Mick Harris
Encyclopedia
Mick Harris commonly known and credited both as Mick Harris or occasionally M.J. Harris, is an English
musician.
Harris started out in the 1980s as a drummer
working with various punk rock
and grindcore
bands (most notably pioneering grindcore band Napalm Death
); as a drummer he is generally credited with popularizing the blast beat
, which has since become a key component of much of extreme metal
and grindcore. Since the mid-1990s, Harris has worked primarily in electronic
and ambient music
, his main projects being Scorn
and Lull. According to Allmusic, Harris's "genre-spanning activities have done much to jar the minds, expectations, and record collections of audiences previously kept aggressively opposed."
's second drummer, joining after founding member Miles "The Rat" Ratledge left the band in November 1985. His first live appearance with the band was on 18 January 1986, opening for Amebix
. Harris was the driving force behind the band's seminal Scum album and the second release From Enslavement to Obliteration
. A subsequent review of From Enslavement to Obliteration
in the punk/indie fanzine Flipside went as follows: "This sounds like someone is literally firing a fully automatic rifle while a bassist and guitarist try to keep up."
After the release of the EP Mentally Murdered
, Napalm Death
began to become more interested in the death metal
scene and their sound started to move away from the British grindcore
sound. At this point Bill Steer
and Lee Dorrian
departed the band due to creative differences, later, Harris was the sole band member who remained in the tumultuous group through many line-up changes, eventually leaving in 1991, just after the tour for Harmony Corruption
.
While in Napalm Death, Harris also played drums for Doom and Extreme Noise Terror
, and participated in a side project with Mitch Harris
called Defecation, which produced two records, Purity Dilution and Intention Surpassed, through Nuclear Blast
. Harris contributed only to Purity Dilution, however.
with Napalm Death's original bassist/lead singer Nic Bullen
. Scorn released several well-received albums and EP
s in the early 1990s, creating a unique fusion of experimental heavy metal, electronic music, and dark dub music
. Bullen left Scorn in 1995, but Harris continued to release albums under the Scorn moniker, exploring dark and minimalist
industrial hip-hop
territory, with a focus on extremely low and loud bass frequencies. Harris' work presaged the grittier aspects of the dubstep
craze of the mid-2000s. As with the tendency for people to put a name to anything, Scorn has also been referred to as beginning the ‘Dark-Hop’ sound. After two albums in this style still on Earache Records
who didn’t quite seem to know what to do with this new sound, Scorn and Earache parted ways, leading to a somewhat nomadic existence since then. Scorn has been associated with KK Records, Invisible Records
, Hymen
and most recently seminal US drum and bass label OHM Resistance, to which Harris had earlier ties to with other projects. In 2007, OHM Resistance released the first album of all new material in 5 years in a smattering of 12” have also been in the works of late on labels such as the UK’s Combat Records
and Record Label Records in the US. May 25, 2010 has seen the release of the newest album under the Scorn moniker, "Refuse; Start Fires", again through OHM Resistance. This newest Scorn is the first studio release since the Bullen-era to feature another player on many of the tracks, with Harris incorporating a live drummer.
. Under this moniker, Harris has released full lengths on Sentrax and Release Entertainment (part of Relapse
) as well as various 7” releases and compilation tracks, most of which were collected and re-issued on CD by the late Manifold Records
. After a number of years of inactivity, Lull has returned with a remix for Franziska Baumann on Soleilmoon Recordings, a contribution for the 3-CD-compilation "Nekton Falls" on Celestial Dragon and the CD Like a Slow River on Glacial Movement Records
who wanted to create a new group consisting of Zorn, Harris and Bill Laswell
on bass. This trio became Painkiller
. – a free jazz
-extreme metal
trio. The group released 3 successful albums in the early to mid nineties. Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets were released by Earache Records
and contained mostly short aggressive tracks reminiscent of Napalm Death
at times, but with the added elements of both John Zorn’s sax and Bill Laswell’s bass and all the history the two had behind them. 1995 saw the third (and last proper) release, the two disc set Execution Ground (also released in Japan on Toy's Factory
with a third, live disc), on the Subharmonic
label. This release saw the trio spread out in three long tracks that retained some of the aggressiveness of the earlier albums, but added a much more spacious, dubby and (at times) ambient feel to the recordings, arguably much influenced by Laswell’s production work at the time. The second disc contained ambient re-workings of two of the tracks. In the years since, some live recordings have been released and the trio tends to play a few shows a year, but since the later half of the ‘90s, different drummers have been behind the kit as Harris stopped drumming live. After rumors of the original trio reforming cropping up in recent years (particularly in light of Harris' recent gigs with the group Black Engine), The original trio did indeed play one gig in France on June 23, 2008. The show also featured Mike Patton
and Fred Frith
as guests. At the current time, there are no plans for any more gigs by the group in any form using that moniker.
