Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Harlan.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Well, I’ve always been pretty much obsessed with music and with words. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t. But it took a little while for the performance part to take hold. I moved around a bit, so when I started taking lessons as a kid on piano or guitar, it was always just a matter of time before the lessons stopped. Plus, we never owned a piano. It was only when I moved to a small town in the Hill Country outside of San Antonio that I really started finding refuge in coming up with my own songs on a pawn shop guitar.
One lonely summer in particular, before school started and I hadn’t found any friends yet, I started trying to experiment with the few chords I knew to see if I could create something like I heard on the radio and cassettes I compulsively acquired. Before long I started playing in rock bands throughout high school and even got to open for some major acts (the punk band, L7 was a highlight for me). I tended to be against the music of the older generation out of sheer rebellion (as lots of folks are), but as I got older, I started discovering the songs of Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and the Rolling Stones. That gave way to more modern folk acts, and before long I had to quit the rock band because it just wasn’t doing it for me. I discovered acts like Gillian Welch, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Lyle Lovett in college and I was beyond the moon in love with the lyricism and potency of their songs. I kept writing, ended up winning some song contests, meeting like-minded songwriters, and the rest just started falling into place. After college I got a decent job in Austin, making way too much money for someone my age. But I was unfulfilled. Eventually, I quit and figured out how to start making money doing what I loved. I wouldn’t say that I’ve necessarily figured it out, and I still work part-time in Houston, but since that moment, every opportunity I’ve gotten has been related to me playing music. I’ve been able to travel the world just by reaching out through music to people out there that feel the same as me. And I guess that’s pretty much what keeps me going and looking for the next adventure.
Please tell us about your work.
Essentially, I think I write folk songs. They’re not always about deep cultural issues, but a lot of times there is a thread of social commentary tying things together. Someone once told me that every song is a protest song if you look at it right, and that has kinda stuck with me. As far as inspiration, I think it’s everywhere. Finding it isn’t always easy, but you always have to be open to it and looking for it. These days a lot of my songs are about the issues and troubles that regular people are facing every day and the sad stories of the day that a lot of us wish weren’t the things tying us together. But I try really hard not to be heavy-handed or precious about it. Aside from the early days of discovering Dylan, I’ve never really been into songs that are so specific that they read like headlines. I really try to find something unifying in someone’s story that other people can relate to if I’m writing a narrative-song. And when I do find myself immersed or concerned with a particular issue, I try to step back and write from a more poetic place, where symbols and feelings can stand in for the “hell no, we won’t go,” “put down your guns,” “politician 1 said x, y, and z,” or something like that. For instance, I’ve got a song about immigration that really does come from having taken a certain side on the issue, but that’s not directly what the song is about. It’s about characters that work on a ranch and some folks that employ them and what happens between them. It’s not a true crime story, but I’ve seen some of the elements in real life. I think it talks about some tough issues in the world. It’s not judgemental, but I think if you looked at a certain way it can be. Or it could just be an entertaining story. Every time I write and sing any song, I do hope that people might take away something that makes them think a little differently or feel something that resonates with them. I’ve always loved music for how it helps me either interpret the world around me or just feel like I have a place and I’m not alone in it. If you get way too specific, I feel like sometimes the listeners don’t get to internalize it their own way.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
Well, I always wished I believed in myself enough earlier and started getting out there in earnest before I did. But I guess everyone has their own path. If there were anything I could say it would be exactly that – your path is yours, and other folks have theirs, so comparing the two or following exactly someone else’s might hurt more than help. But, you really do have to care, and you really have to work at all aspects of it, especially these days. And if you love the work, you’ll do the work…if someone digs it and people support what you do, that’s just a bonus.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I’m pretty easy to find. I got into this early enough to have www.mattharlan.com website, and I’m on all those Facebook (www.facebook.com/mattharlanmusic), Instagram (@mattharlanmusic), Twitter ((@mattharlanmusic; I’m not on that one much, but I’m there), YouTube videos, and legal or illegal download sites.
And I sell music on all the platforms, but directly I have a Bandcamp page that goes straight to me (http://mattharlan.bandcamp.com/). And I’m recording my 5th album now. Earlier ones are on Berkalin Records run by my good friend Brian Kalinec here in Houston, but this one is a new direction on Eight30 Records (https://eight30records.com/) out of Austin. It will be out next Spring.
Thanks so much for the patience and reaching out in the first place. Take it easy, -matt.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mattharlan.com
- Email: info@mattharlan.com
- Instagram: mattharlanmusic
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/mattharlanmusic
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/mattharlanmusic
- Other: www.reverbnation.com/mattharlan
Image Credit:
Sasha Haagensen
Getting in touch: VoyageHouston is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
