Midland born Luke Harris is a true example of the modern drummer – as comfortable dropping the funkiest rare grooves with the likes of Brit-funk legends The Brand New Heavies as he is running complex electronics over trap beats with Wretch 32 and Tricky.
Having moved to London in the mid noughties, his mastery of modern grooves and electronica soon landed him his first gig with Wretch 32, leading to appearances at Glastonbury, Reading Festival and Later with Jools Holland amongst many others. His tight funky style found him playing with other urban and pop artists such as John Newman, Ms Dynamite, Louisa Johnson, Kian Egan (Westlife), Aiden Grimshaw, DJ Wilkinson, Bo Saris, Danish superstar Aura Dione, and Disney’s Tini Stoessel, with him eventually holding the long term seat down for Trip Hop royalty Tricky, where he ran a double SPDS hybrid set-up as the MD, Playback Engineer, drummer and even monitor engineer! Luke was Tricky’s musical mainstay for 9 years, touring everywhere from Mexico to Mongolia at countless major festivals and venues.
With his early background in Big Band and orchestras, however, Luke was always going to move beyond the modern pop / hip-hop mould. A stint with London-based electronic-funk outfit Basement Project, supporting The Brand New Heavies, found him catching the ears of the headliners – who then eventually called him up to fill the drum chair when founding member Jan Kincaid left. His knowledge of deep funk grooves and his light, deft touch perfectly suited the band’s aesthetic, and has seen Luke recording and writing with them on their highly acclaimed TBNH album, featuring singers such as Beverly Knight, Siedah Garret and Angie Stone, and including sessions recorded at George Clinton’s Tallahassee studio.
He continues to record and tour worldwide with the Heavies and his steadfast groove and versatile depth as a player keep him constantly in demand across the musical spectrum.