HedNod is/was the name for a series of beat and bass releases tengentially related to the Scorn
sound, but in a lighter vein. A series of colored 12” releases were put out on the Disques HushHush sub-label HedNod. Buying into the series in advance also got subscribers a CD of extra HedNod tracks not found on the vinyl releases. In 2005, all of the HedNod sessions were released on one double disc set called (logically) the Hednod Sessions. Though inactive as a project since the initial 12” releases, the project sees the possibility of reactivation in the near future if conditions are right.
, Quoit, Scorn
, James Plotkin
’s Jupiter project and Eraldo Bernocchi
's Interceptor and SIMM
projects. Additionally, the label released full-length albums in both CD and 2x12” format by Quoit and SIMM
. Unfortunately, shady distribution and the normal music business ethics of bottom-feeders put a fairly quick end to the label.
, Bill Laswell
, Eraldo Bernocchi
, Martyn Bates, Sielwolf and a host of others. He’s also done extensive remix work for Almemegretta, Sielwolf, PSI Performer (Anthony Rother
), TMK
, Franciszka Baumann, Pigface
, Meat Beat Manifesto
, Ambre
and a host of others. Live performances generally under his Scorn moniker have been a constant through the years.
circa 1979-1984, Disorder
, Chaos UK
, Killing Joke
, Joy Division
, Siege
, Swans
circa 1983-1995, Cocteau Twins
, Membranes, Public Image Limited, Meat Beat Manifesto
, Old School & Darkside Jungle, Drum & Bass circa 1993-1996, Early Aphex Twin
, Skinny Puppy
, Brian Eno
, Zoviet France
, Nurse with Wound
, Lee Scratch Perry, Scientist
, Jon Hassell
, Miles Davis
up to 1975, John Coltrane
& Alice Coltrane
, Celtic Frost
, Moritz Von Oswald
& Berlin Dub Experimentalists, Deathstrike, Jeff Mills
, Rob Hood
, Minimal, Hard Techno, Gai
, Swankies, Janet Jackson
, John Zorn
, Kuro
, Electroacoustic & Music Concrete, Found Sounds, Genocide
, Repulsion
, Death
, Kid Creole and the Coconuts
, Sho & Ag, A Tribe Called Quest
as prominent inspirations. He also shows utmost respect to late BBC radio 1 DJ John Peel
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
musician.
Harris started out in the 1980s as a drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
working with various punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
bands (most notably pioneering grindcore band Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
); as a drummer he is generally credited with popularizing the blast beat
Blast beat
A blast beat is a drum beat often associated with extreme metal and grindcore, although its usage predates the genres, and is utilised by many different styles of metal...
, which has since become a key component of much of extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
and grindcore. Since the mid-1990s, Harris has worked primarily in electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
and ambient music
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, his main projects being Scorn
Scorn (band)
Scorn was an English electronic music project. The group was formed in the early 1990s as a side project of former Napalm Death members Mick Harris and Nic Bullen...
and Lull. According to Allmusic, Harris's "genre-spanning activities have done much to jar the minds, expectations, and record collections of audiences previously kept aggressively opposed."
