Meet the UK’s most hotly tipped music producer for 2021, Liverpool-based, NAVOS

A 21-year-old from St Helens is becoming one of the most hotly-tipped music producers after catapulting to number 33 in the official charts and notching up almost 5.5 million streams on Spotify with his new hit Believe Me.

Ross Harrington, aka NAVOS, has been signed by Island Records after releasing what’s fast-becoming the breakout dance anthem of 2021.

“It’s crazy,” he smiles. “It’s one of those ‘pinch you’ moments.

“Every day there’s something new. Number 3 in the apple dance charts and number 7 on the whole of apple. It’s stuff that you never get used to – or I certainly haven’t yet!”

Born in lockdown, it’s the third track released by Ross, from Rainford, who last year put out the well-received ‘Foolin’ Me’ and ‘Outta Love’ after deciding to take the plunge and focus on music.

And within three weeks of its release it became an instant hit with more than 300 national and regional radio plays.

Ross says: “If it hadn’t been for lockdown and Covid I wouldn’t have had nearly as much time to devote to music but, being locked in the house, it was a way for me to keep myself occupied and doing something.

“I piled a few hours a day into it and it was there. I could do what I’ve always wanted to do.

“It’s one of the positives that’s come out of a negative situation because, without lockdown, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I still think is this real’? But I’m doing what I’ve always wanted to do.”

Ross is studying sport therapy at Edge Hill University and, now in his third year, remains determined to graduate: “I’ve done two years now, so I might as well finish,” he smiles.

But his main love has always been music.

He explains: “I’ve always been into music. I played guitar when I was in primary school but it was when I went to high school (Rainford High) that it really started.

“I went to an Avicii show in Manchester when I was 14 and I thought wow, that’s what I want to do as a job. It was him, the DJ everyone listened to, it was everyone shouting his name. I always wanted to do music, and seeing him, I was like, yeah, this is it.

“I’ve always loved his music. Ever since he released Seek Bromance as Tim Berg, I was hooked.”

Writing and producing in his bedroom ever since, Ross, who until recently was working part-time in Dunelm home store in Southport, took inspiration from the likes of Sonny Fodera and MK to create his own infectious sound.

“It’s all dance stuff, all happy because that’s my type of vibe,” he says. “I like the 90s’ vibe although I’ll listen to any music from The Beatles to Jimi Hendrix, to Mozart.”

He began releasing tracks on Soundcloud but it was Believe Me that had him finally believing in himself: “When I’d written it my mates were all saying, Ross you’ve got to put this out, it’s a tune, so I did to see what happened, and I think it got 10,000 views in a day.”

It saw him being signed up to major label Island and now he can’t wait to share his music with more people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJD00_t2t7M

“It goes with anything, when you’ve put so much effort into something and it’s yours, when people think it’s good…that’s great.

“I would love to go on tour and showcase my music, I’d love to do that, and do the clubs and stuff. And would I like to do Liverpool? A hundred per cent, that’s where I come from, it’s around where I grew up, I’d always love to play in Liverpool.”

After that? “I would love to headline Creamfields or something like that, that would be amazing. I’d like to do Mambo’s in Ibiza, that would be cool, or Ocean Beach, the places that are well-known.”

For now though, he says: “I’m going to ride the wave and just enjoy it.”

But there may just be one more thing on his busy agenda before success takes him around the world – and that’s a celebration with his mum!

“She lives in Majorca and so I obviously can’t see her just now,” he says. “Like the rest of my family she’s so made up and proud of what I’ve done and when we were listening to the Capital Charts together the other week she was crying and just saying ‘I want to be home and give you a hug’.”

So let’s hope she can do that soon.