Harper Finn is an Auckland-based pop singer-songwriter, young and ready to show his own musical stylings, separate from his famous Finn family heritage. Despite the chaos of the year, Craccum’s Cameron Leakey managed to track him down for a quick chat about his latest release. “Dance Away These Days” is out now – give it a listen!
How was your lockdown?
I’ve just recently moved into a flat with 7 people so my second lockdown was a lot more entertaining than the first. Spent a lot of it pairing up with the flatmates cooking. We did a ‘My Kitchen Rules’ which kept things competitive and appetising…. we also did a cocktail night!
What’s in the pipeline for you?
More music and more shows! just trying to do as much as I can considering the limitations this year has had. Collaborations with other artists and producers is in a way becoming easier with everyone using Zoom, so working with more people overseas is definitely something I see myself doing more.
Can you tell us about “Dance Away These Days”. What inspired the song?
I wrote “Dance Away These Days” in Berlin with a producer I’ve worked with before Tobias Kuhn, and Martin Kelly at the start of the year. I remember being really inspired by the city; I would walk along the Berlin Wall to get to the studio in the rain. It felt like the furthest I’d ever been from New Zealand and that definitely influenced the music. The dark heavy synth chords through the first verse was the main production part we got down along with the vocal/lyric. Coming back to NZ and living with that demo for a while, the idea for adding the drums and speeding it up came from being stuck at home all day and the angst it created. I wanted the song to have a giant release…a song you could expel a lot of energy to.
When can we expect new music from you? Is there an album on the way?
I’ll have another song out by the end of the year and an EP sometime in early 2021.
Do you have plans to tour soon? (If possible)
I do! hopefully sometime early next year.
What’s been your greatest achievement so far?
Creating the music video for Dance Away These Days is up there. From writing the song to watching the final edit of the video, it was the most complete experience I’ve had with seeing out your artistic vision. To be able to bring in other creatives and dancers into the world of the song and share that experience is something I’ll never forget.
What’s your plans for the summer?
Hopefully getting out there to do shows. I’m playing Rhythm and Vines for the 2nd time which will be a summer highlight for sure. After the year we’ve had I think just getting out in front crowds and feeling the energy you can only get from doing live shows is something we’re all missing.
