Midland

Midland a.k.a Harry Agius is a revered British Techno House producer. He is admired throughout the UK by the throng of music lovers that spill out of the North to the South of the UK as well as the crowd of fans that religiously stomp across dance floors throughout Europe and beyond. He’s creating his finest music yet and ready for the uprising after his epic tour dates, which covered Australia, Europe and the UK. From the heavy, yet liquidy Drum&Bass he owned as ‘Apt Pupil’ in the beginning, to the deep Electronic and sexy House his production resonates now, his music has seamlessly flowed from style to style and beat to beat. Harry isn’t your ‘everyday’ DJ, he has a special passion and this is obvious when you see him play or you listen to his tracks. He fuses genres, ideas and goes against music traditions. BBM’s Frankie Salt catches up with her old friend Harry (Midland) Agius, to see what is on the horizon for this superstar DJ.

Hello Harry, how are you? What have you been up to over the weekend?

I’m well thanks, I played at Bloc Festival which was very sadly shut down soon after my set, then I flew to Croatia for the Garden Festival and played on the Resident Advisor Boat party and went back to back with Axel Boman which was amazing. I also played on the beach Sunday night and generally had a bit of a holiday.

So how was last year for you? What were your highlights?

It was pretty good thanks! I managed to support myself solely from music and travelled all over the place meeting cool people, playing music and eating great food. There is no specific highlight but it’s definitely been an interesting ride.

Was there a turning point during your music career so far which lead you to where you are now? Or has it been a steady progression?

I think steady progression is the key, or at least what I strive for, moving forward is all about seeing what works and taking positives from situations, good or bad. It’s always difficult to have an overall perspective of your own development and be objective about it, but really it comes down to one thing, laziness, and trying to avoid it at every cost. I reckon if I can steer clear of that vibe I will be fine.

Your music has evolved so much in the past few years, from being known as ‘Apt Pupil’ in the Leeds Drum&Bass scene, to the more house sounds you explore now; how would you describe your own music? Tell me about the transition from genre to genre…

Whenever people ask me this I always draw a blank. I would describe it as electronic music, but hopefully electronic music that adopts and incorporates some of the more live/organic elements that you’d find in acoustic/instrumental music than just straight up “dance music”.

So Harry, when you’re making a track what’s the single most important factor when it comes to the end result?

Arrangement. How the track builds, and where it goes is, for me, the single most important thing that I think about when building something.

How do you choose a track to remix? We have recently been chatting to the 2Bears here at BBM, what made you remix their track ‘Church’?

I bumped in to Raff (1 bear) at Fabric. He is married to my brothers best mate Rosie, anyway we got chatting, turns out we were both fans of each others music, so he sort of asked me in our drunken state if I wanted to remix one of the tracks, to which I instantly replied yes and so I worked on Church, which I had heard just before we met. The wonders of iPhones meant he sent the parts to me there and then, and I woke up and started working on it the next day.

Do you have an all-time personal, favourite classic?

Again it’s a tough question, but for sheer blissful sonic escapism you can’t really go wrong with ‘Carl Craig – It’s A Wonderful Life’.

You’ve been playing to the crowds for a few years now and it seems like forever ago we all came to see you play for the first time at Metropolis, Leeds. Do you have a favourite moment from a gig?

Now, that is a hard question, singling out one moment from a gig is always tough but I played ‘The Rapture – How Deep is Your Love’ at the end of a 5 hour set in Melbourne a few months ago and there were many smiles…

What tune is your most played track on your iPod?

I think that would have to be ‘Protection – by Massive Attack’.

What has been your favourite moment thus far this year?

I’d say it was probably the boat with Axel, that or a 5-hour set in Melbourne in April recently, that was emotional!

Thanks so much Harry can’t wait to see you play soon!

Cheers Frankie, see you soon mate.

By Frankie Salt

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