John Harvie - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the opportunity to interview John Harvie. We discussed which song inspired him to pursue music, his thoughts about where he is at now musically and where he’s headed, details about upcoming album, ‘Told Ya.’, the writing and recording process, filming the video for “Beauty In The Bad Things”, album artwork, and more. Check it out below.
Can you tell me how you formed the project for those who may be unfamiliar? How did you initially become interested in music?
I started this project in late 2020 shortly after I dropped out of college. I was studying music business at Middle Tennessee State University, but never performed well in school so I took a leap of faith to try and pursue a career in music! I’ve been doing music my whole life, it’s the only thing I’ve ever felt good at that I loved. I probably became interested in playing when I heard “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk on my stereo.
You’ve said that after a strong fan reception to "Bleach (On The Rocks)" you were able to quit your job and started writing more and more. How do you feel about where you are now musically and where you’re headed?
It’s really exciting because bleach opened up so many doors for me to sign and write and work. Because of all these things falling into place I’m lucky enough to be going on a tour with Shinedown (and Jelly Roll) who are absolute legends and heroes of mine and while in preparation of that I get to also promote an album so I guess you could say I’m pretty lucky. I’m really excited for the future...the music I’ve been keeping up my sleeve has me so excited I can’t wait to be a road dog and just tour and tour and tour.
You recently announced your debut album, ‘Told Ya.’ will be out August 26th. What can you tell us about it so far?
“Told Ya.” is 13 songs long and I wrote the majority of them while independent!! I basically had the album written by the time we signed and that part is important cause there was no pressure of making an album. I was literally just making songs everyday that I loved and that felt like the time I was in, and it so happened that I could put 13 of the best ones together and it makes a BANGIN record. It’s so fun and bright and I think my favorite part is that most of it feels positive with a touch of swag. I take a look at mental health on a couple songs because it’s something I really care about, but I think I intentionally didn’t dwell on it this album cause I feel like I’ve heard a lot of that and I wanna change it up.
Can you tell us more about the writing process and the lyrical themes you explored?
The one thing I really care about when I write is what is true to me? And how do I now take that and relate it to thousands of other people? A lot of these songs are true stories about my come up as an artist and person whether it be mental health, or my struggle (or successes) in relationships and I also touch on my background as a kid because I grew up a pastor’s son and it plays a big part in my story.
Can you tell us more about the recording process? What came easiest in the process and what took more time?
The recording process was so sick. We literally did the whole thing (except the drums cause I like them sounding super real) in my producer’s (Andrew Gomez) house. Literally every house in Nashville is a studio and that’s why I love it so much here. It’s super home-y and I write the best music when I’m here. Being up Andrew’s ass while either playing or editing guitars together was probably my favorite part cause that’s when we got to make the songs fat and come together, but all the vocals take a close second, but at the same time my least favorite part was hitting some high harmonies towards the end of the process cause I had to PUSH myself and it definitely opened up my eyes about how far I still need to go as a vocalist. Even though I think it’s my biggest strength, it’s still a process.
You released new song, “Beauty In The Bad Things” along with a video. Can you tell us more about writing this song specifically and about filming the video?
“Beauty” was such a fun song. I wrote it with Charlotte Sands and Danen Rector along with Andrew Gomez as well. Basically I was so burnt out at the time and that’s exactly what we wrote about. They just let me be vulnerable and talk and we put it into song; it was crazy. The music video was my favorite part of the whole process though, because my girl Emma Kate Golden directed it and I got to have my little brother Porter play 12 year old me. It was so much fun because he was having WAY too much fun. He already wants to be an artist when he grows up so I might’ve just unleashed a beast we’ll find out… anyways Emma killed it and we found a vision together and I can’t credit her enough for being such a badass. I think we made a powerful video.
I really like the artwork for the album. What’s the meaning behind the photo and who came up with the concept for it?
Thank you! I actually came up with the concept but took it to Baeth who is such a great person and photographer out in LA. She brought the whole thing to life and we just shot ideas back and fourth at each other. I love that we have so many Easter eggs in the cover itself with some of the people. I have a couple friends that are characters and it just makes me laugh every time I look at it. It looks like some American Pie shit and I love it. I think the cover represents how the record feels and I’m so excited for everyone to hear it. :)
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
Pre saves are huge for up and coming artists such as myself so if you haven’t… pre save that bad boy and come see me on tour this fall ;) you guys rock, thank you for the interview. ❤️
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