Beginnings and Napalm Death
Harris' recording debut was as Napalm DeathNapalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
's second drummer, joining after founding member Miles "The Rat" Ratledge left the band in November 1985. His first live appearance with the band was on 18 January 1986, opening for Amebix
Amebix
Amebix are an English crust punk/heavy metal band. Formed as "The Band with No Name," Amebix's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released three EPs and two full-length LPs...
. Harris was the driving force behind the band's seminal Scum album and the second release From Enslavement to Obliteration
From Enslavement to Obliteration
From Enslavement to Obliteration is the second album by grindcore band Napalm Death, released in 1988.-Background:From Enslavement to Obliteration is the only Napalm Death album to feature Lee Dorrian as the sole vocalist, where he offers the low, grunting vocals and from time to time in songs, he...
. A subsequent review of From Enslavement to Obliteration
From Enslavement to Obliteration
From Enslavement to Obliteration is the second album by grindcore band Napalm Death, released in 1988.-Background:From Enslavement to Obliteration is the only Napalm Death album to feature Lee Dorrian as the sole vocalist, where he offers the low, grunting vocals and from time to time in songs, he...
in the punk/indie fanzine Flipside went as follows: "This sounds like someone is literally firing a fully automatic rifle while a bassist and guitarist try to keep up."
After the release of the EP Mentally Murdered
Mentally Murdered
Mentally Murdered is an EP by the English band Napalm Death, originally released in 1989. It was later included on the Harmony Corruption CD and the Death by Manipulation compilation album...
, Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
began to become more interested in the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
scene and their sound started to move away from the British grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
sound. At this point Bill Steer
Bill Steer
Bill Steer is an English guitar player, and a founder of British Metal band Carcass...
and Lee Dorrian
Lee Dorrian
Lee Dorrian is a singer from Coventry, England. Originally the editor/publisher of the Cov punk fanzine "Committed Suicide" he then went on to be the singer and lyricist with Napalm Death and recorded one and a half albums with them, namely the second half of Scum and From Enslavement to...
departed the band due to creative differences, later, Harris was the sole band member who remained in the tumultuous group through many line-up changes, eventually leaving in 1991, just after the tour for Harmony Corruption
Harmony Corruption
-From the Mentally Murdered EP:*The song Mentally Murdered is a different recording than the version found on From Enslavement to Obliteration-Bonus LP 'Live I.C.A...
.
While in Napalm Death, Harris also played drums for Doom and Extreme Noise Terror
Extreme Noise Terror
Extreme Noise Terror are a British crust punk / grindcore band originally formed in Ipswich, England in 1985. The band are widely considered one of the earliest and most influential European grindcore bands, and particularly the forefathers of the crustgrind subgenre.Notable for one of the...
, and participated in a side project with Mitch Harris
Mitch Harris
Mitch Harris is an American guitarist, born in New York then moving to Las Vegas, currently living in Birmingham, England. He started his career in the Grindcore band Righteous Pigs. He did a side project with Mick Harris - then the drummer of grindcore band Napalm Death, called Defecation...
called Defecation, which produced two records, Purity Dilution and Intention Surpassed, through Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
. Harris contributed only to Purity Dilution, however.
Scorn
After leaving Napalm Death, Harris founded ScornScorn (band)
Scorn was an English electronic music project. The group was formed in the early 1990s as a side project of former Napalm Death members Mick Harris and Nic Bullen...
with Napalm Death's original bassist/lead singer Nic Bullen
Nicholas Bullen
-Biography:He is one of the founding members - with Miles Ratledge - of Napalm Death, the band credited with creating the Grindcore genre.The duo had collaborated on fanzines and played together in a number of 'bedroom' bands from 1980 onwards and formed the first line-up of Napalm Death in May...
