When DJ Rob Harris was voted "Favorite DJ" by the readers of the Washington Blade, no one was surprised. No one, that is, except for Rob. After all, Washington DC is home to a thriving pool of local DJ talent, and he is a newcomer. But club goers know that Rob is more than a DJ. He's one of their own who has drawn from their energy and their encouragement to create magical moments on dancefloors all over town and beyond. And in the end, what others have in tenure, Rob makes up for with dedication and passion.
With a career in the military and the Clinton administration behind him, this 32 year old Chicago native relishes that his path to the DJ booth is somewhat unconventional. Rob is quick to point out that "I was always the kid who chose music over the TV" when he divulges his love and appreciation for music. And while he does play the trumpet, today, it's with a mixing board and turntables that his creative energy is channeled. Just five years ago, Rob was content using his computer to make mixed CDs for his friends. But one of his CDs found their way into the hands of DJ Julian Marsh. After meeting Rob in P'Town, Julian urged him to buy his own DJ equipment. This chance meeting would be a turning point for Rob. After teaching himself the basics for several months, Rob began playing house parties for friends. Then, a friend asked him to play a benefit for the city of Washington. It was at this event, that DJ Rob Harris made his debut. The buzz surrounding him caught the attention of Cobalt, one of DCs hottest nightclubs where he would land his first regular gig. He still enjoys spinning the private house parties as much as the larger events and venues.
Influenced by several DJ’s, Rob prides himself on spinning “outside of the box”, a twisted house, marked by lots of vocals with a driving tribal beat. When asked about his style, Rob responded "I love to play a bit of all styles through a set and make a journey of it, using different songs to bridge different styles of music to try and make a seamless flow through the night". Constantly improving on his ability to create a sound all his own, Rob is rapidly moving towards making more of his own remixes.
When he's not spinning, you can find Rob on the dancefloor where he still dances with the friends who first urged him to take this journey. He's an avid supporter of the local DC scene, where he holds residencies at both Cobalt and APEX and occasionally shares the booth at Sunday Mass with his tag team partner Blaine Soileau. Recently the two introduced Velvet Nation to a most spiritual night of Midnight Mass.
Rob's appearances include Cherry 7 & 9, AM (Rehoboth), Cloud 9 (Rehoboth), Pure (Philadelphia), The Paramount (P'Town), David Flower's Summer Camp (Provincetown), The Lounge at Elmo (NY), Club MCCXXIII, Grand Central (Baltimore), Star Bar (NY). He also regularly lends his talents to good causes such as Capital Pride, The National Zoo, Gay World Series, Human Rights Campaign, and PetsDC. Dates in the near future include Billy Carol Presents at Club Pure in Philly, Razzle Dazzle, an AIDS fund raiser in Dallas, Tidal Wave, Virginia Beach’s fledgling circuit party and David Flower’s Summer Camp in Provincetown. You can find Rob’s top 15, information on booking and future dates at www.djrobharris.com.
Article from NEXT Provincetown Magazine
August 2002
By: William J. Mann
ROB HARRIS
MAKING A MUSICAL JOURNEY
For fast- rising DJ star Rob Harris, there’s no
Where else he’d rather be!
“I was always the kid who had the radio on instead of the TV”, says Rob Harris, charting his love of music back to a very early age. “It’s wonderful now, and really beyond words, to have a creative outlet for it.”
Harris is the buzz of the summer, skyrocketing to DJ fame just in the last year. After smash performances in Provincetown over Independence week, he returns this month to DJ Power T on August 25th followed by the soon-to-be-fabulous closing party for Carnival that night. (Can you say Martha Wash?)
Harris is quickly learning what makes a party work. “You often don’t realize it’s the perfect party while it’s happening”, He says. “You’d never be able to recreate the feeling of it if you tried. To me a perfect party isn’t always the largest or grandest ones, but it’s when you can pause for just a moment, whether you’re in the booth or on the dance floor, breathe it all in and realize, for that moment, there is no where on earth that you’d rather be.”
With passion like that, it was inevitable that Harris would end up Djing. But he came by it rather indirectly: born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, he spent10 years in the Navy, the last seven of which were at the White House as an audiovisual director, He left the White House in May and took a job as A/V director at a law firm in Washington, where he lives with his partner. He’d been making his own CDs and mixes on the computer to give to friends, but meeting Ptown’s own Julian Marsh two years ago proved to be a turning point in Harris’ musical aspirations. Marsh convinced him to buy his own DJ equipment to see what he could do with it. Harris did just that and spent the next several months teaching himself the basics.
In April of last year a friend asked him if he’d DJ an event for the City of Washington. “It was a crowd of about 3,000 people,” Harris says. That experience- combined with the urging of his friends and boyfriend David- gave him the courage to fill in one Wednesday night last December at Cobalt, one of DC’s hottest clubs. He was a hit, and a star was born.
“I was floored when I was offered the Wednesday resident spot at the end of the night”, Harris says. By April he’d taken over the coveted Saturday spot, which is where he currently plays.
His reputation quickly spread, and in the last year he’s Dj’ed for the Human Rights Campaign and at the closing party for DC’s legendary circuit event Cherry7. With friend and mentor Julian Marsh, he also did a fundraiser called “Fluff”, an event to benefit PetsDC, anon-profit organization that takes care of the pets of those living with HIV/AIDS. In addition, he DJ’ed the main stage this year at DC Pride and will be doing some Tea Dances at Rehoboth at “Yum, Yum”.
