DJ Harvey: "I'm contributing to what is possible in Ibiza"

How do you prepare for your Pikes gigs?

“The event is an intense workout for me. I play records for eight hours, dance solidly for eight hours and concentrate solidly for eight hours. I am having a good time, but it’s also a period of really intense, deep concentration and consideration. It’s physically and mentally exhausting. So beforehand I need to make sure I’ve had enough rest and have eaten some good food. As the Americans say, ‘Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,’ and I find that that is true. I have to know my records. You can’t plan out an eight-hour set; the people decide what I play. The way they react shows me what they will receive next.”

Is it true you prime the sound rig yourself?

“On the day of the event, I come in two hours before we open and tune the soundsystem. Last season, I brought a nice pre-amp and an Alpha Recordings mixer with me, my own styluses and cartridges. I take a lot of time and care over the fidelity of the soundsystem. I tune the soundsystem each week with the engineer, then realign the lighting. Lighting is very important. Not only am I DJing, I’m a lighting jockey at the same time. When it goes dark, I play the lights in time with the music. I am also playing percussion with the tambourine, whistling, all the silly dances, all sorts of stuff going on. So I realign the lighting, make sure the smoke machine works and that the strobe is at not quite an epilepsy-inducing flashing frequency!”

Sounds as though you’re doing a lot more than just pressing play…

“If you want to go to one of the corporate, industrial nightclubs, that’s your choice and you’ll have that experience, but if you choose to come to Mercury Rising you’ll have – I don’t know how to describe it – a beautiful, hedonistic experience. At Mercury Rising people actually dance rather than just raising their hands up when the bass drum comes back in.”

[Photo: Marc De Groot]