If you’re ever in need of an inspirational story to get your creative juices flowing, just take a quick look at Harts’ movements.
Harts spent years making music in Melbourne with little success or dividends, a career marked by empty venues and his doubters growing louder by the day. After being dropped by his record label in 2013, Harts’ love of music fuelled his perseverance – and the very next year, he randomly received a phone call from Prince. The late legend had discovered his music on YouTube, and invited him to record together in Paisley Park.
Nowadays, Harts has been playing his biggest headline shows to date, in support of his second album Smoke Fire Hope Desire. The full-length is filled with manic guitar work and tunes that are saturated with soul, groove and heavy dancefloor appeal. On the verge of the album’s release in the United States, Harts is looking to further solidify his global presence.
Harts’ next performance will see him live at Blues on Broadbeach Music Festival, a free event which takes place from May 18 to 21 on the Gold Coast. Ahead of the concert, we chat to Harts about his incredible journey and what it means to ‘make it’ in the music industry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L7HDIJkt5c
Congrats on your latest album and Australian tour, including your biggest headline show to date in Sydney. How is the album being received in the live arena?
Thank you! The album was received really well live. I think most people were really looking forward to hearing the new songs live, and seeing how we pulled them off as a three piece. We had a lot of great audience feedback.
You recently shared a video of you playing to an empty room back in 2012. Take us through the memories and emotions that footage brings when you watch it five years later?
I found that video on a old hard drive that day. I was hesitant to post it because I thought the video was a bit embarrassing. I don’t remember much from that gig, because I played a lot of shows like that, but I do remember just the amount of frustration I was dealing with at the time – both with my own music and the music industry. Looking back on that video makes me proud of all the efforts I put in over the years. The persistence and perseverance I had to not give up was something I wanted to inspire in others going through similar things.
With the benefit of hindsight, what advice would you give to aspiring musicians who can’t seem to catch a break?
I think perseverance and persistence is what really got me my major breaks. It’s hard to get attention and exposure in the music industry, especially if what you’re doing is not what’s popular at the time. But sticking it out and not giving up allowed me to get better at my craft, write better songs, be a better performer and a better musician. All that made me make better music, while allowing time for people to discover me and all helped to get me to where I am today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWtL1o79k2o
How would you define ‘making it’ in the music industry?
That’s the big question. It’s hard to define success. For me it’s somewhere between knowing that I’m reaching all the people out there that I know would get enjoyment out of what I’m doing, and achieving my own personal musical goals. There’s a lot of people longing for the style of music I make and they have no idea there’s people out there like me, making it. I think making a lasting impact on the music world while being uniquely irreplaceable, and touching people’s lives, giving them something through the music and your story, earning that mutual respect between artist and fan, human and human, could be ‘making it’ as an artist.
Making a living off ‘being an artist’, to a lot of artists today that has a lot to do with it too. I have many thoughts on this question…
You received a lot of attention when Prince reached out to you to invite you to record. Do you remember the last conversation you had with him before he passed?
Yeah, I think he sent me some James Brown videos to check out, and I sent him some new music to listen to. The last time I saw him in person, he said he wanted more guitar songs of mine to listen to. Just for his enjoyment.
If you could listen to one Prince song for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?
One song is really hard to pick for someone like Prince. You only get a small percentage of who he was through one song, due to such a diverse output that he had. I think maybe ‘Sign O The Times,’ or at least something from that album. It’s hard to say why though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsI7XJXmCRk
You play a multitude of instruments on your records. Are there any other instruments/sounds that you think you could branch out into on your next record?
For my next album, I’m really working on the production side. I see that as an instrument too in a way. I’m trying to get better as a producer and sound designer, and I think I want to play more with that. More interesting sounds, melodies and cool rhythms is what I’m working on now.
You’ll be performing at the Blues on Broadbeach festival soon. With festival prices soaring well into the hundreds, what role do you think that free festivals play for performers and punters in Australia?
It can give a chance for people who don’t usually go to a festival because of price to see what one is like, and maybe see performers like me for the first time. It helps the local communities out too. For performers it encourages more people to discover you, or to be able to play to more people because of the free entry, so you can get shows that are packed out because of it.
What’s on the cards for Harts for the rest of 2017?
The US release of Smoke Fire Hope Desire as well as some US festival dates from July onwards. I also want to release a live DVD from one of the shows from the album tour that we filmed. Right now, I’m also working on new music for the next album.