. Scorn released several well-received albums and EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s in the early 1990s, creating a unique fusion of experimental heavy metal, electronic music, and dark dub music
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
. Bullen left Scorn in 1995, but Harris continued to release albums under the Scorn moniker, exploring dark and minimalist
Minimalist music
Minimal music is a style of music associated with the work of American composers La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, and Philip Glass. It originated in the New York Downtown scene of the 1960s and was initially viewed as a form of experimental music called the New York Hypnotic School....
industrial hip-hop
Industrial hip-hop
Industrial hip hop is a fusion of the dissonance and dystopian subject matter of industrial music with the rhythms or vocals of hip hop music.-1980s:The origins of industrial hip hop are in the work of Mark Stewart, Bill Laswell, and Adrian Sherwood...
territory, with a focus on extremely low and loud bass frequencies. Harris' work presaged the grittier aspects of the dubstep
Dubstep
Dubstep is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in south London, England. Its overall sound has been described as "tightly coiled productions with overwhelming bass lines and reverberant drum patterns, clipped samples, and occasional vocals"....
craze of the mid-2000s. As with the tendency for people to put a name to anything, Scorn has also been referred to as beginning the ‘Dark-Hop’ sound. After two albums in this style still on Earache Records
Earache Records
Earache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
who didn’t quite seem to know what to do with this new sound, Scorn and Earache parted ways, leading to a somewhat nomadic existence since then. Scorn has been associated with KK Records, Invisible Records
Invisible Records
Invisible Records is a Chicago based record label founded by Martin Atkins to support and distribute the works of artists who preferred to work with a smaller, artist driven label.-Artist Roster:* Ashtrayhead* Attrition* Bagman* Bizarre Sex Trio...
, Hymen
Hymen
The hymen is a membrane that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening. It forms part of the vulva, or external genitalia. The size of the hymenal opening increases with age. Although an often practiced method, it is not possible to confirm with certainty that a girl or woman is a...
and most recently seminal US drum and bass label OHM Resistance, to which Harris had earlier ties to with other projects. In 2007, OHM Resistance released the first album of all new material in 5 years in a smattering of 12” have also been in the works of late on labels such as the UK’s Combat Records
Combat Records
Combat Records was an independent record label from New York City. The label was home to predominantly metal and punk rock acts including Megadeth, Circle Jerks, Nuclear Assault, Death, Dead Brain Cells, Possessed, Crumbsuckers, Agnostic Front, Agent Steel, Dark Angel, Heathen, Zoetrope and...
and Record Label Records in the US. May 25, 2010 has seen the release of the newest album under the Scorn moniker, "Refuse; Start Fires", again through OHM Resistance. This newest Scorn is the first studio release since the Bullen-era to feature another player on many of the tracks, with Harris incorporating a live drummer.
Lull
Somewhat concurrent with Scorn, Harris began Lull, a beatless dark ambient project. Though not as prolific or popular as Scorn, one can argue that this project in its own way is just as influential. Lull was at the front of the so-called Isolationist movement that also included people such as Thomas KönerThomas Köner
Thomas Köner is a multimedia artist whose main interest lies in combining visual and auditory experiences. He's been noted for his use of low frequencies...
. Under this moniker, Harris has released full lengths on Sentrax and Release Entertainment (part of Relapse
Relapse
Relapse, in relation to drug misuse, is resuming the use of a drug or a dependent substance after one or more periods of abstinence. The term is a landmark feature of both substance dependence and substance abuse, which are learned behaviors, and is maintained by neuronal adaptations that mediate...
) as well as various 7” releases and compilation tracks, most of which were collected and re-issued on CD by the late Manifold Records
Manifold Records
Manifold Records is a US-based record label and mailorder store specializing in experimental, ambient and other hard-to-define audio materials. Begun in 1993 by writer and zine-publisher Vince Harrigan, the label has released works by Gravitar, Final , Mick Harris, Lull, Steve Roach, Jeph Jerman,...
. After a number of years of inactivity, Lull has returned with a remix for Franziska Baumann on Soleilmoon Recordings, a contribution for the 3-CD-compilation "Nekton Falls" on Celestial Dragon and the CD Like a Slow River on Glacial Movement Records
Painkiller
Also around the same time as Harris leaving Napalm Death, he was contacted by John ZornJohn Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
who wanted to create a new group consisting of Zorn, Harris and Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
on bass. This trio became Painkiller
Painkiller (band)
Painkiller is a band originally formed in 1991. Their style can be described as a mix of avant-garde jazz and grindcore; later albums also incorporated elements of ambient and dub....
