Xander Harris

Austin native Justin Sweatt used the name Xander Harris for his suspenseful yet playful electronic music equally indebted to '80s horror film soundtracks, Italo-disco, and darkwave. His acclaimed 2011 debut, Urban Gothic, was a low-budget approximation of a vintage horror soundtrack, evoking moments of terror while maintaining a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. He further refined his sound with ambitious full-lengths such as 2013's The New Dark Age of Love and 2018's Villains of Romance.

A veteran of various noise and shoegaze projects since the early 2000s, Sweatt adopted the Harris moniker in tribute to a character from the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and began releasing music under the name in 2011, starting with the Contamination cassette. Shortly after, Los Angeles label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Not+Not+Fun%22">Not Not Fun</a> released Harris' full-length debut, Urban Gothic, which was inspired by Brian Keene's novel of the same title. The album was very well received, eventually charting in FACT's Top 50 albums of the year. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22NNF%22">NNF</a>'s dance offshoot <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22100%25+Silk%22">100% Silk</a> released a 12" single featuring an extended disco mix of the album's single "I Want More Than Just Blood." In 2012, Harris appeared on a split 7" single with <a href="spotify:artist:7xFRQr9lOOIXXUanhSj1S4">Dylan Ettinger</a>, released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Moon+Glyph%22">Moon Glyph</a>. He also released a cassette album titled Chrysalid and a digital album called Snow Crash (which was later released on vinyl by French label <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Desire+Records%22">Desire Records</a>).

Harris returned to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Not+Not+Fun%22">Not Not Fun</a> in 2013 with his ambitious full-length The New Dark Age of Love. He also digitally released an EP titled Black Moon as well as an "Ultimate Edition" of Urban Gothic, including numerous additional songs from the album's sessions. In 2014, <a href="spotify:artist:34UhPkLbtFKRq3nmfFgejG">Mogwai</a>'s <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rock+Action%22">Rock Action</a> label released Harris' 7" single "Cry Havoc." Two years later, the label released his full-length California Chrome. Termination Dust was released by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Data+Airlines%22">Data Airlines</a> in 2017, followed by Villains of Romance, issued by <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Burning+Witches%22">Burning Witches</a> in 2018. At the end of 2018, Sweatt retired the Xander Harris moniker and began recording as J Sweatt. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi