First making his mark on the local music scene when he was only 14 when he was listed as a Gold Coast musician to watch (alongside Amy Shark), young rocker Harry J Hart's newest release is the tight and polished single 'Who We Are'.
"[It's] based around the idea of watching a relationship breakdown, wondering how it had all come to this point and the inevitability of where this relationship was headed," Harry says about the inspiration behind 'Who We Are'.Recorded at Head Atlas Studio (in Brisbane) with RVLR's frontman Joel Myles as producer (Jack Bratt) and Paul Blakey (Amy Shark, Casey Barnes, Tia Gostelow, Ivey, Beddy Ray) on mastering, Harry's musical education includes studying at Berklee College of Music (in Boston) and being trained by Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine) in Los Angeles.
Harry has since performed at Bluesfest (2018, 2019) and was named Bluesfest Busking Competition's Best Guitarist while he's also being a Queensland Music Awards finalist.
Here, the artist with a five-octave vocal range and a wealth of guitar experience, shares his love of the guitar with five guitarists who have inspired his own career.
"I spend a lot of time studying incredible guitarists and there are so many I could talk about. I have a playlist I call 'Go Practice Nerd' to inspire me to be a better guitarist," Harry says.
"While I don't have him in this list (but he is well worthy of a spot), Daniel Champagne is insane and is the reason I changed over to guitar. Here's today's 5 favourites."
Mateus Asato
Known as an Instagram guitarist, Mateus has an epic arsenal of licks and an instantly recognisable style. He's diverse – he has played for Tori Kelly and in a Brazilian metal band for a bit.He toured Australia just before I turned 18 and I bought tickets only to later discover it was an 18-plus gig. Mateus personally arranged for my ticket to be refunded and when I was in LA attending NAMM last year, I had the biggest fan boy moment when I got to meet him and as I told him my story he said: "You're Harry, right?." I nearly died.
In February he announced it was all becoming a bit too much and deleted his social media accounts. He's back on YouTube now and I hope he's doing ok.
Chris Cheney
Chris Cheney is a beast of a guitarist. He blends awesome punky rock riffs with rock-a-billy and country.In 2018, I first saw him play at A Day On The Green. His in-ear monitors died, and he didn't lose time or anything. If you didn't know what he did when he pulled them out, you would not have known anything was wrong.
It may not sound like a big feat, but without them he would not have heard what was happening onstage and he stayed tight with his band while flying blind.
His music is crazy hard to play and then he sings over the top of it too. He's ridiculous. I'd love the opportunity to work with him one day.
Steve Lukather (Toto)
I like the wider range of Steve's playing, from the stuff he does with Toto through to Michael Jackson, and the variety of session gigs in between.You can always pick when it's him playing because he has a distinct and recognisable sound. I aspire to have a sound where people hear it and can recognise it is me playing.
Guthrie Govan
Guthrie's playing is so wacky yet so beautiful. He can make weird noises and his theoretical knowledge is just through the roof, which enables him to successfully try stuff that most of us would think wouldn't work. I am fortunate to be taught by a former student of Guthrie's.James Valentine (Maroon 5)
Maroon 5 is the reason I play music. I discovered them when I was about two or three, and 'Songs About Jane' is still my favourite album. It is one of the best albums with no fillers and all bops.As a player, James has this out-of-the-box style, plus his jazz and funk background sits really nicely with the rest of the band.
