DJ Barry Harris Brings Pride Thunder to San Diego

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It's been since 2002, don't ya know... Since I first was first enthralled with the dance remixes from Barry Harris Chris Cox of Thunderpuss. This dynamic duo has branched out into their own lucrative careers as a force field of individual creations, now.

Hearing that DJ Barry Harris is manning the music in San Diego for at The Merrow (formerly Peacock Alley, as if that doesn't show my age!) for San Diego Pride Weekend... It was wonderful to catch up with the master remixer and DJ for a conversation between flights of appearances all over the U.S. and the world. And word on the street is that DJ Harris will also stop by Numbers on Saturday at some point to spread a little more spins of love around for Furrageous.

"Don't tell him to stop..." is quite right.

Your tribal mash-up for "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by LeAnn Rimes is off the hook. Will you tell me a bit about the creation of this and what the response has been?

Response has been good! I came across this a cappella last year and played it on the San Francisco Gay Pride Boat Cruise as it felt very fitting with the whole legalization of gay marriage last year, which was announced the same day as the boat cruise. I always felt I'd do something later on dance mix-wise with it sometime, but forgot about it.

Suddenly, a few weeks ago after the Orlando incident, I felt it would be fitting to do it. It felt a little more crossover which is something I like, doing "crossover mixes" to please as many people with different musical tastes as possible.

You could write a book on the evolution of dance music. How has what you enjoy musically changed and what is your principle of what never changes... when it comes to what you love doing?

Ha! Yes, nice way to put it, I could write a book all right! I enjoy music, emotion and touching hearts What has never changed is melody and musical hooks, both of which I love. I love remixing and reinterpreting a song and either create new melodies or hooks, or pull out and create a new hook out of the original. Just something I love to do. Even in pop(ular) music today it's all about a catchy chorus or musical hook, but it also always has to have an edge at the same time.

Whitney's gone, Madonna is still going strong -- amazing, huh? Who are the new"golden girls" of dance music in your estimation?

I don't think there are any "golden girls" of dance music, to be honest. Sure, there are a lot of Indie singers that are still doing their thing, but new generations (audience wise) continue to come into the scene as the world continues to move forward. They have their own musical heroes, e.g. Beyonc�, Rihanna or Nicki Minaj, etc. I suppose some of the "golden girls" now would actually be Whitney Houston and Donna Summer, two amazing singers that are no longer with us, but their magic of the past continues to shine and live on generation after generation.

How are you going to raise the pulse for your Friday, July 15 performance at The Merrow? What is on your "HOT" list for this night?

I'm gonna do my thing, play the current songs/tracks of the day, with of course, some classics here and there. Pretty much "play it by ear," and feel out the crowd as we go. Definitely going to be a party!

As a producer, remixer and DJ, after all these years, what do you consider a few of your banner moments in your career?

My very first record I ever made was Kon Kan's "I Beg Your Pardon," so that was a life changer, then ten years later, Whitney's "It's Not Right, But It's Okay" changed my life forever yet again. Those are definitely banner moments, but there are many others as well and yes, as they say "the night's still young," so I'm pretty sure there are more banner moments yet to come!

For more information about the SubWOOFer party at The Merrow on Friday, July 15, go to facebook.com/ events/1148511145179666. For more information about the Furrageous party on Saturday, July 16 at Numbers, go to facebook.com/events/912702722180527