Harry Judda has been making waves in the UK house scene this past year, gaining fans in Hannah Wants, Skream, Shadow Child, and a certain Claude VonStroke. In this week’s The Story Behind, we ask Judda about the making of his dark signature track, ‘Skull It’.
‘Skull It’ is my biggest track to date. I started working on it around late October 2014. I wanted to get something made in time for Halloween so naturally it was going to get a little dark and moody! Searching for ominous atmospheres and murky music samples I started to piece something together. Bringing in sounds and techniques from my drum & bass background it was becoming a hybrid of warehouse techno & dark d’n’b. It started to sound a bit like a soundtrack to a horror movie, which is exactly what I was aiming for! People described it as having a ‘War of the Worlds’ type vibe.
By the time I had finished the track I thought it sounded like a bit of a monster in more ways than one. Although at the time I was curious if anyone would get the idea or if it would have been a little too dark for your average listener.
Then I had another problem: Where do I send a track like that? Lots of the friends I’d played it to thought it was great, but would anyone be interested in signing it?! At the time there was only one label I could really think that would stick their neck out on the line and sign something that sounded so different. That label was Dirtybird.
Having no hook-ups or contacts I had to go down the same frustrating routes all new producers do when they’re trying to get their music heard. I submitted my track with a couple of others via the demo submission section of the Dirtybird website. I thought it was unlikely that they would listen to it, so didn’t expect to hear anything back. A couple of weeks later, at the start of 2015, I checked my emails – like I do every morning – and I saw I had a message from Claude VonStroke. My hands actually wobbled a little as I opened the email to read how he’d listened to my demos and wanted to sign my track, which was now called ‘Skull It’. Obviously, I was over the moon with the request, and I made sure ‘Skull It’ wasn’t going anywhere else but Dirtybird.
The track was left in Claude’s capable hands. But then things went quiet for a couple of months, and I was left in a slightly curious position, hoping the whole deal would still actually happen. Eventually, YouTube videos started emerging of people filming the track from Claude’s sets trying to find out what it was, which was gave me a great feeling.
Fast forward to its release date in June, I was watching videos of Claude VonStroke playing ‘Skull It’ live in his sets to seas of ravers at American festivals and the crowds were going nuts! I’d love to have been there to experience it first-hand. The closest I got was seeing Claude play the ’10 Years of Dirtybird’ set in London where he played ‘Skull It’ and personally congratulated me on stage.
‘Skull It’ has gained me thousands of fans since then, and it continues to reach new audiences. People from all over the world message me to tell me how much they love my music – that track in particular.
I’m hoping it continues to reach new listeners and, since the track has only been out for six months, I want it to stand the test of time in a scene with lots of throwaway music. I think the track represents my dark, moodier side. It’s good to know I can create this sort of music and still have more people appreciate it than I ever imagined!
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