The Dare has been DJing for almost 30 hours in a loft in New York City's Chinatown. This Herculean effort behind the decks is a test of endurance and a celebration of his debut album, What’s Wrong with New York? and is being live-streamed as a performance art piece he’s dubbed a “durational installation.” Aside from his broadcasted DJ set, the space is filled with Easter eggs for his fans to spot, including the outfits from The Sex EP’s controversial cover art, a messy bed on the floor with a disco ball hanging over and his instantly recognizable black suit hung up on display.
Harrison Patrick Smith hard launched his The Dare persona two years ago after leaving his former band Turtlenecked and quickly became a staple of the downtown scene with his first raunchy single “Girls.” The song is filled with non-discriminatory horniness as he sings he likes “Tall girls / Small girls / Girls with d*cks / Call girls / Girls who get naked on the 'Gram.” Some see it as crude. Others, who crave the debaucherous parties of a foregone era flock to it.
Smith’s The Sex EP was released the following year and expanded his shocking dance tracks with three additional songs. “Sex” and “Good Time” focus on The Dare’s staples, sex and partying while “Bloodwork” is solely trance-inducing beats. During this time, Smith put on “Freakquencies” events every Thursday as more and more of the Lower East Side began to discover what The Dare was about.
His career skyrocketed this summer when popstar Charli XCX recruited him to produce a deluxe track off her album BRAT. The underwear-focused track, “Guess,” stayed true to the duo’s suggestive nature and even featured a shoutout, “Send them to The Dare, yeah, I think he’s with it.” The song blew up further with Billie Eilish hopping on a remix edition — which has been rumored to be part of an unconfirmed BRAT remix album.
Between his A-list co-signs, own creative work and unique single-suit persona that’s served as TikTok catnip, The Dare’s star is rapidly rising — and now What’s Wrong with New York? is set to serve as his most direct moment in the spotlight yet.
What’s the inspiration and sound behind What's Wrong With New York? How long did it take to create it?
The earliest songs are “Girls” and “Good Time.” “Girls” came out, like, two years ago. So that was kind of the song that kickstarted The Dare as an entity, and the rest of the songs were written in the following year or two because I didn't really start making the album until I had signed a record deal. Influence-wise, it’s electroclash revival, like Peaches, Fisherspooner, The Rapture. LCD Soundsystem. Chicks on Speed, Suicide. I mean, some bands go back even further to the ‘70s in New York, like the Talking Heads were a big influence and a lot of those ‘00s bands were drawing from them. I was trying to enter this lineage of New York artists who make music in a certain punk and danceable style.
How has your sound evolved from your first band, Turtlenecked, a decade ago?
I think the attitude has gotten crazier over time. And I've also honed in on what I really like to hear in music and limited my palette to certain chord progressions or instruments. For this project, it's just synthesizer, drum machines, guitar, and vocals. I’ve also become more focused on communicating a certain kind of feeling I want to hear in music. Back when I started over a decade, I didn’t understand tone as much or how to compose, and since I’ve gotten more experienced in those fields it’s changed how I make music a lot.
You're constantly seen in the background of industry events and are often surrounded by pop stars. Is that lurking part of an intentional mystique or is it just a reflection of your quieter personality?
I don't know. I am lurking around in the background, but it's just because I get invited to these things by someone like Charli XCX, and it’s not my event so obviously I’m not the center of attention — nor am I trying to be. However, when people are in the background of a photo, they’re usually inconspicuous, but my suit makes me stand out. So when I’m seen, it’s like “There’s The Dare lurking again.” [laughs]. When I’m at these parties though, I’m pretty social and loud.
How did the “Guess” remix with Billie Eilish come about?
Those remixes were just happening super organically. With Billie, Lorde’s remix [of "Guess"] had just come out and Lorde was like, “There are a couple of people who might want to be on this song.” She pitched a few people to me, and then said that Billie really wanted to do it. I already knew Finneas [Billie Eilish’s brother and producer] from going to LA, so it was a natural fit. We just sent files back and forth, and when we got Billie’s vocals back, Charli and I cooked up the final arrangement.
A lot of people seem to be like “Who the f*ck is this? I just found out about him yesterday.” I’m going from 0 to 100 basically."
How does it feel going from “Freakquencies” in Home Sweet Home [a Manhattan bar and club] to embarking on a US tour this Thursday? Has anything about your rapid growth startled you at all, or are you rolling with the punches?
It’s definitely wild, and really intense — when something like this happens, everything you do or say is put out to a much bigger arena. It’s all amplified because you’ll have way more haters and way more people that are super into you. I’m enjoying it though. A lot of people seem to be like “Who the f*ck is this? I just found out about him yesterday.” I’m going from 0 to 100 basically.
What’s the future for the “Freakquencies” shows? Will they continue after the tour, even if it's a new iteration?
I've been throwing it more globally and in different locations. So the last one I did was in LA, before that, I did one in London, and before that was in New York. So I'm not doing it weekly as much, but I'm doing more intentional ones that are slightly larger. I’d like to bring it back to New York for a good early Halloween party though.
What are your plans after this album comes out and your tour is finished?
I’ll be on tour in the US until October, then will have some downtime to work on my own music and produce for a few other people. After that, it’s back on the road for Europe and Australia up until Christmas. After that? I don’t know. Release more music, hang out in New York for a second and do some more parties.
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