Calvin Harris (real name Adam Richard Wiles) is a Scottish DJ, record producer, and singer-songwriter from Dumfries who played an important part in introducing electronic sound to the field of pop. His fans usually perceive him as a composer of glamorous club hits and well-crafted songs and collabs that work both live and on-air. Over the course of his career, the musician grew from home producer and local act into the author of numerous international hit songs performed with Rihanna, Ellie Goulding, Dua Lipa, Sam Smith, and other stars. The man behind the stage name is a unique artist who created his career as a result of writing, producing, and singing songs and being deeply connected to modern scenes of British pop and electronic music.
Distant origins
The musician was born on January 17, 1984, in Dumfries, Scotland. It means that he grew up far away from those major cities, which are the starting point of the careers of almost every pop and electronic artist. Nevertheless, he succeeded in making the journey from an unknown musician in the small town to the biggest name on the pop music market nowadays. As a teenager, he fell in love with electronic sounds and homemade beats and understood that, using computer programs, one can create his or her own songs. That was how he started experimenting with melodies at an early age and distributing songs via the Internet.
It is quite symbolic that the choice of the artist's stage name matches the style of his music: the first songs were still far away from glossy festival pop Harris is famous for. Nevertheless, the main features of the future music style of this man had appeared – drum programming, bright synths, and catchy hooks. Even at this point of his career, Calvin Harris showed his perception of the basic principles of club music: the equal significance of a good hook and a strong beat.
Breakthrough records
In 2007, Harris made his debut with the song "Acceptable in the 80s". That year, he released his first album entitled I Created Disco. "The Girls" and "Merrymaking at My Place" were among the songs on it: with this album, Harris showed the public he was not just a club DJ, but a songwriter who knew how to construct the structure of his compositions and to be funny about his music.
In 2009, with the second album of his, named Ready for the Weekend, Calvin Harris proved that his music style is diverse. With 18 Months, which was released in 2012, this artist became a complete crossover act: with this album, he released numerous hit songs and defined the style of the electronic pop era of the beginning of the 2010s. These songs were "Feel So Close", "Bounce" ft. Kelis, "Sweet Nothing" with Florence Welch, "I Need Your Love" featuring Ellie Goulding. Around this time, this musician gained huge popularity thanks to his collaboration with Rihanna on her hit "We Found Love".
It should be noted that the main peculiarity of this period of Harris' career was the combination of polished sound of his songs and their freshness. In particular, the artist knew how to build tension using pre-hooks and then to resolve it, giving listeners big choruses sounding louder than the songs themselves. Moreover, he knew how to make great collaborations by placing vocals of other musicians into his own songs perfectly. In other words, he did not just compose club tracks, but defined the sound of big pop hit songs.
Pop star producer
After the 18 Months era, Calvin Harris went on developing as an artist. For example, his next work, named Motion, was released in 2014. "Summer" and "Blame" ft. John Newman were among hit songs from it: this album demonstrated his ability to maintain high energy and avoid repetitions. Thus, he has become known as a versatile musician that can work well with the genre of euphoric electronic music or smooth pop songs.
Later, the list of songs associated with Calvin Harris became longer with such songs as "How Deep Is Your Love" ft. Disciples and "This Is What You Came For" featuring Rihanna and Drake. This period of his career showed yet another feature of his art: his ability to create big sounding songs without overcrowding them. He acted as some kind of atmosphere designer rather than just a beat maker, creating space for the vocal and then for big sounding choruses.
Then he went into a more funky and collaborative era, making such records as Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 in 2017. Here he blended electronic dance, pop, funk, and even some elements of hip-hop music and used guest performances by such stars as Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, and Snoop Dogg. His next record called Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 (2022) has continued this direction, proving that Adam Richard Wiles prefers changing his sound to sticking to one scheme forever.
However, there is another reason why Harris stands out among other DJs and producers: in contrast to many representatives of this profession, he does not limit his activities to behind-the-scenes work. Indeed, he has been performing lead vocals on several of his songs, making them more personal. This combination of the abilities of a producer and a pop star makes him a unique artist.