Harlem & Irving Presents

Closing in on 30 years of musical collaboration, Harlem & Irving Presents is the latest production moniker of Bob Davies and Brian Kelly. Stretching back to the early 1990s, Bob and Brian have steadily made music that challenges categorization and pushes beyond genre boundaries. From basements and garages of punk and hardcore scenes, to fledging warhouse parties and unhinged outdoor raves, to shapeshifting spacerock and dreampop scenes, to incredibly fertile experimental and IDM scenes, they curated and performed at countless events throughout Chicago and the greater Midwest throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. Of particular note was their long running night, PLAY at Danny’s. Throughout this time they released music together performing in Chicago spacerock outfit Star Phase 23, in the experimental collaborative rehab., and independently as pal:ndrøm (Bob) and Supplement (Brian).

After a brief respite in the early 2000s, the duo regrouped and wrote a set of songs that reflected their strong roots in spacerock, ambient, and electronic experimental music. Writing and recording in different cities, the results were a self released four song EP and full length album as Through a Rebel Heart. This co-located writing and production process inspired Bob and Brian to keep producing and eventually launch their label, Harlem & Irving.

Envisioning themselves as the label house band, Harlem & Irving Presents is the space where all their interests converge, resulting in hybridized takes on the music that inspired them to pick up guitars 30 years ago and keeps them coming back to their studio gear today.