took him from the decks in his room to venues like Nijdrop, The Zoo and Café d’Anvers. It didn’t take long for Seba Lecompte to recognize the talent and skills of this young DJ. He booked him for Bang The Box and Minibox in Decadance.
More bookings rolled in and he became a resident at Wham! With the list of gigs growing he shared the decks with artists like Monika Kruse, Pete Howl, Lucas Caroso, Marco Carola, Hermanez, Massimo Girardi, Seba Lecompte, Onno, Dimitri Andreas, Deltano, tINI, Soren Aalberg, Stanny Franssen, Audiofly, Martin Buttrich, Simina Grigoriu, Lou Lou Players, Stereo Express, Steve Abot, Tom Hades and Tom Dazing. In 2013 he and JLN started their own party called Nachtwacht, they already booked some big names like Darius Syrossian, Sidney Charles, Ramon Tapia, ... .
Rupert Harvey today is a mix of 10 years discovering music in different genres and combining all their best elements. A Rupert Harvey set combines a tight running bass that never stops nor trembles. A little hint of retro here and there to spice up the smooth sound of minimal and techhouse. And not to forget a good vocal to tribute his love for hiphop. He flips his records like two-face flips his coin. The classics, the retro and the harder tracks on one side, the new things from labels like Desolat, Saved Records, Aella, Monique musique, Inmotion, Moon harbour, Suara, Kiara records and Viva music on the other.
Music has been Rupert Harvey’s passion for many years. When he wasn’t mixing he was juggling with beats in fruityloops. He took a class in Ableton because he wanted to take producing more serious. Harvey started working in the studio with former recordshop owner Crack and Crunch who showed him how to juggle all the beats into a song. They released a remix together for punk’id records begin 2013. In the summer of 2013 released 'the other side' on Hit By A Truck Records which was hammered by Richie hawtin. And this is just the beginning...