Damals, als ich noch beim „Lybe“- Blog war, gab es eine Kategorie mit dem Namen „Some words about…“, bei denen verschiedenen Musiker nur ein paar Wortfetzen vor die Füße geworfen bekamen und diese dann all das niederschreiben konnten, was ihnen dazu in den Sinn kam. Hat immer super geklappt! Deswegen möchte ich euch die Antworten vom wunderbaren Harker nicht vorenthalten! Ja, es ist ein etwas älterer Artikel, dennoch mehr als lesenswert! Auf meine damalige Anfrage bekam ich sofort ein „Yes, I would love to!“ zurück. Harker- ein junger Mann mit Wohnsitz in Brighton.

Es macht den Anschein, als ob er mit der Gitarre in der Hand auf die Welt gekommen ist & seitdem zu jeder Tages- und Nachtzeit an neuen Songs tüftelt. Oder er lässt mal eben einen Coversong vom Stapel. Beides wunderbar!

The Gaslight Anthem:

Next to Fugazi/Hot Water Music I would say that The Gaslight Anthem are one of the bands I obsessed with in my later teens. I wouldn’t say they are a direct influence on my music, but as a band that have built themselves from the ground up that can be really inspiring to someone like me. They never gave up and now they are the fourth album in playing bigger places all the time. Handwritten is in my top 5 for this year too just holding on behind Apologies, I Have None – ‚London‘.

Tim Barry:

Literally saw him last night. I knew him from Avail, who i’ve never been that into. I have 4 AM Friday, Satiate and One Wrench which are all great albums but by the time I got into Punk Rock they were pretty much finished (I think they’ve split?). Tim had this real sense of honesty about him, and he had so many stories to tell from previous experiences. Went straight over to the merch table and grabbed a copy of 40 Miler. Spinning it as I type this.

The Revival Tour:

Fantastic idea executed by amazing musicians, It would be amazing if one day I could be a part of one of the shows. They regularly have guest appearances, so fingers crossed!

Chuck Ragan:

Gold Country was one of the albums that made me decide to try something a little more different than what I would normally do. So I pretty much owe Chuck Ragan a lot of thanks. He also seems pretty cool, the kind of guy you’d want to hang out with.

The Menzingers:

Yet to see them live, but Chamberlain Waits was my favourite album of 2010 and I did a cover of ‚Who’s Your Partner?‘ for a benefit compilation. On The Impossible Past hasn’t grabbed me as much, but lyrically they are one of the best bands out there.

Bradley Hicks:

Bradley is great, he has a real eclectic taste of music which shines through on his songs. He recently attempted a hundred shows in a hundred days too, he’s a really committed musician and I hope he does well with his new band members. I’ll hopefully be playing more shows with him in 2013.

Cory Branan:

I played with Cory Branan and Jon Snodgrass back in June. Cory seemed a little reserved and quiet but it was halfway through a big tour the both of them were doing together, and I know how sometimes you miss your loved ones so much you just kind of have to collapse into your own shell once in a while! He’s a demon with a guitar and he’s got a killer voice, i’ll hopefully be seeing / playing with him again next year!

Loyal Than Most/Lights Off:

I recorded this in the space of about two hours I think! I was going out to play my first show which was 6 hours drive from my hometown. I thought ‚you are gonna be fucking crazy to not take any merchandise with you‘. So to make the money for petrol I made about 15 mini CDs with handmade artwork and a free badge. They sold out in the space of a week after that, then Ed from Moshtache Records got onto to me a month after that and asked if I wanted to re release the CD in some nice packaging. He did a really good job and I owe a lot to Ed. There’s still a few copies around somewhere, but there aren’t many left.

