Calvin Harris

Calvin Harris' real name is Daniel Harland and was born on 17th January 1984. Calvin Harris is originally from Scotland and is a singer-songwriter, record producer and DJ. Calvin Harris was first attracted to electronic music in his teens and was recording bedroom demo's by 1999. His earliest success was 21; his songs 'Da Bongos' and 'Brighter Days' were released as a 12" club single and CD-EP by the Prima Facie label in early 2002 under the name Stouffer. Harris signed contracts with EMI (publishing) and Sony BMG (recording) in 2006, after his music had been discovered on the social networking website Myspace. Harris had recently moved back from London to his hometown of Dumfries because he was unable to find a job.


Harris' first album I Created Disco was released on 29 June 2007. The album contained uptempo electroclash songs that were influenced by music from the 1980s. To promote I Created Disco, Harris embarked on a tour of the UK, supporting Faithless and Groove Armada. In 2008 he collaborated with rapper Dizzee Rascal on his song "Dance Wiv Me". They performed an acoustic version for the BBC as part of the Glastonbury Festival 2008 coverage. The song was released digitally on 30 June 2008 and went straight to number 1 in the UK. On 18 October 2008 he was also featured on Radio 1's Essential Mix with a 2 hour set. In 2009 he produced Dizzee Rascal's next single entitled "Holiday". He was supposed to make an appearance in its music video, but objected to dancing along in some scenes, wearing a certain shirt for the video and not wearing his "fly eye" glasses.


Recently, In 2011, he toured with Rihanna in Australia, and released a collaboration with her, "We found love".On 2 April 2011, Harris confirmed via Twitter that he was recording a video for his single "Bounce", in Las Vegas and that it would feature Kelis. On 29 April, BBC Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac played a world exclusive premiere of the track, commenting that the single had the potential to be a "summer smash". It debuted in the UK Singles Chart on 19 June 2011 and was second to Example's "Changed The Way You Kissed Me". Another single, "Feel So Close", was released on 21 August 2011. Harris provided vocals and remixers included Nero, Dillon Francis and Benny Benassi. Harris also featured on LMFAO's album Sorry For Party Rocking, appearing on "Reminds Me of You". Harris has been confirmed as one of the headline acts at acclaimed New Zealand new year festival Rhythm and Vines for the 2011/2012 festival.


As well as a singer songwriter, Calvin Harris also works as a producer. With his earliest professional production being for Australian pop icon, Kylie Minogue on her X (2007), most notably the single release, "In My Arms", which peaked within the top ten of the UK Singles Chart. Harris returned again to work with Minogue on her album Aphrodite (2010), co-producing the track "Too Much". Harris turned down the opportunity to work with American singer Lady Gaga. Harris said: "When Lady Gaga first came out, her name rang a bell, so I checked my emails - and it turns out that on 1 January 2008, I got an email asking to work with her. I thought, 'Lady Gaga, what sort of name is that?' So I replied saying, 'Nah, I’m not into that.' Fast forward a year and she’s the biggest thing. But I don’t regret turning her down as I didn’t think the song I heard then was that good." Harris has also worked with American pop/dance singer Katy Perry.