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Since 1996, Nick Harris has been first and foremost associated with NRK Sound Division, the one label in Bristol that shunned the city’s drum and bass, trip hop and dubstep dominated trend, instead opting to go with a house tech sound signature that varied greatly over the years.

Releasing epic and timeless cuts from artists such as Nick Holder, Joey Negro, Steve Bug, Ian Pooley and Kerri Chandler to name but a few, Nick Harris immersed himself in running the label to great success, rarely venturing into production himself until relatively recently.

Nick’s own solo productions were first heard in 2010 on NRK, Akbal and Climatic Sound and now, in early 2012, Nick releases is solo EP ‘Dispatches’. Not only is Nick plunging himself into his production work, but ‘Dispatches’ is the debut EP on his new label Stoned Immaculate.

With a sound that nods distinctively to US House, ‘Dispatches’ sets the tone for Stoned Immaculate that Nick says will be delivering “good, dubby and chunky house cuts”...

You’ve just announced your new label Stoned Immaculate that will debut in February. Why have you chosen to start a new label in a time when there are so many labels around – you could even say the industry is a little oversaturated these days – what’s your opinion?
I’ve been running NRK for the last 15 years and in that time we had an offshoot label that ran for a few years, Honchos Music, but aside from that NRK carried all the output that was signed up for this long period of time. I felt the time and opportunity was there now to launch another imprint.

Of course you are right, there is a huge amount of labels around nowadays, spurned on by digital culture, but then again you could always say that there were a lot of labels around back in the vinyl days.

It’s just as much a personal decision as a business decision, and it’s nice to have something new to work on and build up, as solid as the NRK brand is, it’s nice to break away and introduce a new little baby to the house, so to speak.

Why the need to start something new after NRK’s huge success?
NRK has a huge catalogue, built up over the last 15 years which I am immensely proud of and the label has always released a wide selection of house and techno music, but this can sometimes be a bit like having ball and chains around your ankles.

Stoned Immaculate gives me the opportunity to focus a new label with a specific sound of house music and really try and work the label to become a dependable and trusted imprint for quality music.

NRK’s A&R policy spanned over a wide palette throughout its length – is that A&R approach going to be mirrored with Stoned Immaculate?
NRK’s output has been very varied, and the A&R policy always reflects my own very wide personal tastes, so over the last 15 years NRK has released deep house, tech house, techno, vocal garage, chuggy progressive, and whatever other genre tags you want to throw into the pot!

Stoned Immaculate won’t be so bold really, instead focusing on straight up dance floor underground house music. It won’t be going too techy or dark, just delivery good, dubby and chunky house cuts.

Are you worried that Stoned Immaculate will automatically be compared to NRK?
Not really, I’m hoping that the label will be received as any other new label would, I’m not looking to exploit the NRK connection, and the music will hopefully do the talking.

What format is Stoned Immaculate taking – digital/vinyl – both?
Right now Stoned Immaculate will just exist as a digital label. I still continue to press vinyl with NRK and another label that I am involved with, but I have a pretty good understanding of the vinyl market, and really I don’t think that the demand will be there for Stoned Immaculate.

It seems to me that vinyl is still working well for certain styles of techno, very deep house, disco, dubstep, but more middle of centre house stuff just does not check out from a business perspective on vinyl.

You’ve spoken passionately about compilations such as The Lab before - will Stoned Immaculate be doing anything similar in the future?
Nope, Stoned Immaculate, as mentioned, is just focusing on artist EPs. NRK still has a solid brand profile and history, and has become synonymous with mix CD series over the years, so The Lab will continue into 2012 with a double mix from Paul Woolford, and Back In The Box may resurface when the right artist comes along.

5The labels debut release ‘Dispatches’ which is from yourself sounds very classic deep old house, quite Chicago sounding – is that the road that a Stoned Immaculate will be sticking with?
I’d say that my ‘Dispatches’ EP owes more to New York vibes, there was definitely that influence when I produced the tracks. This EP probably sums up my DJ'ing style best right now, I’ve released stuff this year that has me experimenting a little, doing weirder tech house and deeper things, but definitely this first release sets the tone for what I expect the label to come up with in the coming months.

