If Harper Finn had his way he’d be off hiding in a remote little cottage, somewhere far from the hyper-connected tentacles of Wi-Fi, phone reception or, as it happens, this Zoom call.
“I think a lot of artists and musicians can relate to that feeling,” he grins. “Release days are intense, they’re an emotional roller coaster. There’s obviously the satisfaction of having something out in the world. It’s a relief and a weight off the shoulders, but you spend your day on the phone; replying to messages, sharing this, liking that… you’re getting instant feedback in real-time. It’s a great thing but it’s also nerve-racking. I’d like to run away and have someone tell me how it all went in, like, a week.”
If the 24-year-old singer-songwriter is feeling at all frazzled following the release of his debut EP Newcomer, he's hiding it well. He sounds relaxed and is considered and thoughtful in his answers as we dig into everything from his win at the Aotearoa Music Awards last year for Best Breakthrough Artist ("It was a completely surreal feeling") right through to the experiential revelations and personal realisations he's had in the creation of his EP.
“It’s getting like you’re my therapist right now,” he jokes at one point.
The first thing that grabs you about Newcomer is that it pushes right up against the boundaries of the EP format by housing eight songs.
“I’ve had a lot of people say, ‘Just chuck two more songs on and call it an album, get over yourself!’” he laughs.
“There’s some truth in that … but an EP felt appropriate for a first statement and a little more spontaneous. I thought it was important to take all the songs from the last few years and put them in one place, just so I could move on and it could be like a closing of the first page and on to the next chapter.”
Compiling his four previous singles on to Newcomer created an easy-access point for new fans and somewhere loyal listeners could easily find songs like Conversations (With The Moon), She Said and, of course, his breakthrough hit Dance Away These Days.
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Advertise with NZME.“Previously they were scattered,” he admits.
Joining these crowd favourites are four new songs, including the single Different Skies and sure-fire future hit Euphoria. These songs all draw on his experiences of the past three years, living in lockdown, escaping overseas, loves and break-ups and just life in general, with Harper saying that two themes became apparent to him when he listened back to the finished EP.
First is that it was about “firsts”, and secondly that it was directly inspired by charging into the uncomfortable and dealing with unfamiliar situations.
“I’ve realised I’m someone who puts myself into situations without really thinking about them super-hard or super-long. The unfamiliar is attractive to me. Being in an uncomfortable situation is always something that I’m drawn to,” he says. “It’s where these songs came from.”
Harper says it’s by living through these moments that allow him to learn, grow and progress.
“I always want to be in an unfamiliar situation as often as I can,” he says. “If anything, that’s who I am.”
He says this also fuels his songwriting, with the songwriting tank running out of gas whenever he finds himself getting too comfortable.
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Advertise with NZME.“When I’m in an uncomfortable situation my songwriting and my love of going off and playing the piano for a few hours becomes a way to keep myself grounded and maintain my centre. If I’m in a new city or a new relationship with somebody and feeling a bit anxious about it or feeling like it’s not working, the piano becomes my way of dealing with that,” he explains.
“The piano helps make those uncomfortable situations understandable and like they have a purpose. I always feel like they teach me something. The piano is the middleman, the way to bridge that lesson.”
Even though Harper writes from his own experiences, the situations are universal we’ve all lived through blossoming loves, heart-aching break-ups and Covid-enforced lockdowns.
But it’s his talent for taking you across that bridge with him that is his real skill as a songwriter. Subsequently, he’s amassed a fiercely loyal fan base in a relatively short time, and one that feels very connected to the artist, so much so that he often receives incredibly thoughtful messages detailing what his music means to them.
“It gives you a greater sense of purpose, I think,” he says.
“When you have success with a song it goes from being something you do because you love it to realising, ‘Oh, this is actually helping people.’ When people tell you that your song helped them through a situation or gave them clarity or perspective, that’s when music becomes extremely powerful. Music can help people’s lives. It’s quite a profound experience to have.”
Harper Finn’s debut EP, Newcomer, is out now. He plays a release show in Auckland at The Hollywood this Saturday, August 13.
