CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 171: HARPER BLOOM ON GOING TO LONDON, COLLABORATION, AND BECOMING MORE COMFORTABLE

Interview by AJ Maher.

After a two-year creative pause, queer indie-pop artist Harper Bloom, makes a powerful comeback with the release of All The Kids, a poignant exploration of self-discovery and musical evolution. Recorded in London with acclaimed producer Charlie Westropp (Maisie Peters, Gabrielle Aplin), the single marks a significant transformation in Harper Bloom’s artistry and personal journey.

Futuremag Music sat down with Harper to talk about this journey.

FMM: Well, Harper, thank you for chatting with us.

Harper: Thank you so much for having me.

FMM: Firstly, your latest single, All The Kids, is painfully close to release day. What's going through your mind in the lead up?

FMM: Oh, I'm just thinking.. Well, I'm about to go to rehearsals with my band, so that's going to be exciting because it's a bit of a new live show, so just trying to prepare the song to sound as similar in person as it is on the recording, so that's going to be exciting. That's going through my head right now.

FMM: A bit of a business as usual kind of thing going on, really.

Harper: Yeah. I haven't used tracks before, which is quite probably amateur, so I’m excited to jump into a bit more of a professional live show. That should be good.

FMM: Beautiful. Judging from listening to the new song, a lot's happened in the two years you've been away from music. What was sort of going on in that time?

Harper: Oh, what was going on? Well, I think I sort of moved away from the indie-folk sound. I started writing with a friend called Tim. He didn't produce these tracks, but he's a really good producer and he thinks a lot differently to me in terms of sound design. So collaborating with him, we co-wrote these tracks together and moved a bit towards the indie-pop space and thinking more about arrangements and, you know, rhythm and melody and harmonies and everything, instead of just lyrics. It was a good collaboration.

FMM: Did any new musical influences play a role in this new sound?

Harper Bloom: Honestly, I was actually listening to Pumped Up Kicks on repeat, and I know that's really old school, but I loved the elements he had in that song and how he produced it. It's just super interesting. I think I was obsessed with that song and then I just kept playing it over and over to Tim and then we were just picking apart how he came up with those ideas. I think we used a lot of that in All The Kids, anyway.

FMM: I gotta say, I think the last time I heard Pumped Up Kicks was while I was in high school and it was probably being played off someone's phone speaker in a classroom.

Harper: I love that song. It's so good. I was just trying to get that nostalgic, sort of low-key, poppy vibe across, which makes you feel something, but it's not too in your face, I guess.

FMM: And lyrically, what inspired this new song?

Harper: Oh, um, well, whereabouts you from? Are you in Melbourne?

FMM: I'm from Perth, actually.

Harper: Oh, you're from Perth? Oh, I'm originally from Perth. Moved to Melbourne, though. I'm originally near Freo.

FMM: Oh, wow. I'm out in the eastern suburbs, in the hills.

Harper: Oh, yeah, nice. It's nice around there. Bit more quiet. The song was just inspired when we first moved to Melbourne. We just were in a bit of a crappy share house as everyone is when they're young and poor. We were just sitting up on the roof, drinking and all getting to know each other and so that's sort of where the idea came from.

FMM: One line in particular that stands out to me is ‘on the roof and we're all still underage.’ That's almost a feeling that anyone who's been in their early twenties has felt when they're first becoming an adult. It's like your experience of socialising in that manner is just being a teenager and kind of sneaking out, causing trouble.

Harper: I know what you mean. It's like you're in your twenties, but you're behaving like you’ve just snuck out of the house with your friends when you’re at school. I don't know if you did that. I did that quite a lot. It's that energy of you're feeling just free. Completely free and excited to be young and so that's the energy of the song.

FMM: How did you end up working with producer Charlie Westropp in London on this track?

Harper: Yeah, he did a great job. He helped me as well as did Tim to come at it from a different angle. Charlie really helped level up the sound and just refined it to make sure it was all cohesive across the whole EP. He’s a really great producer and I felt lucky to work with him.

FMM: There’s obviously another EP coming out at some point in the future. Does the rest of the EP have a similar vein throughout the whole thing? Like a similar sound?

Harper: Yeah, it's all sort of coming of age music. This one's a little bit chill, but a head pop the whole time. Then, the next one's a bit more upbeat, but the whole EP is a coming of age, nostalgic indie-pop sound. I sort of wanted to have that sort of coming of age soundtrack, so it's all got that energy to it.

