My name is Harley and this is the real me
I'm a bit of a lost soul. I was born in Australia and grew up there, but I live in London now. I guess you could say its my home now. How 'Home' is defined I'm not too sure.... I like to think of my home as Earth...... but actually it could be some other planet......... or maybe moon.
For now I'm happily settling back into London life after world tour after world tour..... that must be amazing you say, well I am very lucky, but i've worked very hard to get where I am. I've slaved away collecting glasses for endless hours, I've sweated away flyering the streets of Ibiza (think of the term 'Fly or Die' literally) I've even packed sewing patterns in a warehouse in Portsmouth for a while.
I've come a long way from the Blue Mountains in Australia. The mountains were just to small for me, I wanted more from life. I knew that there was more out there waiting for me, i could smell it, and i wasn't going to let anything get in my way. I just got a british passport and felt like the world was at my feet.
I don't really miss Australia anymore to be honest, of course i miss my family there, i absolutely do, but i just don't feel like its home anymore, I feel like such a tourist when i go there. Sydney is such a beautiful city and i always thought that one day i would buy a house on the beach there, settle down, surf everyday..... and that may still happen, who knows. I think deep down I am a total beach person and thats the great thing about sydney, there's the big city mentality and the relaxed beach life, right next to each other. Both kind of lifestyles that i love.... i mean sydney isn't really a New York or London craziness, its very chilled in comparison.
So my Parents are British, which i think means that i was raised with british morals and ethics (not to mention Motown and Zeppelin). I think that I'm a pretty down to earth guy, i try not to get caught up in the bullshit. Material things don't really mean much to me. I'd live out of a back pack everyday if i had to. I'm more interested in experiences, memories, connections to people and places, the side of life you can't see..... the side you can feel..... thats the reason we're here right??
So for the last 8 years, i've been working my way through Nightclubs, doing bar work, Promotions, PR management, Artist Liaison, etc, etc. Its been a great few years, I've met some amazingly talented people, and i've met friends that i love more than anything. Some of the times i've had in Ibiza will remain with me for the rest of my life. To not live there this year was a really hard decision to make. I have a deep love of that island. I just felt it was time to move on, when other opportunities arose. I felt like i was going nowhere in Ibiza and i knew that i couldn't stay there forever. The Electronic music 24/7 was cool for a while but many times over the years it really got to me. I couldn't handle it.
I find it amazing the chain of chance and coincidence that have lead me to where i am today. When i first left Australia I had no idea what i wanted to do with my life. I met a girl in Sydney who happened to be moving to ireland, i had nothing really holding me down. So i sold my car, worked a long shift in a bar over the millennium, packed up my life and have never really looked back. I managed to get a job at a club in London, purely by chance, which in turn got me my first job in Ibiza. One of the most emotional summers of my life, living on french bagettes and water. Stealing bottles of coke off the coke truck, as a treat. It was a tough year that first summer working in Ibiza. Tough but it totally changed my life.... changed it massively.
Over the years being in the club scene so much has obviously fueled my passion for electronic music (its also made me loathe it at times, i used to drive around ibiza with 'system of a downs' Toxicity CD on at full volume, just to see the look on peoples faces, it was a beautiful thing) So after 2000 i started buying records and djing at home and wherever else i could. I just loved doing it, i loved spending hours in dusty basements, digging for that illustrious hard to find 12" and i loved the performance of the dj, and i loved sharing music that i loved with people. It kinda reminded me of when i was about 9 or 10 i used to record songs on a cassette and record my voice in between, pretending that i was a radio host. I loved doing that, it was hilarious.I've been inspired by so many djs that i've met, i could write a list that went on forever, but i've narrowed it down to the few that musically have influenced me with their individuality..... Dj Dexter (aus), Adam Freeland, Francois K., Roni Size, Carl Cox, Dj Sasha, Laurent Garnier, Layo & Bushwacka, Sander Kleinenberg.... thats about it for nowI've also enjoyed Djing at some superfly venues around the world, including: Space - Ibiza, Home - Sydney, Savannah - Ibiza, Rhythm Factory - London, Eden - ibiza, 93feet East - London, Cafe Del Mar - Goa and many more.
If I had to choose 10 albums that were the soundtrack to my youth, they would be
1) Turn the radio off - Reel big fish
2) Doggystyle - Snoop doggy dog
3) Nevermind - Nirvana
4) Sublime - Sublime
5) Dookie - Green Day
6) Siamese Dream - Smashing Pumpkins
7) Midnight Marauders - A Tribe called Quest
8) Frogstomp - Silverchair
9) Slightly Oddway - Jebediah
10) The Living End - The Living End
I'm obsessed with all types of music I used to be an avid collector of vintage vinyl, but since the CDJ revolution i don't really buy records too much anymore. I'm always searching for new sounds, truly different artists and trying to create them too. I have an eclectic taste in music and you'll probably realise that as soon as you meet me.
I'm a pisces, we like to dream, we crave progression, I crave to feel something new, to create something new, I want to be inspired, i need to have creative output, I love people who are close to me, unconditionally, I'm affectionate. I love to feel alive, through pain or happiness. The black always comes with a little bit of white and the the white always comes with a little bit of the black. I will take a bullet for anyone who deserves to live.
I'm very house proud, I always see things from other peoples perspective, i swallow my pride just so i don't hurt your feelings, I'm passionate, I wish i was healthier than I am, I'm always thinking of the "big picture" and trying to plan ahead, I'm searching for greater purpose in life, I want to know why I'm here on Earth, I over analyze things far too much, I think that the odds will always be against me, so i know i have to reach my goals with no one but myself. I desperately want to be understood, but i don't expect to be. I think i'm complex and a little weird, but i like it that way.I hate being in the majority, I'd rather go against the grain.
If i had to choose 10 albums I loved today, in no particular order, they would be...(ok so i had to put a few more in, i couldn't narrow it down!)
Psyence fiction / Never Never Land - UNKLE
OK Computer / Kid A - Radiohead
Innervisons / talking book - Stevie Wonder
Revolver / Rubber Soul - The Beatles
Air - Moon safari
Carol King - Tapesry
Nirvana - In utero
Back to black - Amy Winehouse
Bjork - Post
The Prodigy - Music for the jilted generation
I've just set up my own DJ management company "Lunar" and am currently tour managing two of the best djs in the world. I'm hoping to expand my business over the next few years and add a couple more artists to my company. I would love to tour manage some live acts, like chemical brothers, Sia or Groove Armada.
I realize that this is completely random and maybe slightly incoherent, but i just felt the urge to rewrite this intro, it was so old and i felt that i was no longer trying to impress people into adding me.... so now i really don't care if anyone adds me or not. I'm happy just existing, in my own skin for now.
The things that make you mad are my Favorite things!
To check out my latest mixtape go to www.harleymoon.com
