Things are looking pretty dandy for Brisbane band Morning Harvey as they prepare for two big gigs: Valley Fiesta's 20th anniversary and playing support for The Dandy Warhols.
“We’ve always wanted to do Valley Fiesta at some point,” frontman Spencer White says. “It’s always a good atmosphere when we go and check out the line-ups on offer each year. There’s always a bit of a party atmosphere, a bit like Bigsound in a way, and it’s a good excuse to be a bit silly.”
As for supporting Oregon rockers The Dandy Warhols, Spencer says it’s a boyhood dream come true. “I’ve been waiting for this to happen since I was eight-years old,” he laughs.
“It’s one of those things where I didn’t want to get my hopes up about something like that, and when it actually came 'round I was shocked. We’re all insanely excited about doing [it] and they’re really nice guys.”
Morning Harvey released their second EP, ‘Love&Loveand’, in July last year and Spencer says the band has been focussed on finishing their debut full-length album on which they’ve found a more consistent sound and style. “The album we’re finishing up now is the direction we’ve wanted to go for ages,” he says.
“Also it’s us moving forward, so in our live shows there’s a distinct change between the EP and the new songs we have at the moment. It’s just us growing up and being more confident with what we put out there and how we write songs.
“Since the EP, as soon as we put that out I was back demoing new songs straight away. It was a challenge for me to bring myself out of the comfort zone I was in. I feel like every person should have that challenge at some point in their artistic careers.
“I think that’s something I’m really working towards with this album,” he says. “I’m trying to take myself out of that comfort zone and not feel safe at all. I’ve realised that whenever I’ve felt safe in something I’m writing or the surroundings I have, the music just doesn’t resonate in the way that it does when I’m not comfortable.”
The album will feature their latest single ‘Susanne Monday’, which the band recently toured in September. While getting out of his comfort zone is integral to his writing process, Spencer said the tour was quite the opposite, with the band finding a comfortable groove in their live performances. “We just feel a lot more comfortable in playing this music in a way we feel that it’s us and what we’ve been trying to get to.
“It’s a bit of a contradiction though,” he adds with a laugh, “getting out of your comfort zone writing then feeling comfortable playing it.”
Spencer has often said he doesn’t write for one genre, a trait which is exemplified on the upcoming album. “If you can hear what we have at the moment, it all works together even though people may take part of a song and say it’s punk or glam or whatever they take from it.
“I don’t like feeling tied down to it, so it’s quite exciting to be able to explore those avenues and combine it into the finished product. I’m looking forward to releasing more and more, and seeing the reactions to the rest of the material, because it’s all pretty different.”
Morning Harvey perform at Valley Fiesta 28-30 October.
The Dandy Warhols Shows
Wed 26 Oct - Metro City (Perth)Thu 27 Oct - HQ (Adelaide)
Sat 29 Oct - Eatons Hill Hotel (Brisbane)
Sun 30 Oct - Parkwood Tavern (Gold Coast)
Thu 3 Nov - ANU Bar (Canberra)
Fri 4 Nov - The Big Top (Sydney)
Sat 5 Nov - Palais Theatre (Melbourne)
