Dirty Harry

Henry Steinway, better known in EDM circles as the electro-house upstart Clockwork or trap rebel RL Grime, should stock up on vitamins before hitting Stereosonic 2013. When the Los Angeles DJ/producer toured Australian clubs earlier in the year, he felt crook on arrival. “Unfortunately, on the way over I got a really bad flu,” Steinway rues. “It kinda put a dampener on the trip.”

Steinway's social media sites contain negligible biographical material. But the 20-something insists that he's not intentionally cultivating mystique – even if Pitchfork has described his alter egos as very “Jekyll & Hyde”. “I've never been a mysterious guy – like, if anyone asks me anything, I'll tell them whatever. I just think it's kinda cheesy to have a huge bio that explains everything. I'd rather have people ask!”

It transpires that Steinway launched his career while at college studying music business (mind, he also had singing classes). In the meantime, Steinway issued Clockwork's breakthrough Squad Up EP on Steve Aoki's Dim Mak Records. (He subsequently introduced the darker RL Grime.)

In addition to airing more music on Dim Mak, Steinway has linked up with Diplo's Mad Decent. This year A-Trak's Fool's Gold put out his RL Grime EP High Beams. Steinway likewise created a bootleg remix of Avicii's Levels that went viral. “I actually never got feedback from him, but I know that he played it a few times, so I'd assume that's positive feedback.”

Steinway has “a bunch” of fresh releases, the DJ favouring singles and EPs to larger projects. “I honestly don't love the album format for big dance house music,” he admits. Following the Wynter Gordon-sung Surge, Steinway has another Clockwork single, Blitz, on Dim Mak this month. Then he's remixed Jack Beats' War (featuring Diplo and Example), plus Reload by Tommy Trash and Sebastian Ingrosso (with John Martin).

Though Steinway has a dual music identity, his sound is broadly hybridised electro – and, for him, it's all about “pushing the boundaries”. This progeny's biggest inspiration comes from his peers. “There are a lot of young guys who are inspiring me lately – and a lot of them surprisingly are American, 'cause they'd usually be from Sweden or those Dutch places,” he says, raving about dreadlocked electro-houser Henry Fong from the west coast. “I'm just trying to keep up the energy in all the tracks – obviously, that's a huge part of the projects, I have very energetic sets, and the music is pretty high-energy. But I also like adding in new sounds and just stuff people aren't expecting and have never heard before.”