Audio: Listen to Relief Records Signee Harvard Bass' Rollercoaster Inspired Mix

Not many people have had the awesome privilege of being mentored by their musical hero, no less than by Green Velvet - the prolific Chicagoan whose techno productions have become cult classics AND whose labels Cajual Records and Relief has been voices of his city and of and the talent that he has intercepted for over the last 20 years. The Mexican raised producer Harvard Bass (Victor Ramos) is one of the fresher faces to have joined the Relief roster, notoriously crafting his own brand of up substantial ghetto house cuts, releasing a slew of EPs on Relief in addition to his debut LP in 2013. He's even gone onto collaborate with the Green haired man himself. With Ramos' debut here in EC1 just around the corner we invited him to showcase his sound while also talking through just what it is like to have the backing of one of techno's highest respected creators. What was going on in Tijuana where you grew up that got you turned onto music? Harvard Bass: There was always all kinds of music surrounding me growing up in Tijuana. My father was super into disco and classic rock, he would play tons of records on the weekends when I was growing up. My mother would listen to old Mexican ballads and pop music when I was home or in the car with her. And I have two older siblings one was into alternative rock and was in a band and the other one was into house music. I myself got into rap music since all my classmates in the states were into it. You’ve released a lot with Green Velvet’s seminal Relief imprint with the platform homing your debut LP Stay True and a healthy dose of Eps - was he and the label influential to you? Who else would you say have been most influential while we’re on the topic? Absolutely! Green and the Label were major influences when I started to produce music. I was always amazed how simple the records on the label were but they would make such a huge impact when you played them out. Mark Farina, Miguel Migs, John Tejada, DJ Deeon, Heather, Derrick Carter & Green Velvet - these were the first artists I was introduced to and these are the artist that have an influence on me. As for labels: OM, Classic, Dance Mania, Palette, Cajual, Relief Poker Flat. Pretty much all the labels these guys were on. What does it mean to you to be associated with such a pioneering artist? It means a lot to me! He's been my mentor for quite sometime now and it's amazing. I still trip out when I see his name on my caller ID. It’s so surreal. What was the dynamic like when you two collaborated, did you get together in the studio or was it more of a case of exchanging stems? Curtis called me one day and said that we should work on some music together. I was just thinking that we're just gonna bounce stems off of Skype but instead a week later he bought me a ticket and offered for me to stay at his house for a week so that we could get some music done. It happened so fast but there I was in his studio a week later after the phone call making tracks with him in his studio. His wife made us some fried chicken too that I still miss to this day. It was a very spontaneous dynamic but I like that. We heard that when you got your first tracks signed you were working out of your bedroom... has the success you’ve enjoyed allowed you to build on your studio? I still work from my bedroom but instead of headphones and a bed and a laptop I have a studio desk, a desktop with some nice monitors and MIDI controllers. I move a lot so I'm cool with soft synths for now. What’s been happening with you so far this year, we saw some videos of you being interviewed by Jackmaster at Ultra! What was the festival like this year? That interview was good! Haha. The festival was fresh. I got to see lots of people I hadn't seen since the summer, a lot has been happening for me lately but I’m mainly focused on the production side of things. You’ve recorded a mix for us as well - can you tell us a bit about it, is this representative of what you’re playing out at the moment? It's a nice roller coaster setting. To me, there needs to be a story to base the mix on and usually the tracks after 10 or so minutes are some of the tracks that are in my sets. What have you got coming up next this year? I have an EP coming out on Tiga’s label, Turbo on April 15th, a remix of Loco Dice coming this summer, a collab with Martin Buttrich and another EP on Relief Records. The year is looking sexy and I can’t wait to play fabric!