This week I bring you some funky House/Tech-House/Deep House in the form of 23-year-old Harvard Bass (born Victor Hugo) of San Diego, CA. I’ve been wanting to do a piece on him for some time now – I first heard about him during the time leading up to Ultra Music Festival. Although I didn’t get the chance to see him there, I was fortunate enough to catch Harvard Bass open up for Wolfgang Gartner at their show at the Middle East in Cambridge, MA. I made sure to get there early enough to see his set and he absolutely brought the bass.
Hugo keeps things relatively low key. He doesn’t necessarily produce bangers, but always brings us songs with a deep four-on-the-floor beat and a driving bass line. There are no real crazy build-ups or ridiculous drops like you might expect to hear from the Swedes (Steve Angello, Axwell, Avicii, Alesso, etc), Tiesto, Chuckie, or Dada Life, but his live show will truly get you moving.
According to the Camp Bisco X biography page, Hugo would sneak into Tijuana night clubs at the age of 16 to absorb the sounds of House music. Soon after that he bought DJ equipment and got to work. In 2007 he became Harvard Bass and was signed to the independent record label Sound Pellegrino. His unique formula of productions has earned him support from artists such as Crookers, Benny Benassi, Diplo, Boys Noize, and Bart B More. Harvard Bass was featured on the Mortal Kombat 9 soundtrack and is due to have a long career ahead of him.
Here is a small collection of Harvard Bass’ work:
The Ashton Shuffle – I Wanna See You (Harvard Bass Remix)
Harvard Bass & Bart B More – Listen to This