Karen Harding
For lovers of Sarah McLachlan, Eva Cassidy or Sara Barielles, for Melbourne, Australia based artist, Karen Harding, music is not only an outlet for expression of her feelings and emotions, drawn from a lifetime of experiences.. music is a soul conversation, that allows the masks that we hide behind to fall away for a moment of sharing.. a moment of mutual understanding.. in a language that does not discriminate in any form.
Karen’s latest achievements have been the releases of her singles, ‘I Didn’t Realise’, ‘I Heard Somebody Talking’ and ‘Anxiety’. You can find these on all streaming platforms.
Something special
Als Gespräch für eine Person geschrieben, die nicht sehen kann, wie wertvoll sie ist. Durchsetzt von Selbstzweifeln und geringem Selbstwertgefühl wird ihr nicht bewusst das sie etwas Besonderes darstellt. Eine Botschaft an jene die denken nicht wichtig zu sein und nicht an sich glauben. Ein jeder einzelne ist im Wesen bemerkenswert.
Die neue Single von Karen Harding, "Something special" widmet sich diesen Menschen. Das Rauschen des Ozeans im Intro zieht sich wie ein Mantra durch den Song und begleitet Karen auf ihrer Reise durch ihren Monolog.
Beruhigend wie auch leidenschaftlich zugleich interpretiert sie die Thematik. Contemporary Indie Pop zum Nachdenken, zum Reflektieren und Besinnen. Karen Harding überzeugt mich hier nicht nur als brillante Botschafterin sondern auch als Producerin und zaubert quasi einen wunderbaren Song aus ihrem "Zylinder der Begabung".
"Something special" by Karen Harding a special song for all the wonderful unknowns out there and for ourself as well!
Q&A
Karen Harding is...?
I am a Melbourne, Australia based singer/songwriter.. It took me a long time to allow myself to identify as a singer/songwriter, as it always seemed like too much fun and an explorative experience to be 'what I am' :)
Beyond my music, I have a day job, where I work as a manager of an amazing team of staff in a large accounting and financial firm. I also run a platform and community for independent artists called Sounds On The Couch, which began as the pandemic started, to provide online opportunities for artists to connect with other artists and the community.
Who inspired you to make music in general?
This is a great question and it's tough to answer..
There have been so many people along my life journey that have contributed to what I'm doing now and in a lot of cases, they've helped me more with getting to the point where I believe in myself enough to share my music.
I was always drawn to great songwriters and artists that could tell a story through their music. Growing up I was regularly listening to artists like Leonard Cohen, Tracey Chapman and Eva Cassidy.
Your latest track "Something special" sounds amazing, what's the story behind it?
Thank you :)
'Something Special' was an interesting creation for me.. It was completely unintended and unplanned!
I was unwell on Christmas Day 2021 and was unable to attend the Christmas festivities. I ended up spending the day playing around with my music and the 16 tracks of 'Something Special' was created, beginning with the sound of the ocean.
The song is written as a conversation to a person who is unable to see how truly amazing they are, but others see something special and unique exuding from them. It's a message to so many people within our community (including me!), who don't believe in themselves and don't feel like they matter.. Everyone who is living and breathing has something special that they share, even if they don't see it themselves.
It's your first fully self produced Single, what was the most time intensive part?
It is my first fully self produced single..
The amazing part of this creation is that because it was organic and unplanned, the production was happening during the creation process, which all happened within a single day and although it was many hours, I disappeared into the world of creation, where time doesn't seem to matter.. I had nowhere to be and could just create in my own world.
What can we expect from your upcoming EP?
I am so excited about sharing my upcoming EP! It has been a long time in the making due to delays from covid lockdowns and is finally in the production phase.
The acoustically based songs on the EP were written during lockdowns in Melbourne.. at a time where it was just me and my guitar and as a way of expressing my feelings about so many things that were happening for me at the time.. There are themes of the desire for freedom, dealing with a sense of grief, the challenges of sharing your difficult feelings and the determination to keep going when things are hard.
I feel like these are themes that so many can relate to and I'm really looking forward to being able to share them.
What is your creative process like?
Honestly, it is so different every time!
Sometimes, it might be something I see or feel and I'm inspired.. and the whole song can just come out on my piano or guitar. Other times, it could be more structured, where I've recorded a line on my phone that popped into my head and I'm working to build that into a song.
Other times again, it can be working from the production space and beginning with a beat or a sound that I like and building it from there. I then always get feedback from some people I trust before the song is completed.
What's your most useful talent besides music?
Hmm.. this is a very interesting question!
There are a lot of things I love to do, from painting to exploring nature or yoga and trying something new..
I would say that my most useful talent.. or more of a trait.. is that I am like a dog with a bone if I want to figure something out.. whether it be a business type thing or working out how to produce my music or overcome some kind of challenge.. I don't stop until I find the answer.
What do you prefer, a live gig or a studio session?
They both bring different qualities that are great.. I haven't been gigging a lot, with covid.. It provides a great opportunity for creation of some types of songs that are challenging to play live, because of how they are created.
Do you remember your first ever self-written song?
Not really.. I used to make up songs, swinging a chicken bone around, while I was still sitting in the highchair :) The first song I ever recorded was probably around 2009 or 2010 as a part of an acoustic duo that I was in.. It was a song called 'Let It Rain', but we never released the track.
What’s next for you?
The next step will be the release of my EP, that I can't wait to share. Beyond that, I would like to create an album, which I plan to release on vinyl.. I have a collection of records and players and it's always been a dream to create my own. After that, I'm looking forward to seeing where things go and what unfolds.
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