Interview by Brooke Gibbs.

Harley lets it all out with his Valentine’s Day breakup anthem, Her.

Futuremag Music caught up with Harley to talk about all things breakups, and healing through song.

FMM: It’s so good to see you returning to music again with the release of Her. How does it feel to be back in the scene?

Harley: Honestly, it’s terrifying and exciting all in one. Terrified because this song is so personal, and excited because I think these next set of songs are so worth it.

FMM: What’s the inspiration behind Her?

Harley: I was in a relationship with someone I swore I was going to marry, but then we broke up.

It’s about how your favourite things and places to go don’t change after a breakup so you keep seeing them everywhere. The city isn’t big enough for the both of us kind of thing.

FMM: I love the sound of the emo-grunge mixed with the electronic-pop. Can you please walk me through your creative process for this particular release?

Harley: Ah thanks. I locked myself in a room for three months and just said what I felt while playing random piano riff and Her just fell out. I then demo’d it with my friend Abe DiMare and I swear we went through like 10 different demos to try to find the right instrumentation for it. Once we landed on it, we took it to the studio where we tracked it in a day and Her was born.

FMM: You said that you thought writing this would ground you, but it didn’t. Can you tell me more about this and what emotions came up for you when working on this release?

Harley: Yeah. The breakup took place during the pandemic so there were a lot of emotions to say the least. I started to write just to help organise my thoughts and emotions - use songwriting like a version of therapy. But, it didn’t help. All it did was keep my mind on her. It’s been a quite brutal, mental ride.

FMM: In saying that, do these emotions resurface when performing such impactful songs live?

Harley: 100%. They resurface when I just hear the songs in the studio or listening through mixes.

It’s tough but it’s honest, so it all feels right.

FMM: How does it feel as an artist to sing these songs once you’ve made it to the other side of that painful experience?

Harley: I don’t think we’re there yet, but growth is always a little uncomfortable.

FMM: You took three years from releasing music to commit to songwriting. What did you learn about yourself and your songwriting process during this time?

Harley: I just took the time to just really fall in love with the process of music and songwriting. I loved the final product more than the journey and I realised that was a backward mindset.

FMM: When and how did you know you were ready to return to releasing music again?

Harley: I wrote an entire playlist of songs that I haven’t gotten tired of listening to over the past three years, so I figured that was a solid indicator that these songs are good-to-go.

FMM: Now that you’ve had that realisation, what are you going to be doing differently with your creative process moving forward?

Harley: I’m realising that music is meant for community and not to iso yourself in your room for months at a time. I’ve been putting myself in bigger rooms of people that are more creative than I am. More co-writes, more producers. The only way I’ll truly get better is if I surround myself with people better than me.

FMM: You moved from Seattle to Nashville, the city of music. What has this move had in store for you?

Harley: I’ve been around more pop-influenced creatives since moving. It’s a nice change of pace from the Seattle rock / grunge / hip-hop setting. It’s only pushing me to write better.

FMM: For anyone coming across your music for the first time, can you please share a bit about yourself and your music?

Harley: Hi, I’m Harley. I grew up in the Seattle area. I like to play piano and eat. My simple pleasures include a half-sweet, iced vanilla latte in the morning and a nice glass of red at night. Sometimes I watch reality TV to help me feel better about myself and I think my music reflects that.

FMM: What mark do you hope to leave on the music scene?

Harley: I wanna help give words to people struggling to find some, or help people identify emotions when they cant process it all. I just want to help. The world’s a tough place.

FMM: I’m keen to keep you on my radar and I look forward to hearing more from you! What’s next for you?

Harley: That’s so rad. I have show announcements coming up and a couple other singles and EP’s on the way - everything upcoming is part of Her playlist. So all songs are a compilation of the breakup in it’s entirety. But now it’s all written and it’s time to jump back in the studio again in spring to write the next ones.