The Priory Sessions:

I was given the opportunity to go and record in a church out in a quaint little town called Littlehampton, it was an amazing experience. I didn’t want to waste the recordings so I decided to release a live EP, but as it was a free session I didn’t want to make any money from it. So to get around this all the CD profits were given to YouthMusic. The reason why I chose the charity is because not every young person is given the opportunity to create and learn through the art of music due to either family or financial situations. I was blessed with supportive parents who encouraged me to create, so I believe every child deserves encouragement like I was given. The first run sold out, the next run is coming soon!

Neat Rows:

A lot of these songs have been knocking round since I first started but I felt it was too soon to release them. I’m really going for this one, the songs have been demoed and i’m just about to begin the process of looking for a band to record and play live with. A lot of the songs are very personal to me, and tackle a lot of issues I was going through during the writing process. Forgiveness of a loved one, work versus social life, coming of age and naivety. Penning the last song was like a breath of fresh air, a lot of stuff I had to get off my chest. In terms of release, it’ll be out March/April hopefully. How does it sound, I would say something along the lines of Chuck Ragan/Great Cynics/Chamberlain/Arcade Fire.

Coversongs:

I’ve covered way too many songs, but that isn’t a bad thing! I like to do songs you wouldn’t normally expect to be covered, hence why I covered The Blacktop Cadence and Lifetime. The cover of ‚I’m Not Calling You‘ is my favourite, although it definitely had less of a Lifetime feel and more of a Jimmy Eat World ‚Clarity‘ feel I think?

Moshtache Records:

Ed is the first guy from a label to take a chance on me. I think if he didn’t re-release Loyal Than Most/Lights Off I probably wouldn’t have carried on doing this. He helped me jump to a bigger audience and for that I’m really grateful.

Brighton:

A paragraph couldn’t explain how great Brighton is. Come and visit!

Tattoos:

I have four tattoos, one on my right arm (the HWM Remedy bird), one on my left wrist (Stay Positive infinity sign), One on the left side of my chest (7″ record spindle) and one on the back of my leg (HWM logo). They are all music related, but what else would I get done that I find interesting!

Music:

I buy too much, and in my opinion don’t create enough. Without music, life would be pretty grey.

My more recent purchases include:

Minor Threat – Out Of Step
Muncie Girls – Revolution Summer
Chamberlain – The Moon, My Saddle
Jawbreaker – Unfun
Cocteau Twins – Treasure

Heroes:

Chuck Ragan, Bruce Springsteen, Sam Cooke, Steve Albini, and my pa.

The first show you ever played:

Plymouth, Voodoo Lounge with The Blowouts and Stillbust. I played a nervous and terrible set of songs now scrapped for good reasons. They treated me well and they are solid friends.

Your biggest mistake on stage:

I always break strings mid song. This is the worst thing to ever happen to an acoustic act on stage, now I always change strings every two shows to avoid this.

Things, you can’t live without:

Guitar, Record player, family, friends and my lady.

Your strengths:

When I need to get something done, i’ll get it done. I’m confident with talking to strangers too.

Your weaknesses:

I have the tendency to be shy performing, and I often muddle my words sometimes. It’s a weakness, but I can shake that out!

Being on tour:

I love doing it, but as a one man band it can be really hard to organise touring. The first tour I did was going to be a potential 12 dates and eventually was weeded out to only 6. If I had a choice I would tour for long periods of time as I feel it’s where i’m most suited, but financially and emotionally it can break you at certain points.

The biggest compliment for your music:

The second show I played with Jeff Rowe we grabbed time to talk more, he told me that he recommended me to other people he’s played with over the tour. Jeff’s a killer dude, i’m hoping he’ll be over in the UK next year so I can catch up with him.

Your future plans, when you were a child:

I’ve never really looked to the future, I never really thought about it. A lot of my friends were encouraged to study but I just wanted to play music/be involved with music. Let’s hope I haven’t screwed up!

Last words:

Jasmin, thank you. Anyone who’s reading this, I’m always good for talking. Hit me up! HRKR@HRKR.co.uk

Thank you very much, Harker!

Facebook: Klick!

Bandcamp: Klick!