DJ Rachel Harvey

Performing regularly at clubs like Pacha and Cable, award winning Australian DJ Rachel Harvey is renowned for her technical prowess and ability to read a crowd. Her years of experience and diverse music collection of sounds past and present guarantees she'll keep the dancefloor pumping at any party from dusk til dawn.

Australia has long been known as one of the best places in the world to party, but now its artists are starting to make a real impact on the international dance scene too. The last couple of years have seen the likes of Dirty South, Infusion and The Bang Gang DJs step into the limelight and another name to watch out for is Perth's latest export, award winning DJ Rachel Harvey.

Having relocated to London, Rachel looks set to make her mark on the UK and beyond with her incendiary mixing skills, impeccable taste and overall passion for music. Famously known for long sets - eight hours behind the decks is commonplace for Rachel - she also has a host of other exciting projects up her sleeve including her forthcoming debut EP and a DJ/VJ collaboration with VJ Freedom.

Let's backtrack a little, Rachel was born in England but raised in Perth from an early age. It was in 1989 that she had her first taste of dance music and it wasn't long before she became fascinated with the DJ's craft. Hearing Sasha play made a particularly strong impact on her and Rachel retains her love for the art of mixing to this day and is known for her long mixes. It wasn't long before she had acquired her first set of decks and was practicing hard. Her first club set soon followed.

The standard of DJing in Perth was high and as the only female DJ in town, Rachel had to fight hard to compete against the boys. Bookings soon followed at clubs, raves and beach parties in Perth and beyond, and it wasn't long before she was supporting Carl Cox, John Digweed, Sasha, Danny Rampling, Boy George, Jeremy Healy and others on their Australian tours. Events like Raindance, Grin, Naughty but Nice, Obsession, Rush and many more were all getting the Rachel Harvey treatment and she was building up a substantial following across Australia and becoming a popular name.

She also hosted a weekly radio show, 'Full Frequency', on RTRFM in Perth and could be found playing everywhere from cool underground parties to huge crowds at some of Australia's biggest dance events. It's probably for her club residencies that she's best known, however, and she held a six-year residency with DC's and a two-year residency with Connections, both in Perth. It's here where Rachel really perfected her art and became renowned for playing long sets, often for the whole night. Just check out the statistics: over 700 eight-hour sets at DC's and 200 eight-hour sets at Connections!

Rachel was playing a wide range of music too covering everything from funky house through to tribal and progressive, and even a smattering of commercial dance and old school classics. You don't put in these kinds of hours without achieving a wealth of experience and picking up a few fans along the way. Respect was duly paid with Rachel winning the Connections award for 'Best DJ' three years consecutively and the 'Most Popular Club DJ' and 'Best Mixing DJ' categories at the X-Press Magazine Australian Music Awards as voted for by clubbers.

Having conquered Australia and always one for a new challenge, Rachel felt the time was right to leave her comfort zone and move to London. It was the middle of the noughties and you could hardly move for DJs in the capital, but she simply felt she couldn't go any further in Australia and wasn't feeling as inspired by the scene around her. It was also a desire to work more alongside the big international DJs she'd supported, and she had been encouraged by the likes of Boy George who, impressed by her skills, encouraged her to make the jump. It was time to move forward, basically.

Rachel quickly rolled up her sleeves and got stuck in. She has picked up bookings at venues like Pacha, Cable, The Fridge, Koko's, the Egg and Café de Paris in London, and, inspired by the sounds she was hearing at nights like Trade, she also got to play with Judge Jules at Sundissential in Birmingham as well as trips to Manchester and Newcastle. Rachel also joined the Sharp Boys in the 'Lite Lounge' at Trade and has become a popular DJ on the London fetish scene.

There have been dates overseas too with trips to Culpa in Belfast, Club Icon in Cork, Le Depot in Paris, Prida in Stockholm and playing to 2,000 people at the open-air Cesme Beach Club in Turkey. Always thoroughly immersed in music, Rachel had a weekly radio show on Unknown FM for a while and was a regular tutor at the Point Blank DJ school in London. This included a demonstration at PLASA sound and light show at Earl's Court, and you can also catch Rachel passing on some of her secrets in the 'Teach Yourself How to DJ' DVD.

She has also just launched a new collaboration with VJ Freedom which will involve the synchronisation of music and visuals. VJ Freedom provided visuals for Mika and Mark Ronson at Glastonbury Festival and has widespread experience of working in clubs and festivals, while the pair will also be working together in the studio. If that's not enough, Rachel is also planning to launch her own DJ school in 2010.

It's behind the decks where she's happiest, of course, and you're as likely to hear tracks by Freemasons, David Guetta and Fredde Le Grand in her sets as you are music from Deadmau5, Sebastien Leger and Claude VonStroke. Throw her superb mixing skills into the equation and Rachel is one DJ who can take the crowd on a journey.

"I really do feel the energy of the crowd," she explains. "It makes a real difference if you can feel that and feed off it, and it helps shape your sets. I keep people dancing because of that. No matter how small or large a room is, I can keep the energy right and keep it moving."

As Rachel readily admits, she's on a mission to show the rest of the world what she has to offer and what Australia is currently missing. Given the chance she'll play all night long too and sometimes eight hours just isn't enough when Rachel gets behind the decks.

Clubs/Bars

Abacus - London
Cable - London
Cafe De Paris - London
Cesme - Turkey
Club Icon - Cork
Connections - Perth
Culpa - Belfast
DC's - Perth
Freedom Bar - Soho
Groucho's - Soho
Imperial Gardens - Camberwell
Le Depot - Paris
Lizard Lounge - Sydney
Mass - Brixton
Pacha - London
Rhythm Factory - Whitechapel
Ruby Blue - Mayfair
Sundissential - Birmingham
The Egg - London
The Fridge - Brixton
Thompson's Garage - Belfast
Tiger Tiger - Picadilly Circus
Turnmills - Londoncha - London

Venues

Clients

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