“As far as influences go”, he says, “musically Julian Marsh plays a big role for me. My boyfriend David and my closest friends all definitely influenced me, as they continue to do today. They believed in me when I felt I was way too new or inexperienced to play live.”
He loves playing in Provincetown. “Provincetown for me will always be special,” he says. “I’m here every year for my birthday, which falls on July 4th. For me, playing here is a sort of arrival point. I remember really enjoying dancing at the Boatslip in past years with Maryalice DJ’ing. She was always so wonderful in entertaining my questions after a set as to ‘what this song was’ or ‘who remixed this’ or ‘where did she find that’. So I guess I would consider her a pretty big influence as well- although I’m sure she never realized it at the time!”
He has no has no hard-and-fast rules about what he plays. “I love to play a bit of all styles through a set and make a journey of it. Using different songs to bridge different styles of music to try and make a seamless flow through the night.”
It’s a formula that’s clearly working. “After so many years on the dancefloor,” Harris says, “to be on the other side of it is a feeling I can’t fully explain. Suffice to say it’s amazing for me.”
And for everybody else too. Rob Harris is one to watch- and dance to!
This was an article that appeared in the Local Life Section of the Washington Blade on November 1st 2002
By BRYAN ANDERTON
ALEXANDRIA,Va. — Growing up, Rob Harris was that kid who always had his stereo going full blast. In fact, he always had a certain love for music, but he never assumed he could make a career out of it one day.
Harris recently left behind a regular slot spinning Saturday nights at Cobalt to make his debut this weekend in a new Saturday gig at Apex — the dance club formally known as Badlands. But his journey to the turntables has been a rather unconventional one.
After graduating high school, the 30-year-old Chicago native joined the Navy, where he became an electronics technician working on radar systems. He was stationed for two years in the Persian Gulf, and spent another two stationed in San Diego before his military career brought him to perhaps the most famous address in the world: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
For five years, Harris worked at the White House during both the Clinton and Bush II administrations as an audio-visual director. There, he was a part of the president's traveling staff and was responsible for preparing the stage, lighting and sound equipment whenever the president had a speaking engagement or public event.
All the while, though, Harris pursued a side hobby, mixing tapes and creating CDs for friends. After meeting renowned DJ and music producer Julian Marsh several years ago, Harris decided to try becoming a professional.
He spent a lot of time mixing music on his home computer, teaching himself to be a disc jockey. The process, he says, was simply a matter of trial and error, but it was not necessarily the easiest skill to master.
"It got really frustrating, and at times very discouraging," he says. "But I was pretty driven."
His first big event was a gala last year for the organization Downtown D.C. Harris says he had worries about playing in front of a mostly straight crowd.
"I was extremely nervous," Harris says. "I was actually more concerned about sounding too gay with my music. I was petrified. I put an entire play list together, practiced and practiced, and it turns out I don't think any of them would've noticed either way. But it was a good experience."
His second outing was a bit more comfortable, at least in that he didn't have to worry about sounding too "gay." Shortly after his gig with Downtown D.C., the Human Rights Campaign asked him to DJ their national dinner.
Since then, many of his gigs have been rather gay: He performed in Provincetown and Rehoboth Beach several times this summer; was one of the DJs for the closing party of this year's Cherry Red circuit party; DJed at an event for Pets D.C.; and was one of the DJs on the main stage of this year's Capital Pride Festival.
Harris landed a regular gig as the Saturday night DJ at Cobalt, attracting large crowds with his high energy mix. He left last month for different pastures, to debut at a new club, Apex, for its new Saturday night event, Heaven.
The man and the music:
Harris says that even though he's only been a DJ for a relatively short time, he has always had an appreciation for music. He played the trumpet for 12 years, and says that music was an important part of his life growing up.
"I was always the one who had the stereo on who didn't watch TV, always being told to turn it down," he says. "I always had music."
Those who know Harris say music is more than just a hobby for him — it's a true passion.
"He's a walking jukebox, literally," says his roommate and co-worker Frank Rathgeber, who works with Harris at the law firm Howrey Simon Arnold & White, where Harris works during the week as an audio-visual director. "He can listen to a song once and remember the words and the artist. … It's just amazing."
Harris says he tries to play music that brings "positive energy" to those on the dance floor. He asserts that there's nothing better than knowing people are having a good time because of the music he's playing.
"You're almost musically painting a picture for these people," he says. "You're seeing everybody dancing, hands in the air. It's a great feeling."
If that's the case, Harris should be on cloud nine for the foreseeable future. He'll be spinning at Apex every Saturday night in November, and will probably alternate between Friday and Saturday nights at the club after that.
Rathgeber agrees that Harris draws energy from the people on the dance floor, and says the relationship Harris has with the crowd is symbiotic.
"He feeds off the audience," Rathgeber says. "He really gets his momentum from how the crowd reacts. He completely connects with them."
Bryan Anderton can be reached at banderton@washblade.com.
FOR MORE INFO
Apex (formerly Badlands) 1415 22nd St., NW Washington, D.C. 20037 (202)-296-0505 www.apex-dc.com
