A Talk with Harvey Gold

Harvey Gold is a hip hop producer from Norway who has released a range of EPs and albums over the past two years. In 2021, Harvey released a series of projects including the EP Opus, and albums Genre Time, Charis, and Genre Time 2. He has plans to release his next album before the new year.

Regarding the new album, Harvey said: "I think what separates this one from all my previous work is that I really got to focus on the things I like. Groove is everything, and unlike on my previous albums, I just sampled songs I really liked. This is just a love letter to music and sampling, and an aromantic love letter to all the amazing artists featured."

The lead single for Harvey’s new album, ‘Elmer Fudd’, features rapper MANSDEM. The track listing for the album has also been released, from which fans can see that a range of other artists are involved.

Harvey said: "I didn’t plan on collaborating much with this record. I just wanted to work with the very best artists I know (excluding a few I want to work with on future projects), but I didn’t realise how many talented artists I’m in contact with. So here we are – another feature-stacked album."

This urge to collaborate with so many different artists is all thanks to Harvey’s influences. "Gorillaz was my main influence for a decade. When I was eleven, I got the Demon Days Live DVD. It changed my life. Since then, I’ve been in love with the idea of a career heavily revolving around collaboration."

With his Genre Time series of albums, Harvey fuses a range of different samples from across the musical spectrum, with countless beat switches. He spoke about his process for the series:

"I am in no way a perfectionist, nor patient, so I usually don’t flesh out my beats. I work until I like something and then move on. You could call that impatience, but I decided to turn it into a strength. With Genre Time, I’ve found a way to let people hear all my ideas in a satisfying way. As for why I sample so many different sounds: it’s because cool sounds can be found anywhere, and I love so much music."

With Harvey’s upcoming album, he’s not abandoning this style of production. "The final track on my album is called ‘Funny Dog’. It’s basically this album’s Genre Time, with tons of ideas turned into one mix."

About the future for the Genre Time series, Harvey said: "Genre Time will be a trilogy. The last one might last for hours. Anyone who wants to be on it will be on it, and I don’t care if people listen. Genre Time 3 will be a beautiful mess."

On Genre Time 2, Harvey worked with rapper Mr. Muthafuckin’ eXquire on the track ‘Drip’. When it comes to future collaborations, Harvey said:

"From the people I know, I’d like to work with LeeV, Tendø, and a few more. I’d love to work with Quelle Chris, and for more dream collabs, they would of course include Q-Tip and Karriem Riggins. But my end goal as Harvey Gold is a song with Danny Brown."

Of these artists, a handful are responsible for influencing Harvey’s sound. He said: "Danny Brown inspired me to explore more music, and because of that, I found The Cold Vein by Cannibal Ox, produced by El-P. El-P is the artist that made me certain about what I wanted to do: produce. As for my current sound, it’s mostly inspired by J Dilla, Q-Tip, and Karriem Riggins. They inspired me especially when it comes to sampling, and my favourite aspect of music: rhythm."

When it comes to his future, Harvey is open to branching out from hip hop. He said: "I don’t necessarily consider myself a hip hop producer; hip hop just happens to be what I love the most. I’m not suddenly going to make a country album or whatever, but my love for music isn’t limited to one genre. Trying out more stuff is bound to happen. My hope is that my music evolves into its own thing."

He said: "I’m just really excited for the music I and the artists I know create. You could call it irrelevant outside of this bubble, but it really feels like we are a part of something special here. Whether we all fail or not, it’s not so far fetched to look at our work as a modern equivalent to Def Jux."

While Harvey Gold’s latest album has no title as of yet, he said it won’t be more than two months until the full record is released.