"Everyone deserves a second chance"

 Harri Georgiou is a metamorphosis in his own right; both in his personal struggles and in his expression as an artist. Now at the age of 19 he has, by his own admission, overcome his personal battles.

 Based between Stoke and Leicester, where he’s studying for a Music Technology and Innovation Degree at The De Montford University, Harri Gee is an artist and a producer of electronic house music and is closing 2010 with a bang.  Having been writing music since the age of 14, he upholds a strong sense of self-belief and says: “If you apply yourself, you can become whatever you want be.

Conversely, school life had not always gone to plan for Harri. Having been labelled by friends as the class clown and as far to say a teacher’s worst nightmare, Harri was expelled weeks before his exams.  “If I did try to behave, teachers would still have no time for me and knock me back, in which case it gave me no reason to want to get my head down and behave.”Says Harri.

He added: “I managed to scrape just 2 GCSE’s; I thought to myself, the real world was now here.” While Harri was at School, he was interested in a music technology course.  Teachers would regularly tell Harri he had no chance of getting on the course and that he’d become a nobody.

Despite their negativity, Harri had a growing number of accomplishments under his belt, ranging from Love Music Hate Racism concerts, hundreds of studio sets and had been working very closely with local music youth centre’s outside of school to teach youngsters how to write lyrics and to produce music.

 As privileged as he was, his aim was to change the attitude of the kids and to be their motivator.   “I found it to be incredibly refreshing and funny to see my old self in the guys who I worked with.”  Disregarding his teacher’s initial comments made Harri even more focused in pursuing his dream of becoming a signed artist, as he took his work to the induction of the music technology course.

 “I could feel Pieces of my dream starting to form together whilst studying for the B tech National Diploma at Newcastle-under-Lyme College.”  Harri wasn’t afraid in admitting to being a little intimidated during his course of study; Observing from teachers who he described as some of the industries finest.

 “Learning from them was a real privilege, it made me appreciate the small things in life and before I knew it, my overall attitude started to change.” On nearing the end of his time at College, the prospect of obtaining a place at one of the best music universities in the country was put in front of Harri.  “University had never been the plan, but with the opportunity in front of me I thought why not?”

Harri proudly accepted an offer at The De Montford University in Leicester, which specializes in all forms of music technology, which he feels has helped better himself as a musician, technically speaking.  Using what Harri had learnt from the course and convincing his supportive parents to buy him a laptop and music software, he started to produce more different genres of music, mainly house, dance and commercial pop which he says he is comfortable with; This leading to the release of his first published CD, Spotlight, a trademark peak in his career. Harri Quotes:

 “I organised a meeting with local music shop, Head Store who agreed to stock my CD. “It’s a pretty reflective album. I now had my CD on sale in a shop and felt I could be taken more seriously as an artist.”

Now with the amplification of the drum n bass scene, Harri's forte in his live performances and fast-track lyric writing are being put to the test.  Harry quotes, “I’m comfortable with making many genres of music, mainly house, dance, commercial pop and drum and bass. “I’m quite versatile when it comes to producing and I’m always willing to step out of my comfort zone in order to create a slightly different sound.”

 Now, halfway to nearing the end of his degree, Harri reveals his hunger for fresh sounds have inspired him to start his own record Label, Dub Vandal Records, which he claims is a chance for him and fellow artists to release music to a wider spectrum of audience.  The independent label, based in Leicester specializes in music production and promotion, holding name to artists including Idris Jones, Griftz and Immortal.

Harri says: “The label is expanding as we speak.”  In terms of producing, he’s been writing music since the age of 12, and now creates all his tracks from scratch using all his own software and vocals. Drawing insight from Calvin Harris, who like Harri produces all his own music, enthuses his appetite for writing new tracks, which have often left him submerged.  “His music's amazing and motivates me, but also the fact that he produced his first album in his bedroom, my new single was also recorded in my bedroom,” he added.

 “I find it a real inspiration that his club hit, Acceptable in the 80’s, could be made with such minimal facilities.”  The past 2 years have seen Harri create more commercial releases, collaborating with companion and rapper Idris Jones. Having established as a household name in the drum and bass scene, it seems every club wants a piece of the Duos entrancing lyrics and hard cut beat. As a visionary release, the pairs accompaniment with Beatmunga, created a track called lose Control, which has pioneered Harri's sound.

Lyrically, the song is more focused and self-expressive than past releases says Harri. “It speaks volumes to me.”  The songs triumph, led to an opportunity to have a music video made.  “We shot the video about 3 weeks ago and the track is going to be an official single release; we are still in debate with music channels as we speak as to what channels the video will be broadcast on. Watch this space”

 Harri admits to finding it tough over the years when coming to build a name for himself, tending to over speed his music.  “I’ve had to learn to slow down the invention and admit to myself when a track isn’t fully up to scratch. It’s all about growing with a track.”  Harri places a lot of importance on the extreme emotional content felt within his lyrics and his proudest moment came when he won MC of the year award back in 2009, and not forgetting the fact he’s also had 9 BBC plays 9 weeks simultaneously on theSubculture channel.

"The past two years have been non stop. Juggling between a full-time education, producing new sounds and endless nights of gigging, I've loved every minute of it.  It seems audiences have united in force for admiration of Harris performances and song writing skills at some of the hottest clubs and venues to date.  Taking centre stage at popular attractions around Stoke-on-Trent including Zenn Nightclub, Touch, JFK, and has headlined several charity events for the likes of The Donna Louise Trust.

 Harris puts some of his success due to the invention of social networking sites. Pages on Facebook and Myspace have meant Harri can reach out to a wider audience span all over the UK. He says: “I take full advantage of networking.” It looks as though the prospect of Harris career is as every bit captivating as is his enthusiasm for composition.

“I take music very seriously and won’t stop until I’m an established artist making my mark on music forever.”