Half muttering – hey, it's early – Quentin Harris confesses his schedule is go-go-go crazy. Whirlwind traveling, which brings the native here at 4 p.m. May 25 for Movement: Detroit's Electronic Music Festival. Several projects, including Ultra Nate's next album. Dealing with a horny dog. Gee, it's no wonder he flaked out and forgot about our interview. Once we finally reach him, a few calls later, the gay DJ/producer tells us today is a "normal day in the life of me." As someone who's garnered notoriety in the gay community for his mixes of Mariah and Mary J., and who hung with Eminem back in his D-Days, a normal day in the life of him isn't so normal.
How did the Detroit music scene influence you?
It influenced me a great deal with The Electrifying Mojo (a Detroit disc jockey) and "The New Dance Show" (Detroit TV program) and "The Wizard" ('80s WJLB Mix show) – and just Motown music. I was listening to a lot of it as a kid. That's when there were DJs, not radio personalities.
And when MTV actually played music.
Oh, don't get me started on that.
What prompted you to check out of Detroit?
This is going to sound crazy, but when I was 5 years old my parents and I were taking a trip to Jacksonville, Fla. and we had a little stop in New York. It was just a layover, we took the train, and my mother told me (later) that when I was 5 years old, I said to her that day,
"This is where I want to live when I get older." So I basically moved to New York because I felt there was much more competition there – and that was the only way I was going to be successful. I had to be where the labels were and where there's so many different cultures of people just stacked on top of each other. I've always been a person that feeds off my environment creatively, and I just need something that's happening.
Your focus now is mostly on electronic music, but you were heavily involved in hip-hop before that, right?
Yeah, I was extremely involved in hip-hop and R&B, and I got involved with hip-hop from my uncle. He had been trying to become a rap artist, and he would take me to the studio because he knew that I knew how to play piano, so I would go in the studio and play these baselines for him, basically trying to find the right sound. I didn't have my own equipment at the time; I was only 12 or 13. I didn't know I was being a producer then.
How did you merge from hip-hop to electronic?
For me, it wasn't difficult. I didn't even feel like it was hard because one of my favorite hip-hop records was electronic, which was "Planet Rock" (by Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force). I was really heavily into hip-hop in 1993, '94 and '95, and I think those were the best years for hip-hop.
Hip-hip is sometimes seen as homophobic. Is this a misconception?
I got asked this question by a UK paper once, because they asked me, "Do you know Eminem?" And I said, "Yeah, I know him." Then they asked me about it being homophobic and I said – my mother always told me to think with commonsense and keep asking questions – so I was just like, "It doesn't make any sense. People are failing to understand that this is the entertainment industry. The music business, the movies, all of that is the entertainment business. And it's there to entertain." I understand how people could be offended by it, but I'm not offended by it because it's not really affecting me, and I only give it power when I let it affect me.
Were you out to Eminem?
Pretty much everyone around that time knew. It was really no biggie – and if it was a biggie, they never said anything to my face.
So what was your relationship with Eminem like? Shopping buddies?
(Laughs) We had a short working relationship, because in Detroit everybody knows everybody, especially if you're doing hip-hop or house. So I was always around those guys – 50 Cent, Proof and Slum Village – so it wasn't like I had never saw them and we didn't have anything in common. I just have always been the type of person who's very quiet and I kept to myself a lot of times. People can take that as being arrogant. I'm also extremely opinionated.
What are you working on now?
The last thing that I did that was commercially released was a remix of Chris Cornell's "Part of Me." By the way, I don't care what anybody says, that Chris Cornell album is one of the best albums I've heard in three years. I like when you blur the lines between genres. Besides just my normal production work, I'm currently working on Ultra Nate's album. It's almost done. I'm working on my follow-up to "No Politics," which is called "Sacrifices." That's kind of in the halfway stages.
Your mix of Mary J. Blige's "Fade Away," I have to say, is better than the original.
Thank you. I'm ruled by my emotions, so if I'm playing and I'm in a bad mood, you know it; if I'm sad, you know it. When I did that remix, that's how I would feel. And so every time I play it – I know it might sound crazy to you – but when I play it, it's one of those records that's hard for me to play out in the clubs, because I get emotional and start crying.
What's up with your dog? I saw the humping pictures on your MySpace page.
My dog has issues.
Like a high sex drive?
Yeah, she has a high sex drive. I now have two French bulldogs – a girl and a boy. The boy is very calm and the girl is hyperactive all the time. I don't know why, but they could be at home sitting down, not doing anything, and if someone comes over they just try to hump them. My friends say they're trying to show you that they're not gay.
Movement: Detroit's Electronic Music Festival
May 23-25, Hart Plaza
Jefferson Avenue, Detroit Riverfront
http://www.myspace.com/detroitmusicfest
