The Harri Son

There’s just no escaping it. 
You see him and whoa, it’s right there, the whole, haunting physical package—the dark brown eyes, sunken cheeks, floppy chestnut hair and reserved mouth. He’s thin and slightly shorter than the old man, and today he’s wearing a modish skinny leather jacket and tight denims, just like all the SoCal rockers inside the Santa Monica guitar store we’re visiting. But the overall visual effect of Dhani Harrison is undeniable: That’s gotta be George Harrison’s kid.

He’s comfortable with it, he really is—there’s no awkward toe-tapping around the subject, which I realize when a friendly dude behind the counter mentions his late father’s most famous solo album, All Things Must Pass. I almost cringe; Dhani nods politely and smiles. Even if Dhani, 30, has got his own band now, thenewno2—it’s cool, it’s fine. Not that being the son of a Beatle has always been easy—“You get a very long shadow cast over you,” Dhani later admits—but it’s his DNA, man. People are always going to notice the way he looks, the way he talks, his mannerisms. It’s futile to ignore it. Notes producer Jeff Lynne, who was one of George’s closest friends: “I don’t like saying this, because it’s a real drag for him to keep being compared to someone of George’s stature, but Dhani’s very much like his dad in so many ways.”

But there are other Dhani Harrison stories to tell. Specifically, what’s going on with thenewno2, which last year released a trippy headphone album called You Are Here (listen to a track from the album, "Yomp," below). Composed of Dhani and his childhood friend Oli Hecks, thenewno2 have a sound that owes more to Radiohead and Massive Attack than anything by the Beatles. To date the band has kept a low profile, putting out You Are Here on its own through iTunes and turning down high-profile gigs in favor of smaller stages. But now, having found its comfort level —“We’ve always thought the music should be ready, instead of forcing it,” says Hecks—the band is rolling out You Are Here as a CD and is set to embark on a more ambitious tour that will take them to Coachella and Lollapalooza. The latter gig represents a personal triumph for Dhani. “My dad never let me go to Lollapalooza,” says Dhani, who recalls pleading with his father to go to the festival when he was 15. “He thought I was going to end up with a shaved head, tattoos on my face and pissed out of my head. I think he was just afraid I’d take a load of psychedelic drugs like he did. “He’d say, ‘You’re only allowed to go to Lollapalooza if you’re playing.’” Dhani pauses. “He’d still joke about that if he was around.”

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