harvey sutherland dj

Harvey Sutherland wrote his debut album Boy in a circular loop between his studio and his psychotherapist. A hypermodern groove, guided by his obsessional traits and habits, ending up in a place he describes as neurotic funk. “Electronic music has that archetype of the brooding, faceless producer”, he says, “I like hacking that, doing the opposite, embracing awkwardness and oversharing”. His face is on the cover.

The Melbourne-born record producer, keyboard player, club DJ and bandleader made a name amongst his hometown’s electronic underground with a string of cult disco singles and lo-fi cassette funk. Early 12-inches like Bermuda and Priestess were dance records in love with the sound of soul and disco music. But Boy is every bit the real deal.

Boy has seen widespread acclaim since its release, with Resident Advisor stating "Katz's sense of musicality has always been head and shoulders above his peers...his songs are full-blooded and fleshed-out, a collection of irresistible disco and funk with clever turns of phrase and killer grooves". The album was nominated for two ARIA Awards and the Australian Music Prize and won the Music Victoria Award for Best Electronic Work.

The record received widespread radio support, being picked up as Album of the Week at Double J, RRR, PBS, 2SER and SYN FM, and was featured in NPR’s ‘Favorite Albums of 2022 (So Far)’ list, and received strong support at BBC 6 Music (Tom Ravenscroft, Lauren Laverne,Don Letts), BBC Radio 1, KCRW and KEXP. The album’s celebrated remix package included modern club reworks and dubs from DJ Plead, Martyn Bootyspoon, I.JORDAN, Vanessa Worm, Esa and Adrian Sherwood.

His machine grooves are fired through a prism of crate-digging influences, from Todd Rundgren to Basic Channel and back again. His distinctive synthesiser tones have graced remixes and production for Disclosure, Khruangbin, Genesis Owusu and BadBadNotGood. A seasoned performer, he’s taken his live band to Glastonbury, dragged his Juno-60 into Berghain and turned the Melbourne Recital Centre into a full-fledged nightclub for his album launch. He is eclectic, obsessional and groovy. Harvey Sutherland is Neurotic Funk.

AGENT
James Ware: james@watartists.com