Havanese Dogs With Huxley

As one of the leaders of the bass revival in house music, Huxley is one of the hottest artists around, releasing on all manner of cool imprints like Hypercolour, 20:20Vision, Defected and Tsuba, and now his long-awaited debut album is due to be released in October.

There could not be a more opportune time to speak to him about his album, but because the rest of the world will have had the same idea, we decided to mix things up a bit and ask him to nominate some non-musical topics to discuss. He duly came back with "Tottenham Hotspur", "Seafood" and "Havanese dogs", which was an admirable range.

We gave our man Mike Boorman the brief to pick just one of them, and sent him to interview Huxley ahead of his album launch at Rainbow on September 26th; but they started off by going completely off topic and actually talked about the album…

That collaboration with Roger Sanchez on 'Callin'' on the album (hear it below)… that's an interesting one. How did it come about?

It's not that interesting a story really. Roger heard some of my stuff and decided he would reach out, so his manager got in touch with mine and when I heard I obviously jumped at the chance, so I sent him over the parts and then he kinda did his thing.

Actually more recently we've done a couple of back to back things in Ibiza this summer and we're working on a bit more music at the moment. That's something he's sent me that would be under his name. It's been fun. He's a really nice guy - a great person to work with. Not too precious.

That's good to know, because he easily could be, given who he is and what he's done.

Definitely one of the nicest guys I've worked with.

Now, more importantly - Havanese dogs. As much as we like seafood and Tottenham Hotspur we just had to pick Havanese dogs, despite having never even heard of them before you suggested it.

Also, it left open the possibility of someone asking "where are you going?" which would have teed up the reply of "to see a man about a dog", but unfortunately nobody asked. Never mind - we will just have to make the best of it anyway. So… Havanese dogs… what is it about them you like?

Well in general what I like is, they're very friendly, they've got big personalities… they're kind of like a teddy bear really. It was actually my girlfriend who found the breed out. Mine (called Bert) is actually looking at me at the moment. He's a very lazy little boy which is always good - better than some mental dog running around all the time.

So is there any of his personality that's like yours?

Well the laziness probably! He likes to get his own way as well.

In the research for this interview, we found a load of absolutely genius descriptions of the dogs. There's just something funny about online dog summaries. Here's one:

"Bred as a companion dog to the Cuban aristocracy in the 1800s, he's earned the nickname "Velcro dog" because he sticks so closely to his owner's side. But don't write him off as just a lapdog; the Havanese is trainable and surprisingly energetic, and has excelled in dog sports and canine careers ranging from circus performer to assisting the handicapped." Do you agree with this statement?

I completely agree, yeah! Sometimes he just follows us around the house - that's when he's not lying on the bed.

"But it is not to be written off as a mere lapdog"… if he's on your bed then that's kinda lapdog behaviour isn't it?

Well the personality's a bit bigger than a lapdog; he likes to play a bit more, and he doesn't really like lying on my lap either. To be fair this is probably as in depth as I've ever been on Havanese dogs! I mean, I know they're from Havana but saying that, mine has something to do with Hungary…

Ah, well, on the topic of history, there's more! Much more! Allow us to quote again from the research: "Ship manifests from Tenerife bound for Cuba list dogs as passengers brought aboard, and these dogs were most probably the dog of Tenerife. Originally, Tenerife dogs came to Cuba with Spanish farmers and noblemen in the early 1500s"

Ha ha, there you go!

So we're thinking, if this is a Tenerife dog, what would the dog of Ibiza be?!?

Well there actually is one… it's called the Ibizan Hound I think. But other than that, it would have to be a scatty little dog that always looks a mess! It could actually be the Havanese.

We asked someone who knows a lot more about dogs than we do about the Havanese, and they replied that "err, it's a very feminine dog… I think Geri Halliwell has one". Discuss!

There's nothing wrong with having the same dog as Ginger Spice in my eyes! They are quite a feminine dog I guess, but I think his personality makes up for it to be honest, but then saying that, girls do absolutely love him. Maybe I am just a bit of a girl when it comes to dogs. I've always preferred small, fluffy dogs.

If you didn't have a girlfriend, it would be great to go out on the pull with.

Yes, even she said that before! Hahahaa. I think that's very true.

So you're away a lot… you must miss your dog a bit.

The summer's been hard. I've been on tour for six weeks and you do miss them a lot. You don't miss him when he's shitting all over the carpet though. It doesn't happen much, but when it does, it's not the greatest thing. So yeah, I miss him loads, but I assume you've never had a dog?

Nope, never. Wouldn't rule it out though.

Well it's like the best thing in the world to do.

Like an easier version of a child?

Yeah! A lot of people have said it's a stepping stone. But I'm happy enough to stay on this stone for a long while yet!

If you were to compare a Havanese dog to a DJ, who would it be?

That's a very good question. Errrm, well it would have to be a small DJ…

Satoshi Tomiie?

Ha ha, well I was thinking DJ EZ - he's pretty small. (as you can see from EZ's Boiler Room set below, Huxley has a point)

In terms of personality as well?

I don't know him that well so couldn't say for sure. I guess if it were any DJ it would have to be me, like we said before, because of the laziness really.

We immediately thought Paris Hilton actually.

But do you class her as a DJ? I think that's embarrassing if you do.

Ha ha yeah, fair point. Interesting that you've pulled us up on the DJing point but not whether she looks like a breed of dog - there's some sort of justice in that. But beyond her general manner and overly kempt hair, there is also the possibility that she might own one.

As small and fluffy as he is, he's not quite small enough to carry in a bag, or a handbag anyway!

So he's not quite a celebrity dog?

Yeah I suppose, not quite, but Bert actually went off to Secret Garden Party this year and he loved it. So he's a festival-going dog!

Haha, that's brilliant. So did you have him near you when you were performing?

Unfortunately it's a bit too loud to be too near to there, so he just mingled around away from the stage and said hello to lots of different people.

What you've just said to me has ruined this concept that we've always dreamed of, which is to make it as a DJ, land a gig in the main room of Pacha Ibiza, and then proceed to let a dog off from the DJ booth and watch the absolute carnage as it bounds down the steps onto the dance floor.

But it seems from what you've said, it would be cruel to the dog. Flawless plan otherwise.

Well I think you can actually buy little dog ear muffs! They are available! I think if you wanted to do it, you should look into that.

Huxley’s ‘I Want You’ is released on Aus/!K7 on October 6th with the album Blurred to follow on October 20th (pre order here) - check it out on the preview above. 

He also joins Hot Since 82 at Nightvision presents Knee Deep in Edinburgh's The Liquid Room on Saturday 11th October - head here for tickets or follow the box below.

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