Name: Karen Harding
Nationality: British
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Karen Harding's debut solo album Take Me Somewhere is out via Ultra.
Recommendations: My debut album that's just came out, Take Me Somewhere! A collection of my favourite songs.

"Lost ones" - Jazmine Sullivan
I'm a huge Jazmine Sullivan fan and after listening to this stunning vocal performance of this song, I want people to hear it too.

If you enjoyed this Karen Harding interview and would like to stay up to date with her and her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, and twitter.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

It always depends on my mood, but I mainly close my eyes and see how it makes me move.

The way my body reacts to the music is important to me. Especially for my own music, it has to make me feel like I want to dance to it, whether that’s a slow or faster tempo. It’s always instinctive.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I started with a small karaoke machine in the front room. I’d always get up at Christmas parties and school shows to sing. I don’t know where the confidence came from, but I enjoyed it and after the first big school performance where I stared at the back wall, I knew it was what I wanted to do. 

I wanted to be a ’famous’ singer and I thought my applying myself to every opportunity to sing it would somehow get me there. I then joined function bands, was doing restaurants and bars locally and that also meant preparing my sets, practising, and setting up all the gear.

I’m grateful that I had all those opportunities because I’m capable of doing all of that and I have more knowledge for every situation … I’ve played to venues where nobody has been in the room and I think that’s important for artists to have done, its character building.

Knowledge is power and as my dad said to me (something along these lines) ‘minimum in, minimum out’.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

Ah the teenage years. I was listening to a lot of music. We had a separate space from the house that my friends and I would have sleepovers in and we would be blasting music. Usually clubland and trance classics, we loved it.

I kinda just landed into dance music in the beginning because of my first single 'Say Something'. Maybe those years were the ones I didn't realise were preparing me for the dance music world I eventually got into.

I still enjoy music in the same way, I put music on in the house and dance around the living room, I love how free music makes you feel.

Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I love collecting thoughts together and sharing some in sessions, I usually go with the vibe we are all feeling in the room.

I use inspiration from every source I can, the melodies and lyrics usually come when I'm in silence, walking or lying in bed. At that point, the phone comes straight out and I record the idea into my phone. I don't want to forget it but I have to admit when I come back to it sometimes it's awful!

I do use personal relationships as concepts for the song but always put some glitter on it and make it shiny!

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you describe the sound you're looking for?

I really like that quote. I agree, when people first listen to your songs they're not listening for specifics, they want to feel an emotion from it. I'm the same, I want to be moved.

I always want a warm sound, a vocal and production that warms me even if it was a song about winter!
 
Are you acting out certain roles or parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? If not, what, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

I want to perform my music as myself and always have. I've never really pretended to be anyone else, even when I was performing at school! I might sing about things that haven't happened to me but always choose to sing it in my own way, the way that I interpret the message.

I like to start by melody usually, the melodies always come first and then the lyric.

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or perhaps the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

I'm always conscious of the words feeling relatable. I want listeners to be able to put themselves into the song and the situation I'm singing about.

I hope the songs aren't misunderstood and rather changed for what someone needs to hear at that moment.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness as things become more professionalised and how do you still draw surprises from equipment, instruments, approaches and formats you may be very familiar with?  

I think working with new people always helps, the collaboration part of writing really excites me. I love listening to other writers melodies and lyrics, it's a very inspiring environment. I also love to work alone, this way I get to record vocals and experiment with plug ins and effects.

I do enjoy the vocal production element of production, always learning new things!

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I'm originally from Consett, County Durham, and it was easy to find quiet places away from it all. When I moved to London I really struggled to relax when there was so much noise constantly surrounding me.

I recently moved to Oxfordshire and there’s not a day goes by that I don't feel moved by certain sounds, particularly birds. One of my favourite non-human sounds has to be rain, like hard rain that makes so much noise when you're indoors, love it.

Would definitely describe all of these sounds as musical!

There seems to be an increasing trend to capture music in numbers, from waveforms via recommendation algorithms up to deciphering the code of hit songs. What aspects of music do you feel can be captured through numbers, and which can not?

The essence of a nightclub, there's a certain vibe in a room where the music is thumping and people are there to dance and release energy under the music.

At this point, the clubbers aren't thinking about numbers or algorithms on the records being played. They want to be welcomed onto the dancefloor and to be swept away.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Maybe it does reflect the way I live my life a little! I like to step back and listen to what others have to say when I'm in a room. I really enjoying hearing melodies that other writers come up with and I feel like it’s then captured and put in a little cauldron and then brought back later when we need it because everyone has heard it without even realising.

Maybe I like to do that in life too. I like to sit back, enjoy the company of others, and watch the funny things that my friends and family do haha!

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold from your point of view? What role do headphones play for you in this regard?

The silence is so important to me. Sometimes stepping out of the room, even to go to the toilet, can make sure a difference on a song! Those melodies sometimes bring so much magic.

I used to listen to music all day everyday but found my ears and mind tired before even beginning to write!

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Well, with everything, no matter how simple it may be, you have to put everything into it to make it good!

Every artist puts a lot of work into their craft just like a barista puts a lot of work into their work too.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values which don't appear to have any emotional connotation. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a seemingly counterintuitive way – and what, do you think, is happening here?

Music is very powerful ... different places, different times can massively affect how music can make you feel.

I cry pretty much every time I'm at a concert, whether it's an orchestra, jazz band or a rapper. I find the music just overwhelms me and the emotions just flow out - feels like a therapy.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I really enjoy listening music from all eras, it keeps me inspired.

Music production is developing quickly, especially to cater for the fast-paced world we are digesting music in. Songs are getting shorter and are quickly skipped as well, not really giving songs a chance to make an impact. I hope that introductions in popular music come back, I love that time waiting for the song to begin where you can get excited to hear what's coming.

I love this on ‘Ain’t Nobody’ - Chaka Khan.



As soon as that intro comes in I get so excited for what's to come.