. – a free jazz
Free jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
-extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
trio. The group released 3 successful albums in the early to mid nineties. Guts of a Virgin and Buried Secrets were released by Earache Records
Earache Records
Earache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
and contained mostly short aggressive tracks reminiscent of Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
at times, but with the added elements of both John Zorn’s sax and Bill Laswell’s bass and all the history the two had behind them. 1995 saw the third (and last proper) release, the two disc set Execution Ground (also released in Japan on Toy's Factory
Toy's Factory
is a Japanese record label founded in 1990 as a VAP subsidiary, based in Japan. It has since become an independent company.-Sub-Labels:* bellissima!* Carnage* Deep Blue* Idyllic* Kimi* Meme Tokyo* -Artists:*Aobozu*Armageddon*Bump of Chicken...
with a third, live disc), on the Subharmonic
Subharmonic
Subharmonic frequencies are frequencies below the fundamental frequency of an oscillator in a ratio of 1/n, with n a positive integer number. For example, if the fundamental frequency of an oscillator is 440 Hz, sub-harmonics include 220 Hz and 110 Hz...
label. This release saw the trio spread out in three long tracks that retained some of the aggressiveness of the earlier albums, but added a much more spacious, dubby and (at times) ambient feel to the recordings, arguably much influenced by Laswell’s production work at the time. The second disc contained ambient re-workings of two of the tracks. In the years since, some live recordings have been released and the trio tends to play a few shows a year, but since the later half of the ‘90s, different drummers have been behind the kit as Harris stopped drumming live. After rumors of the original trio reforming cropping up in recent years (particularly in light of Harris' recent gigs with the group Black Engine), The original trio did indeed play one gig in France on June 23, 2008. The show also featured Mike Patton
Mike Patton
Michael Allan "Mike" Patton is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and actor, best known as the lead singer of the metal/experimental rock band Faith No More. He has also sung for Mr...
and Fred Frith
Fred Frith
Fred Frith is an English multi-instrumentalist, composer and improvisor.Probably best known for his guitar work, Frith first came to attention as one of the founding members of the English avant-rock group Henry Cow. Frith was also a member of Art Bears, Massacre and Skeleton Crew...
as guests. At the current time, there are no plans for any more gigs by the group in any form using that moniker.
Quoit and Hed-Nod
In addition to the projects he is most well-known for, two other monikers make occasional appearances. Quoit is a name used for a drum n bass project that has released three full-lengths, assorted 12”s, a 7” and the occasional remix.HedNod is/was the name for a series of beat and bass releases tengentially related to the Scorn
Scorn (band)
Scorn was an English electronic music project. The group was formed in the early 1990s as a side project of former Napalm Death members Mick Harris and Nic Bullen...
sound, but in a lighter vein. A series of colored 12” releases were put out on the Disques HushHush sub-label HedNod. Buying into the series in advance also got subscribers a CD of extra HedNod tracks not found on the vinyl releases. In 2005, all of the HedNod sessions were released on one double disc set called (logically) the Hednod Sessions. Though inactive as a project since the initial 12” releases, the project sees the possibility of reactivation in the near future if conditions are right.
Possible Recs
In the mid 1990s, Harris started his own record label, called Possible Recs., which leaned towards a drum n bass sound with some exceptions. The short lived label released a batch of 12”s from PCM, AmbushAmbush
An ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
, Quoit, Scorn
Scorn (band)
Scorn was an English electronic music project. The group was formed in the early 1990s as a side project of former Napalm Death members Mick Harris and Nic Bullen...
, James Plotkin
James Plotkin
James Plotkin is an American guitarist and producer, famous for his role in bands such as Khanate and OLD, but with an extensive catalogue outside these bands. He has performed guitar duties for bands Phantomsmasher and Scorn and continues to remix tracks for bands such as KK Null, Nadja, Sunn...
