Robbie Byrne chats to Anglo-American DJ Secondcity about topping the UK charts It all began with one album. Disclosure’s debut LP Settle provided the perfect antidote to the immature, florescent and increasingly irritating monstrosity that was EDM. While Settle showcased nothing that hadn’t been seen before, its revival of immaculate production, driving bass rhythms and silky melodies took the then tainted dance world by storm, inspiring a host of imitators – good and bad.“Yeah, I just landed in the UK from New York so I’m pretty jetlagged right now,” begins Rowan Harrington, aka Secondcity. Ostensibly, it seems that the Anglo-American is lapping up the wave of success that house’s newfound popularity has generated. Having scored a number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and second spot on the US Dance Club Chart last summer, Harrington’s stock rose from underground tech-house producer to mainstage performer at Ibiza’s Defected Festival, alongside house stalwarts Guti and Noir.While Secondcity created one of last summer’s most distinct house sounds with ‘I Wanna Feel’, the producer is far from new to the scene – having actively witnessed the genre mushroom from underground Brighton clubbing, to mainstream radio over the years. It’s a phenomenon that he struggles to comprehend: “It’s hard to say why there has been a migration from EDM and dubstep to house music. I really have no idea why it blew up on such a commercial level. I can only speak for myself, as I have always had a passion for house and its offshoots.”
"In a weird sort of way the nerves told me that DJing was what I had to do as a career.”
Harrington seems nostalgic rather than embarrassed when asked to cast his mind back to his earliest DJ sets. “I remember my first set in Tunbridge Wells from when I about seventeen, I was shaking – not so sure if choosing an all vinyl set was the wisest choice,” he laughs.
“Having said that I always think of my first proper DJ set from when I switched to the SecondCity alias four years ago. Before that I was just playing small clubs. Nerves were always a problem, but I still loved doing it. In a weird sort of way the nerves told me that DJing was what I had to do as a career.”From that fateful night in Bristol, Secondcity became immersed in a community of likeminded producers who were creating a sound that sought to revive the glory days of house. One particular collaboration with sometime Savoy Resident DJ Route 94 since become a signature track for both DJs – a disco infused house rework of Adina Howards’ Freak Like Me, which both took great pride in.Even the briefest of scans through Secondcity’s earliest cuts from the Saint & Sonnets through to his most recent work with Ali Love reveals a shift towards a more commercial sound, but it’s a thought that he refutes – explaining that even ‘I Wanna Feel’ was intended to be an underground release.“I really didn’t see it being the huge hit it became. I intended it to be something passed around among friends. It wasn’t until Ministry of Sound approached me to release it that I began to see how big it could become.“While topping the charts was amazing, it’s not something that will become a trademark of my work.”
“If you play a set that fails to opens peoples minds you’re doing something wrong."
Harrington’s reluctance in becoming a commercial artist reveals an evolving friction in the UK house scene, as producers balance the romantics of mixing their own blend of obscure cuts with the financial sensibility of radio airplay. For Secondcity, it seems that from here pop will take a back seat; “I still see myself as an underground producer - I really doubt that I’ll ever become a commercial artist as such.”It’s a sentiment that becomes obvious when I listen to his most recent EP, Technique; a two-track gem complete with driving tech-house rhythms and old school vocal samples. It’s resolutely uncommerical, destined for the beer soaked dance floor rather than the chart’s upper echelons.While Secondcity’s musical palette is diverse, the equipment used to create it is rudimentary. “All I have in my studio right now is a pair of monitors, a midi keyboard, some sound cards and a computer. That’s it.”It seems an odd choice but Harrington explains that his music feeds off its environment rather than expensive equipment: “I always seem to work best in the comfort of my home. It’s odd; anything that I’ve made outside my home studio has had this completely different sound. It’s like it reveals a different side of me.”Sensing a slip in attentiveness, we move on to Harrington’s now renowned live sets, to which he instantly livens: “My focus as a DJ has always been uncovering records that people have forgotten. The sets tend to go for a tribal sound - I really don’t play commercial music, though I still mix in my better known tracks.” It’s a move that serves to reveal his global passion for music where everything from Afrobeat to techno becomes an integral part of the DJ’s playlist.“If you play a set that fails to opens peoples minds you’re doing something wrong. That’s why I get so much joy out playing obscure tracks – letting the crowd hear something they’ve never experienced before.”Secondcity is playing the ultimate balancing act. Ever reluctant to be seen as that guy who topped the UK charts, it seems a state of Zen can only be sought by crawling back into the undergrowth; creating jolting house numbers to be appreciated by the select few. Though if Harrington struck pop-house gold once more would he release it to the world? Damn sure he would. Secondcity plays The Savoy on January 30th.
