If there were an award for best pseudonym, Adultnapper, a.k.a. Francis Harris would win in an instant. One of electronic music’s most important artists, this Brooklyn based producer and DJ comes to the scene after stints in grad school (philosophy) and hardcore punk bands. An avid reader of serious literature, he talks faster than he spins and makes you feel smarter just by being part of the conversation.
To prove the point, we begin with the sorry state of the book publishing business:
“Literature is determined by a few publications that tell everyone what is cool and what isn’t. I think Roberto Bolano [late author of 2666, which won the National Book Award this year] is a total poseur but these publications told everyone he was cool and that was it. It’s the dominance of a certain perspective, and it’s happening everywhere and causing us to lose not just real literature, but real music and film too.
Adultnapper – Echologist The Score
“You can also see it in a film like Slumdog Millionaire, which is a glorified Bollywood music video yet won the best film of the year. It’s kind of a joke how reduced most art forms have become. Today there’s an emphasis on quantity, not quality, and the biggest cause of that is the ubiquity of Internet media, where you don’t have to verify sources or facts [and where the emphasis is on simple-minded perspectives, turned out quickly]. Still, if you’re constantly focused on that, it would be impossible to work. So you do what you do without worrying about that.”
Even electronic music is not immune to the pressures. “Electronic music,” he continues “is a cottage industry that by necessity is fully invested in marketing tools – you have to play the right afterparties, be on the right rooftops, play the right festivals. It’s not, for the most part, about the kind of concept you have for the music, or the song, but about the cult of personality.”
This represents a dramatic shift from the old school, where the DJ was an anonymous conduit of the music, rather than a star. “I liked the anonymity of it, how old-school DJs like Victor Calderone would have the DJ booth way off to the side,” he admits. “It’s not about the DJ, who’s just the medium. The DJ thus becomes secondary to the party and the music, and I liked how that was mysterious and uncommodifiable.”
That anonymity, in fact, was one of the things that drew him into electronic music, a scene that’s much different from the punk world, in the first place. “The hardcore scene is a lot different in that it springs from a political perspective where dance music for the most part is self-indulgent and narcissistic. But I liked the music and always saw something like Detroit techno as experimental music. When you go there and see these working class guys doing house music and doing it as a roofer might, without ego or the desire to talk about it – that’s where there’s no ego or narcissism.”
Besides, he continues, “the activism [of punk] is meant for younger people who aren’t yet as pessimistic about the system. I’m just trying to not take myself so seriously or take partying so seriously because mostly dance music is a bunch of white people hearing good music, surrounded by good graphic design, taking a bump of ketamine.
“I’m not trying to put it down, mind you. I’m just saying that the whole thing seems part fantasy and part graphic novel – except for those times when it’s done right and it comes together and you have a special feeling and energy that you don’t get anywhere else. When that happens, it feels substantial and very real and I like that a lot.”
OPTIONAL/ALTERNATE ENDING: Before we hang up, there’s one final question. He’s got a diverse body of work that remains unknown to the mainstream listener, so we asked where he thought the best entry point would be, especially from someone who doesn’t already love techno and house music. He thinks for a minute and then laughs. “I’d say it’s less from the bigger dance club tracks, but the deeper and darker ones that don’t sell so much. But I think you could start anywhere since I try to make everything something that’s listenable from home or a club, and base it on a traditional song structure that has melody and harmony. So if you’re musically oriented, it shouldn’t make too much a difference.”
Words by Neil Feineman
