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DJs come, DJs go. Clubs open, clubs close. Yet Glasgow’s Harri has held down a Saturday night residency at Sub Club since 1990, only a few years after house music really kicked off across the Atlantic. Co-hosted by Domenic Capello, their party Subculture is a fixture for touring internationals and Harri has played many of the world’s hot spots in return. He’s also been producing for years and runs his own label: as proper househead as you’re likely to meet.

Where were you DJ’ing prior to your residency?

I was a mate of the guy that started the Sub Club, so I was playing occasional Saturdays at the Sub and was playing every Sunday night at another club just round the corner called Fury Murrays. This would be in about ‘86/87/88. I also travelled to Aberdeen most Fridays and Saturdays to do another club called Fever. I played a mixture of soul, funk, electro, rare groove etc… It’s called M.O.B.O now. Around ‘88 I did another night called Beatbox on a Friday at the Sub that was pretty successful - this was more hip hop and early house.

You held the Atlantis party with SLAM for four years (‘90-94) before teaming up with Domenic to do Subculture: Were the nights distinctly different or was it merely a case of changing the name and personnel?

Initially when I got together with Orde and Stuart the music was a mixture of all kinds of house – Detroit, Chicago, Italo… all kinds. It was a very hedonistic time. Towards the end of our partnership they were playing a much techier sound. I was into lots of different types of house. Numbers were dropping off and we both had other nights happening… so we called it a day. When I was offered the Saturday night at the Sub to myself, I asked Domenic and another mate called Oscar (Mish Mash) to do the night because they were the DJs I really liked. We regained a crowd and added loads more and the madness continued. After a couple of years Oscar left to pursue other avenues and Domenic and myself continued to fly the flag.

You also held a residency with Kenny Hawkes at Plastic People in London: How does partying in London differ from Glasgow?

Plastic People in London with Kenny was magic. It didn’t differ that much musically for me - if anything I probably played a wee bit harder in Glasgow at that time. A fair proportion of the Plastic People crowd were exiled Scots. Plastic People had (and still does have) an amazing soundsystem. It made really deep records sound awesome. This was all down to the owner Ade, who was a music lover and audiophile.

Sub Club was closed for around two years (late ‘99-02): What did you get up to during that time?

What could have been a tragic incident actually turned out to be really good for Domenic and myself. About a month after the fire we moved operations to another club called Planet Peach, which was a fairly good stop gap measure… but not really our thing. We did it there for around a year. We were then offered another venue that had a better soundsystem so we moved there for another 18 months or so. Domenic and myself filled in the last few months travelling here there and everywhere… which was great. We had only been allowed 4-6 Saturdays off a year, so it was good to get out and about and check what was happening elsewhere.

Young clubbers are often fickle when it comes to hot new clubs and older ones tend to step out of the scene altogether at some point: How had the Sub Club crowd changed by the time it re-opened?

Because I have DJ’d most every week at the Sub for ages, the change is much more gradual to me. It’s kind of like a radio show: we have to keep it fresh and try and reflect what’s currently pushing the right buttons for us. Unlike a lot of nights we are not genre specific; we play all types of house. Crowds always refresh themselves… people that haven’t been for six months will say “the crowd’s younger now” which means perhaps they feel older. But the age group that attends clubs regularly has never really changed…

I was impressed that one weekend when Greg Vickers had to be away from his Saturday party at Sankeys Soap in Manchester (in ‘02), he compensated by playing on the Friday: Have you ever done anything like that?

Yeah, I once did a Friday with the Greenskeepers cause I was going to be away on the Saturday… It was just a cheap scam to try and pump up numbers ;)

A promoter down here recently told me he wasn’t booking internationals anymore because, for all the expense involved, they were very often disappointing: Would you consider offering a money-back guarantee if you’re flown around the world and don’t perform?

Ha ha ha… depends on the type of gig. I have flown halfway round the world and bombed - I just didn’t have the right music for that particular crowd, or I have been sandwiched between a happy hardcore and shite DJ. I’m always going to try my best in any situation, but sometimes it just isn’t happening. If the promoter has tried their best and had a bad turn out I would be open to negotiation. I’m not going to go and get wasted and play shit… The answer is maybe.

At what stage of your DJ career did you get into production? Who was influential and/or helpful in the early stages of you doing that?

In the early to mid-nineties I got asked to do a remix by a local entrepreneur. It sold well, giving me the chance to get somebody else to pay for studio time. At this time Glasgow had loads of house labels… everybody knew each other: Slam guys, Limbo, Glasgow Underground, Bomba, Sole Music, Rub a Dub etc. You were hearing stuff every week that was fairly inspiring. I bought my first sampler from Nigel Hayes and shared a studio with Oscar from Mish Mash. There were lots of people making tunes… we were all influencing and helping each other.

What labels and producers are you involved with right now, and in what capacity?

At the moment I probably only do an afternoon a week in the studio with my mate Graeme Clarke (The Revenge, 25 East, Hong Kong Micros). This year we had a track out on Bosh and another on Deep Freeze. I have my own label (Tax Discs) as does Graeme… but its tough to try and sell records at the moment. We have had a fair bit of interest in our new stuff . We just got to wait and see what happens ;)

Did you ever have a Plan B to fall back on if the DJ/producer/promoter thing hadn’t worked out?

I never had a plan A to begin with. As one door closed another one opened. I had a pretty well paid job before DJ’ing took over. I am pretty lucky to be doing a job I love… and long may it continue.