Calvin Harris: "I trade musical favours like cattle"

Calvin Harris has claimed that he trades favours with his high-profile musical friends "like cattle".

The DJ and producer has previously worked with the biggest names in pop, including Rihanna, Florence Welch, Dizzee Rascal, Kylie Minogue and Cheryl Cole.



In an interview with the Guardian, Harris revealed that he likes to work on an exchange basis with his collaborators, saying: "I trade musical favours like cattle… I can't remember the last time I did a remix for actual money. For me I try and get a good swap."

He continued: "Every remix I've done in the last couple of years has been a swap for some other musical thing. As for money, that's not even a factor - you could not buy me to remix one of your records. But if it's something I wanted to do, I honestly couldn't care less if I got £5 or £50,000."

The 28-year-old also claimed in the interview that female vocalists are better for dance tracks, arguing that "they're always at the perfect frequency to play in a club. A good, soaring, high-mid female vocal bounces off the walls nicely, and it doesn't interfere with the bass or drumbeat.



"It's basic science. A man's voice is likely to interfere with the bassline, which is why you don't hear many classic dance tracks with a male lead."

He also compared making pop music to making a ham sandwich, saying: "It's incredibly easy to do, but hard to do perfectly. I'd struggle to make a perfect ham sandwich because I never make them, whereas pop music comes naturally to me - it's what I do every day."

The Scot recently caused controversy by saying that there is no problem with DJs performing 'press-play' sets, but claimed in the interview he was misquoted, saying: "What I meant was that obviously the records are pre-recorded, because that's what disc jockeys do, they play records."



He added: "You're a DJ! What are you supposed to do? Hire a 20-piece f**king orchestra and get them to perform every song while you conduct?"

Harris remains one of the most in-demand producers in pop, with future collaborations on the horizon with Tinie Tempah, Ellie Goulding, Emeli Sandé and Ke$ha.

Watch Calvin Harris's collaboration with Tinie Tempah 'Drinking From a Bottle' below: