Interview

WE chat to musicians making waves in the SA music scene!

BY EL BROIDE SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW

HRVY Off The Record With

LAST year saw HRVY (Harvey Leigh Cantwell) cement himself as one of the freshest faces in the international pop space. Having been involved in collaborations with NOTD and Jonas Blue , the 21-year-old English pop star is hard at work on his debut studio album and we caught up with him during his recent trip to South Africa where he opened up about the new videos he’s been shooting and more.

You visited South Africa in December last year. Give us an idea of what you were getting up to. I shot two music videos all in three days when I was in South Africa in December. These two songs are songs I have been the most excited about and the music video concepts are really cool. There is such a diverse landscape here. We wanted to go somewhere that was hot during this time of year, and it’s cold in most places around Europe and America. We needed the sun and the dryness of this landscape. The location we were shooting on is incredible and I am really excited for everyone to see the final products. Your career is booming right now, but where did your passion for music begin? My passion for music stems from my granddad and the Internet. I used to watch a lot of people covering other people’s songs on YouTube and I fell in love with covers because you can see how creative people can be. I’ve been singing ever since and now I am blessed enough to make music people around the world want to listen to. What’s your growth been like since the Talk To Ya and Holiday EPs back in 2017? That era feels like ages ago! As a person, I understand a lot more about the music industry now. I am so much more involved in the creative side of things now. When I was young, I didn’t have much of a creative input especially, when you hear big shots saying you should head in a certain direction. Now I am older and hopefully I’m wiser and I have a lot more input into my projects. You’re working on your debut album now. Do you find there is more pressure when creating a project than working on individual singles?

One hundred percent. It’s really hard to release albums in today’s musical landscape when you’re a new artist – unless you’re someone like Billie Eilish and hit the jackpot. The streaming landscape is dominating the music industry and it’s a different world to how albums were previously released. Releasing songs one by one usually means more people hear them and it’s great because you get the music out and it’s super exciting for fans who know they get new music regularly. But I think it can also saturate the market and dilute a message. Everything is trial and error right now. What was it like working with artists like NOTD and Jonas Blue? With regard to I Miss Myself, we got sent the song and I really liked it and wanted to jump on the song. But my label told me that a Swedish group called NOTD had already taken it but asked if I would consider being a feature on it. They sent through their version of the song which was 50 times better than the original version I heard. I went out and met with them and we really vibed and the song came out really well. As for Jonas Blue , I have known him for years and I really wanted to work with him so we spent some time in the studio and Younger was born. What inspired your new single Million Ways ? We wrote Million Ways in December 2018 and it was our last writing session of the year. I was so tired and I really wanted to get home and have Christmas off. A guy called JHart was

Follow HRVY on Instagram on @hrvy

in the room, who has worked with the likes of Justin Bieber, and I was excited to have him in the session. I really liked the catchy direction we went with the song. Lyrically, we just wanted to have a good time and make it relatable. I love the Dirty Dancing feel of the music video as well. What’s your relationship with social media been like? Social media has been everything for me and put me where I am. Realistically, it helps you get seen, unless you’re doing a show, and it’s enabled me to speak to my fans and, in turn, get more fans and find out which countries I should visit and where I am wanted. It enables me to reach people around the world without travelling around the world. It really gives one a headstart and I am so grateful for the way it’s helped boost my career. Anything to tell your South African fans out here? I am going to come back hopefully this year. You guys have been very kind to me and I see all of your tweets and messages online and I have enjoyed staying in your amazing country and I can’t wait for you all to see the music videos we’ve created here.