’s Jupiter project and Eraldo Bernocchi
Eraldo Bernocchi
Eraldo Bernocchi is an Italian musician, producer and sound designer.-History:Bernocchi's musical career started around 1977 at the age of 14, when Eraldo started playing guitar with independent punk bands. In short order though, he found that he felt the medium was too limited and he started...
's Interceptor and SIMM
SIMM
A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module , the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant...
projects. Additionally, the label released full-length albums in both CD and 2x12” format by Quoit and SIMM
SIMM
A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module , the most predominant form of memory module today, in that the contacts on a SIMM are redundant...
. Unfortunately, shady distribution and the normal music business ethics of bottom-feeders put a fairly quick end to the label.
Other collaborations
Along with these (mostly) Harris-helmed projects, many remixes and other random collaborations have appeared through the years. Harris has released and/or produced albums with/by Mark Spybey, SubmergedSubmerged
Submerged is an action film, released in 2005. The film stars Steven Seagal, Christine Adams, William Hope, Gary Daniels, Alison King and Vinnie Jones. The film was directed by British director Anthony Hickox.- Plot :...
, Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell
Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
, Eraldo Bernocchi
Eraldo Bernocchi
Eraldo Bernocchi is an Italian musician, producer and sound designer.-History:Bernocchi's musical career started around 1977 at the age of 14, when Eraldo started playing guitar with independent punk bands. In short order though, he found that he felt the medium was too limited and he started...
, Martyn Bates, Sielwolf and a host of others. He’s also done extensive remix work for Almemegretta, Sielwolf, PSI Performer (Anthony Rother
Anthony Rother
Anthony Rother is an electronic music composer, producer and label owner living in Frankfurt, Germany.Rother's electro sound is characterized by repetitive machine-like beats, robotic, vocoder-driven vocals, melancholy, futuristic mood and lyrics that often deal with the consequences of...
), TMK
TMK
TMK was the designation of a Soviet Union space exploration project to send a manned flight to Mars and Venus without landing....
, Franciszka Baumann, Pigface
Pigface
Pigface is an industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.-History:Pigface was formed from Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour, which produced the In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up live album and video. For the tour, Al Jourgensen brought...
, Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened to Meat Beat or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens formed in 1987 in Swindon, UK...
, Ambre
Ambre (band)
Ambre is a collaborative electronic music project between C-drik Fermont, John Sellekaers & Olivier Moreau, with other musicians guesting on occasion.-History:...
and a host of others. Live performances generally under his Scorn moniker have been a constant through the years.
Influences
Harris has cited DischargeDischarge (band)
Discharge is a British hardcore punk band formed in 1977 by Terry "Tezz" Roberts and Roy "Rainy" Wainwright. They are often considered among one of the very first bands to play hardcore punk, and to mix punk with metal...
circa 1979-1984, Disorder
Disorder (band)
Disorder are a hardcore punk band that formed in the Bristol area of the United Kingdom in 1980, and has existed with varying line-ups to this day. Faithful to anarcho-punk ethics, Disorder are a band who aligned with politically-charged punk bands like Crass and Conflict.-History:Disorder formed...
, Chaos UK
Chaos UK
Chaos UK are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1979 in Portishead, near Bristol. They played fast aggressive hardcore punk rock initially. The original line up of Simon on vocals, Andy on guitar, Chaos on bass and Potts on drums recorded two EP's and a full LP for Riot City Record...
, Killing Joke
Killing Joke
Killing Joke are an English post-punk band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England; other sources report the band formed in early 1979.Related news articles: Founding members Jaz Coleman and Geordie Walker have been the only constant members.A key influence on industrial rock,...
, Joy Division
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English rock band formed in 1976 in Salford, Greater Manchester. Originally named Warsaw, the band primarily consisted of Ian Curtis , Bernard Sumner , Peter Hook and Stephen Morris .Joy Division rapidly evolved from their initial punk rock influences...
, Siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
, Swans
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
circa 1983-1995, Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, Membranes, Public Image Limited, Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto
Meat Beat Manifesto, often shortened to Meat Beat or MBM, is an electronic music group originally consisting of Jack Dangers and Jonny Stephens formed in 1987 in Swindon, UK...