But yes, NY, Chicago house, this is the sound that I always gravitate back to (as well as Detroit techno and electronica, but that channels itself into another label I work on) so Stoned Immaculate will be flying that flag in its output.

You only started producing seriously a few years ago as previous time was spent full time running NRK - how easy have you found it to get fully into producing?
I always dabbled in the studio over the last 15 years of NRK, but running the label was always a huge task, we had a heavy release schedule over the years, vinyl was a big part of what we did, as were the mix CDs and all the administrative work that goes into putting all that out, so I never got the opportunity to fully realise my little production career.

But the shift now in the industry has afforded me more time, the labels have streamlined and I now work on my own, so I took the chance to get involved with writing music about two years ago. Plus the technology has obviously made it easier for people to start making music, and I took advantage of this.  I am really enjoying making music at the moment, I’ve always been heavily involved in the music creation process from my days in bands to sitting in on countless studio sessions as part of the A&R process for NRK, so I am constantly filled with ideas and love the process of getting a track together, learning and understanding more about the process over time.

You’ve obviously been surrounded by many many highly talented artists for years – have you had any production advice and tips from the elite that have helped you develop your own sound?
Yeah I’ve received some great advice and insight into production from other artists, but I would say for me that having a huge appetite for music over the years has helped me the most in my own productions.Just spending time listening to as much music as possible, and not just electronic or dance, and really listening to what other producers do, how they arrange, the sonics of other productions, this is where I get my inspirations from.

What and who is up next after ‘Dispatches’?
I’m going to work on another EP myself, continue the tone of the label and start to cast the net out and hopefully sign up some likeminded material. I’ve plenty of options and friends who would tick the boxes for Stoned Immaculate, so there will definitely be other artists involved over the coming releases.

What new talent, if any, will Stoned Immaculate be taking on and nurturing – or will you be showcasing already established artists?
There will be a mixture, I always believe in giving new artists an outlet, so I hope to showcase some new blood as well as calling upon established artists. The key to running a label is to get the balance right of prolific names to bring you to the fore, and breaking new artists, all the while making sure the music is where you want it to be so I’m looking forward to getting some good music together.

You’ve mentioned before that you started out on radio and in print? I’m curious – who were you broadcasting and writing for?
I used to work at BBC Radio Bristol in the late 80s for two music programmes, one was a dedicated dance show, which was rare for a regional BBC station, and this was when house and hip-hop really broke, so we used to have people like Inner City and KRS1 into the studio, and play house, hip-hop and I guess more ravier stuff as well, and the other show was an indie/alternative show, again at a really pivotal time for that music, so we would have bands in every week and we covered anything from shoegaze indie to punk to Madchester, all that stuff. Print-wise I used to write for various local papers and fanzines, all on music, plus I used to write copy for Reading Festival and Glastonbury Festival official programmes around 90-92, which was great because I got paid in backstage passes and free alcohol!

Do you think the relevance of music journalism and even radio has diminished since the online presence of music magazines and online radio etc? A little like vinyl and digital I suppose....
I guess you could say though that music journalism and radio has been given a lifeline from the internet, I think there are way more articles about music and outlets for radio shows now the internet is in full flight. Pre-internet days, it was still hard to find decent radio shows for music, you had John Peel on Radio 1, some pirate stations, if you lived in an area where you could pick up a signal, and if you were lucky, your regional station doing a token alternative music show.

Nowadays, well, it’s everywhere, radio shows, podcasts, mixes, at least there’s a choice now, albeit maybe an oversaturated choice. And in regards to journalism, again, the market was once dominated by Mixmag, Muzik, DJ Mag, Jockey Slut breathed fresh air into dance music journalism, but now there’s a wealth of websites where there’s some good journalism and writing on music, both reviews and essays and good researched articles, and it’s all doing good things to actually promote the music and inform people on what’s going on.

What’s behind the label name Stoned Immaculate – that was the name of a tribute album to the doors you know!!
“Out here in the perimeter there are no stars, out here we is stoned immaculate”, Jim Morrsion. Say no more!