Soundtrack Of My Life: Jodie Harsh

The first song I remember hearing

Tom Tom Club – ‘Wordy Rappinghood’

“I have a memory of being super young sat in my dad’s home office listening to this. I remember the cover art was so colourful and really detailed, I was completely obsessed with all the camp bright rainbow colours. It was kind of a nursery rhyme but also reggae-funk. I listened to it on repeat on vinyl.”

The first album I owned

‘Ministry Of Sound: The Annual II’

“The first one was mixed by Pete Tong and the second by Boy George. I don’t know if it belonged to me but I definitely took ownership of it. Tori Amos’ ‘Professional Widow’, the Armand Van Helden version, was on it and I was just completely obsessed with that disco bassline. I remember thinking, ‘Wow, dance music exists. It’s incredible and amazing.’ I loved also knowing that Boy George who was clearly a man in makeup had mixed one – it was all about the music, I thought it was very cool.”

The first gig I went to

Madonna at Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, 2001

“I wasn’t very ‘giggy’ as a teen but I must have been about 14 and Madonna did the Drowned World Tour. I lined up for tickets in London at 4am. I could have probably phoned but I just wanted to be part of the hustle and bustle. And the gig was amazing – it wasn’t the back row but the second to back row, so she was an actual dot in the distance. But it was absolute peak Madonna, when her music was so incredible and she was still the number one global icon. I went with my mum – I was too young to go on my own but apparently old enough to get the tickets at 4am. I remember being very overcome with emotion.”

The song that reminds me of home

Lil’ Kim – ‘No Matter What They Say’

“When I was in my mid teens I blasted Lil’ Kim all day every day so loudly, because it was so filthy and I was starting to rebel. I just did it to piss my parents off. I was into female rap – Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown, I’d blast really explicit female rap music. I’m sure the neighbours 10 doors down could hear Lil’ Kim talking about oral sex.”

The song I wish I’d written

Justice vs Simian – ‘We Are Your Friends’

“It’s an absolute festival anthem. I love it due to its simplicity – there’s just a few lines and the hook is really memorable. You can think of amazing nights out with that song and how big that record is, but it’s like 12 words? You just get the melody and the music around it. The pitching up of the vocal, the production, it just creates such a mood and a moment with very few lyrics, it’s so clever.”

The song I can no longer listen to

Jodie Harsh – ‘My House’

“I’ve listened to it so much for such a long time, so when I hear it on the radio, I’m like: ‘Oh, what else is on!’ But it doesn’t mean I don’t love it. Music is something you give to other people. I don’t sit at home listening to my music unless it’s to listen out for things that I would change. I hate when I hear my own stuff in a club. I’m just not one of those people who’s gonna jump on the dance floor and dance to my own song.”

The song that makes me want to dance

The Chemical Brothers – ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’

“I always think it’s amazing how music is an invisible thing, but it brings so much energy. You can’t help but move. I think ‘Hey Boy Hey Girl’ should be released for for the modern age with a gender neutral option as well. Because it’s very binary: ‘Hey boy/Hey girl’. But I do love that record, I defy anyone to not get up and dance to that.”

The song I want played at my funeral

Daft Punk – ‘One More Time’

“My funeral is going to be really lit. It’s going to be like a proper rave. I want lasers, I want it to be very happy, I want it to be very colourful. I’ve been to so many funerals and, of course, they’ve always been really sad affairs and so somber. But I just couldn’t think of anything worse than for my funeral to be sad. I want it to be a party, like my life. I strive so much in life to give people a good time, celebration is such a key factor of my life. So this song would play as the coffin goes down.”

Jodie Harsh’s new single, ‘No Sleep’, is out now