HARVEY JAY
DODGSON
Hailing from near-by Portsmouth, 20 year old prodigy Harvey Jay Dodgson has just signed with Liam Gallagher and Sia’s booking agent, signalling an exciting future for the singersongwriter. Harvey Jay Dodson strives to marry the greats of British music to create infectious and catchy music that excites audiences and leaves them wanting more. As we stood in a tiny car park outside Fiddler’s Elbow Dodson and I chatted away. Are you looking forward to your set tonight? Yeah definitely. It’s quite small in there [Fiddler’s Elbow] but it’s packed so it should be good, and they serve Guinness so can’t go too far wrong really! Have you seen anyone you’ve really enjoyed so far at The Great Escape? Yeah, just got back from seeing Porchlight at The Water Bear- they were sick! I always find it hard to find out who’s playing where so I’m hoping to stumble across some great bands this weekend. What are you most excited for this year? I’m most excited for this year’s festival season. I’m playing Isle of Wight Festival, Victorious Festival and that’s just gonna be great. I’m playing six or seven festivals and I’m playing Sundays so I get to enjoy the weekend but it means I do have to behave myself a bit more beforehand! What do you think are the biggest positives and negatives of the music industry? There’s a load of positives. We get to meet so many people and have the opportunity to change people’s perspective of things through music. You also get to be a part of making people’ nights and entertaining a crowd. Music is a part of everything and getting to be involved with that is insane. When people come up to you afterwards and say how much they enjoyed the set and how it inspired them- it’s unreal. For the negatives: it’s a tricky industry. You’ve got to be careful around certain people. And there’s so many temptations like getting offered money to do certain things you can become a bit blinded by that aspect. A lot of the industry revolves around money. So if you
have a lot of money you’re more able to get further, which is a shame because there’s so much talent that hasn’t been discovered because they don’t have the resources. What bands are currently on your radar? I’m going to Knebworth actually and I’m excited to see Michael Kiwanuka and seeing Kasabian without Tom [Meighan] will be interesting. Anything fun you’re working on? We’re off to the studio soon, the band and I will be in there this month. The studio is always fun getting to play around with some new ideas finally- taking them off the paper and bringing them to life. Obviously, all the festivals this year, and writing loads focussing on myself and the music. Is there one song you’d say you have to listen to from your music? Caroline, definitely I like the tempo change. It’s very summer-y and I love summer ! I’m quite proud of it as well. I wrote it when I was only 16. It’s nice that I can look back on it and still really love the song. How would you describe your music to someone who’s never heard it before? It’s a little alternative in parts but it’s got an indie drive behind it- it’s a bit rocky too. It is influenced by a lot of jazz and blues so there’s elements of that as well. There’s something for everyone I think. I always draw inspiration from anyone I can. Best song: Caroline Instagram @harveyjaydodgson Words by Charley Murfitt
ISSUE 3
27