FMM: When are we looking at the release for the rest of those songs? The EP?

Harper: I should have another single out at the end of June and then the whole EP and another single called Flutterby, that will be coming out in September, I think.

FMM: It's looking like a packed year of music, so it would be great. The word, flutterby, screams childhood.

Harper: Oh, my gosh, yeah. I work with this woman with early onset Alzheimer's. She's an incredible pianist, actually, and she came up with that lyric and so I love that song. It means alot.

FMM: I feel like that's something I, at the very least, said as a child, flutterby. I didn't realise that was a thing, apparently.

Harper: Yeah, apparently it's what they used to call butterflies before they got better educated, I think. I don't know.

FMM: There you go. Backstory Development of language right there. From what I have read, you've spent various periods of time working in different parts of the parts of the world. Do you find relocating regularly helps or hinders your creativity?

Harper: I think it helps a lot. I wasn't sure about going to London because… I don't know. I'm not sure why I didn't want to go, but then I went and it really helped, just making all these different relationships. You just feel so free over there because you don't know anyone and it's a whole new city with all this different energy and so just went out and did a heap of open mic nights as well, which was a bit random, but it was just so fun. Everyone in London has a really fun attitude. They seem to love Australians, so, yeah, it's really good. It just helps you come up with a lot of different lyrical ideas and things because you're just in a different wavelength. I guess you're just a bit out of the groove and so you can be a bit more creative.

FMM: I guess you wouldn't find it too challenging then, to just slip yourself into the different music scenes as an outsider, then.

Harper: Yeah, no, it was so fun, actually. I just went into all these pubs and just borrowed people's guitars and the whole pub just started clapping. Some guy pulled out a tambourine. There's a very good energy in London. I liked it. Can't wait to go back.

FMM: Damn. Even as a spectator, I just want to see a show. When the audience is trying to be part of the show, that's when you know it's good.

Harper: Yeah, it is, it was fun. I think they're all a bit drunk. You know, they like their beer, which is great.

FMM: Always. At least there's some fun. You've spoken about growing in confidence as a queer person. Has music played a role in this growing confidence, do you think?

Harper: I think so. I think figuring out my sound more because there was a point where I was really confused and I think it was just because I was writing on my own. I tried to not produce songs, but I was trying to learn production and I think just trying to do it all on my own. I was just getting really confused about what I wanted my sound to be, so working with other people, growing my sound, going to London and working with this great producer. Yeah, the music has given me a lot of confidence as well. I just know who I am a bit more now. Honestly, I haven't felt so confident as a queer person. Like, I just don't care when people look at me anymore. You get that a lot in Perth. Well, I get that a lot in Perth. You can't sometimes go to a toilet. People will shout at you because either they genuinely don't know if I'm a girl or a boy, but some people are just rude. I'm just confident now. I don't care if people do that now. I'm not self conscious about it. I just sort of try and educate them and move on.

FMM: Yeah, I mean, we could probably do a whole interview about Perth and what people yell at people, but we'll keep it to the topic of the music. I think we touched this a little bit earlier. Obviously, you're about to do some prep for this, but what are you planning in the way of live shows for this year?

Harper: Yes, so I've got a live show coming up. It's at a secret location, but I'll just say it. It's at Bodriggy's in Abbotsford and it's free entry. All donations on the door go towards Headspace. We've got DJ's. It's an all-queer lineup. We've also got a pop-up art gallery there, so that'll be really good. It's on the 11th of May. Saturday, so if anyone wants to come, they can.

FMM: Sounds like a sensation to all artistic senses that would be. I can't afford a plane ticket, but damn, I'd be excited to go.

Harper: Yeah, I know. If you come over, please come. But, yeah, there's an RSVP link that I'll put up on Instagram for people to join.

FMM: That just sounds like a truly wonderful spectacle there and I hope eventually you can take your show on the roa, and if I can't get over to Melbourne, you can delight the people of Perth with your sounds.

Harper: I will. I do love Perth people. I just can get more comfortable sometimes in Melbourne, but I’m still comfortable in Perth.

FMM: I can see why. Harper, thank you very much for chatting to us here at Futuremag Music.

Harper: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.