, Old School & Darkside Jungle, Drum & Bass circa 1993-1996, Early Aphex Twin
Aphex Twin
Richard David James , best known under the pseudonym Aphex Twin, is an Irish-born electronic musician and composer described as "the most inventive and influential figure in contemporary electronic music"...
, Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
, Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, Zoviet France
Zoviet France
Zoviet France is a prolific music group from Newcastle upon Tyne in north east England. While often dissonant and made of industrial textures, their music also falls into the ambient music category...
, Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound
Nurse with Wound is the main recording name for British musician Steven Stapleton. Nurse with Wound was originally a band, formed in 1978 by Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heman Pathak...
, Lee Scratch Perry, Scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
, Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell
Jon Hassell is an American trumpet player and composer. He is known for his influence in the world music scene and his unusual electronic manipulation of the trumpet sound.-Life and career:...
, Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
up to 1975, John Coltrane
John Coltrane
John William Coltrane was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz...
& Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane, née McLeod was an American jazz pianist, organist, harpist, and composer.-Biography:...
, Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost
Celtic Frost was a metal band from Zürich, Switzerland. They are known for their heavy influence on the extreme metal genres. The group was first active from 1984 to 1993, and re-formed in 2001. Following Tom Gabriel Fischer's departure in 2008, Celtic Frost decided to break up again...
, Moritz Von Oswald
Moritz Von Oswald
Moritz von Oswald , half of both Basic Channel and Maurizio, went on to become one of the most influential producers of techno music in the 1990s. In the 1980s he was percussionist for Palais Schaumburg and The Associates, but would segue into electronic music by the late 80s and early 90s...
& Berlin Dub Experimentalists, Deathstrike, Jeff Mills
Jeff Mills
Jeff Mills is an American techno DJ and producer.-Career:Starting in the early 1980s, Mills, using the name "The Wizard", was a recurring guest DJ on "The Electrifying Mojo" radio show on WJLB...
, Rob Hood
Rob Hood
Robert Hood is an Australian writer and editor recognised as one of Australia's leading horror writers. He has published five young adult novels, three collections of his short fiction, fifteen children's books and over 100 short stories in anthologies and magazines in Australia and overseas...
, Minimal, Hard Techno, Gai
Gai
Gai may refer to:*Gai, Austria, a town in the district of Leoben in Styria*Gai Assulin, a football player currently playing for Manchester City*Oleksiy Gai, a football player currently playing for Shaktar Donetsk...
, Swankies, Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...
, John Zorn
John Zorn
John Zorn is an American avant-garde composer, arranger, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist. Zorn is a prolific artist: he has hundreds of album credits as performer, composer, or producer...
, Kuro
Kuro
is a Japanese word for the color "black". Kuro may also refer to:* Kuro Island, any of various Japanese islands; see Kuroshima* Kuro , a fictional pirate captain in the manga One Piece...
, Electroacoustic & Music Concrete, Found Sounds, Genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
, Repulsion
Repulsion
Repulsion is a 1965 British psychological thriller film directed by Roman Polanski, based on a scenario by Gérard Brach and Roman Polanski. It was Polanski's first English language film, and was shot in Britain, as such being his second film made outside his native Poland. The cast includes...
, Death
Death
Death is the permanent termination of the biological functions that sustain a living organism. Phenomena which commonly bring about death include old age, predation, malnutrition, disease, and accidents or trauma resulting in terminal injury....
, Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kid Creole and the Coconuts
Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created and led by August Darnell. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular "American and Latin American, South American, Caribbean, Trinidadian, Calloway" and conceptually inspired by the big band era...
, Sho & Ag, A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest is an American hip hop group, formed in 1985, and is composed of rapper/producer Q-Tip , rapper Phife Dawg , and DJ/producer Ali Shaheed Muhammad. A fourth member, rapper Jarobi White, left the group after their first album but rejoined in 2006...
as prominent inspirations. He also shows utmost respect to late BBC radio 1 DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
.