INTERVIEW: Hartley on latest single 'Feel Too Much' and breaking the rules: "I decided not to feel like I have to fit into the traditional song writing box"
Brisbane-based singer songwriter Hartley first appeared on the music scene last year with debut single ‘Used To’, a track that got her signed to Warner Music after she uploaded it to Triple J Unearthed. Her self-titled, debut EP arrived earlier this year and at the beginning of May she released brand new single ‘Feel Too Much’. A brooding, dark, sensuous electro track with slick production and perfectly crafted melodies, it demonstrates the remarkable progress Hartley has made as an artist in the short period she has been releasing music. With this outstanding release, Hartley is consolidating her early promise as one of Australia’s major artists of the future. We recently spoke to Hartley to find out more about her career and music.
Interview: Jett Tattersall
Hello Hartley, how are things in your world these days?
Things are very confusing and a bit overwhelming and I think I'm just trying to find normality and creature comforts right now. I think that's the best way I can put it. It’s kind of hard to find any sense of normality at this time.
Find normality, that should be a TED Talk. I love it. That leads right into my next avenue because I don't only want to congratulate you on the release of ‘Feel Too Much’, I want to thank you for creating it in the first place. It is such a good track and with those lyrics ‘I crack my neck and grind my teeth’ it just champions those gut wrenching, clenching fist pounding moments in all of us. How appropriate for the time that it's released in. But I just want to know from your perspective, what was the inspiration behind this track?
Thank you so much, that's so nice of you. At the time that I wrote it, I was experiencing a heap of anxiety for the first time. Anxiety comes in physical symptoms as well as emotional symptoms and the issue that I was having was translating all these really intense feelings and emotions into thoughts. For that reason everything just became so overwhelming physically and mentally. I decided that instead of struggling with writers’ block to put something into words, I decided to just talk about how I was ‘feeling too much’ to write and ‘feeling too much’ to translate anything really. I decided that other people could relate to that as well and not to feel like I have to fit into the traditional song writing box of being able to articulate things well. I wrote it thinking this could either be sung to a person or it could be sung to anxiety. I like that it can have kind of a dual meaning.
After writing those lyrics were you always aware of how you wanted this track to sound production-wise, or was it something you later toyed with as a team?
I definitely knew how I wanted it to sound. I made sure that I stuck with the whole meaning of the sung which is ‘I can't overthink this, I just have to be true to how I feel’. I wanted the production to mimic what was happening in my head really. That at the time was just so simple and made so much sense and so I made sure the production was a bit spooky and chaotic and didn't necessarily make too much sense.
You're a producer, so I want to know how important is that experimentation with sound to complement your lyrics?
Yeah, I love that. With production you never stop learning. I think I’ll be like 40 years old and I will still feel like I’ll have a long way to go. I am also so conscious of not putting myself into any kind of musical or production box because there are so many different ways you can produce and so many different genres and then you can morph genres to create new ones which is something I’ve done and just love doing.
Just keep playing. And on that note, who were your musical influences growing up? Who were those earlier sparks that you just went ‘okay, I want to toy with this myself’?
I wish I had something really cool to say. But my first concert was Hilary Duff. I was always into Disney to be honest. There was a lot of Avril Lavigne, Ashlee Simpson. Those kind of artists taught me how to write a good hook. That was when hooks were at their prime, for me anyway in terms of my influences.
What got you started in the industry? So many of us dabble in song writing or production. But the confidence to put ourselves out there is often such a big risk. What steps did you take to then become the musician you are today?
It definitely felt like a big risk and so I just decided to have this attitude of ‘well if this doesn't work out, it's okay, I don't feel like I've lost my entire identity. I'm just going to give it a go’. I don't think that you can really release music without having that attitude, or else every response or statistic is going to impact you so much. So, that's where I was at the time I released my first single and I'm really glad I was because I decided that I'd say yes to everything and see everything as an opportunity. Luckily it worked out…now I'm here.
You first came to our ears and our attention on Triple J Unearthed with your breakout track ‘Used To’ which then appeared no your beautiful self-titled EP. On that EP, all four tracks speak from such different and personal moments from your life. Were you ever apprehensive to release it since those were your first songs, or were you just like ‘I'm just going to go with it and see what happens’?
I decided at first to go with it and never explain what the songs meant, but that was short-lived. People love to know the meaning behind songs and I'm more open with that now. But before every single release of mine, I just get so nervous about how honest I've been. I know it's an important part of the process, but honestly it's still pretty nerve-racking.
Obviously there's an upside to it but then there's also the detriment. The upside is people get to know you and they then put their own experiences onto it and the detriment is you feel like you're being examined - like you are the one who's put yourself on the examining table.
Yeah, and I feel like how strange that I've chosen to show people this much of my personal life really. In other careers you don’t really have to do that. But I can totally see why it's important. It's just a bit strange.
Don’t analyse it, it’s fine! You are a writing producing and kick arse performance musical powerhouse, what is it about creating music that really excites you?
I was actually just talking about this with another producer. I think the reason that I do it is just that feeling you get when you realise that you’ve written a really good hook, or you have been able to combine the perfect production with the top line that you've just written. It's this feeling of everything clicking into place. All the confusing creative puzzle pieces in your head just suddenly are there in front of you on your laptop. That's just the best feeling.
With regards to song writing, is it something you habitually do every day, or is it something you have to take time to gather those thoughts?
With song writing and the creative process it really comes in waves and every time I feel uninspired I feel like it's going to last forever. I know a lot of musicians feel that way. But then I'll get random waves every few days where I have to open my laptop and so some production. In between those days I am constantly coming up with phrases and lyrics and concepts that I like so I'll put them into a little phone note of mine. I guess in a way I'm always creating.
As a solo artist what do you find are the pressures of being it all on you? You’re throwing it all yourself and it's killer, there are some great moments that come with that, but there must also be a flip side?
I haven't really noticed the flip side until now during isolation because I felt really overwhelmed just with normal life. So it would be nice to be able to give some responsibility to somebody else. But I think it's a really cool challenge and it's super character building to be able to take on those responsibilities. It's something that I've always wanted to do. I don’t, I can't, I don't know how to, but it just seems right for me. Even though I seem like a sensitive petal in my song lyrics I really like that on the flip side I can kind of make all these decisions for myself and stand my ground when I need to even though it can get a bit overwhelming at times.
Can I ask you lastly, what is on the horizon for the rest of 2020 - complete world lockdown aside?
Well luckily during lock down you can release songs. So I just announced that ‘Feel Too Much’ was the start of a new EP and so I'll be releasing the remaining songs of that EP this year. Then hopefully if we can start performing again, I'll be doing some performing probably at the end of the year.
‘Feel Too Much’ by Hartley is out now via Warner Music. You can download it on iTunes and stream on Apple Music, Soundcloud and Spotify.
To keep up with all things Hartley you can follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
