{"id":11242,"date":"2013-10-08T19:29:41","date_gmt":"2013-10-08T18:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/?p=11242"},"modified":"2013-10-08T19:38:10","modified_gmt":"2013-10-08T18:38:10","slug":"harleighblu-artist-of-the-month-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/harleighblu-artist-of-the-month-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"HARLEIGHBLU (Artist of the Month) Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;It\u2019s like a mini motown going on in our own city!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As part of our <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/category\/artist-of-the-month\/\">Artist of the Month<\/a><\/strong> feature, we like to try and get an interview with said artist. So I was lucky enough to have a little chat with October&#8217;s AoM<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HarleighbluOfficial?fref=ts\"> <strong>HARLEIGHBLU<\/strong><\/a> about her impending album and the Nottingham scene&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>In four words, how does it feel to have an album coming out this month?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong> <\/strong><\/em><br \/>\nExciting, nerve wracking, hopeful, thankful.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>There\u2019s a definite old-school Jazz lounge vibe to your music. Who are you biggest influences?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>My biggest influences are people like <strong>Gil Scott, Erkya Badu, D\u2019angelo<\/strong>&#8230;And timeless classic singers like <strong>Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday &amp; Nina Simone! <\/strong>I also listen to a lot of hip hop\u2026 I love singers like <strong>Mary J Blige<\/strong> and <strong>Lauryn Hill<\/strong> that manage to blend Hip Hop so well with their Soul music. My lady of the moment right now is <strong>Marlena Shaw<\/strong>\u2026 her vocals are just incredible.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"420\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b6i15H5_i6E\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>It all feels very authentic and quite organic. Is there a particular song writing process you go through?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Thank you! I usually am given a sample or loop of an idea to write over by my producer, <strong>Joe Buhdha<\/strong>\u2026 the writing process is quite Hip Hop. He\u2019ll think of an idea and make it there and then. I\u2019ll play it on a loop until I\u2019ve written the basis of my song, and sometimes it doesn\u2019t come together until I\u2019m in the booth recording it. Layering up the harmonies and giving the take some attitude. Nearly all of the songs on the album are from one take. It\u2019ll finally click a few hours into the session and we\u2019ll just lay it down. I love working that way, it keeps the ideas really fresh and throws you in at the deep end.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>So what can we expect from the album?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I hope I\u2019ve created something fresh, a new take on classic soul&#8230;We wanted to create a record that you could listen to all the way through without skipping\u2026\u00a0Something special in every track. Hopefully we\u2019ve done that.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>You\u2019ve been a key player in the Notts music scene for some time now, and you were one of our <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=R1YLMw5yjlA\">Future Sound of Nottingham<\/a> judges this year &#8211; How big do you feel the scene could get?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I know! That was special; it was great to have been asked to judge that. I\u2019ve been around in the Nottingham scene a while now &amp; I\u2019ve seen it grow into what it is and I\u2019ve got to say, I feel so privileged to be a part of it. There are so many special musicians in this little city in the middle of England, and we\u2019re like a melting pot of sounds too. From <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jakebugguk?fref=ts\"><strong>JAKE BUGG<\/strong> <\/a>to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liambaileymusic?fref=ts\">LIAM BAILEY<\/a><\/strong> to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SaintRaymondMusic?fref=ts\">SAINT RAYMOND<\/a>, <\/strong>everyone\u2019s a little different and everyone\u2019s doing their own thing. It\u2019s a special time right now &#8211; everyone is finally breaking through and making their own little splash nationally and internationally. This is just the beginning, I think. The more artists that break through the bigger the spotlight becomes for all of us. I love it.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The soul scene is really something else here too\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Yeah I\u2019m so proud of that too. People like <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liambaileymusic?fref=ts\">LIAM BAILEY<\/a><\/strong> kicked it off for us, smashing it\u2026 then we had <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NatalieDuncanOfficial?fref=ts\">NATALIE DUNCAN<\/a> <\/strong>break through and now there are people like myself and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/adysuleimanmusic?fref=ts\">ADY SULEIMAN<\/a><\/strong> coming along and creating our own wave. It\u2019s really exciting to play alongside and get to work with these artists, we\u2019re all coming from the same place and all doing such different things. It\u2019s like a mini motown going on in our own city!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Joe Buhdha aside, which Nottingham artist would you love to collaborate with?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NatalieDuncanOfficial?fref=ts\">NATALIE DUNCAN<\/a><\/strong> used to be my backing singer when I was starting out gigging in Nottingham. She was amazing to work with, such a talented vocalist and I still look up to her massively now. Aside from Natalie, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liambaileymusic?fref=ts\">LIAM BAILEY<\/a><\/strong> would also be my other choice\u2026 we sang a duet this time last year at \u2018<em>From Notts With Love\u2019<\/em> and it was one of my highlights of performing in Nottingham, ever. They are both very special artists\u2026 Superstars.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>And finally, is there anything you\u2019d like to say to the music lovers of Nottingham?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Nottingham has such a lot to offer\u2026 So go to local gigs, support local talent, buy records! Whatever genre you\u2019re into we\u2019ll have someone from that genre of music smashing it &#8211; on your very own doorstep!\u00a0\u00a0In our city, we have real talent, with a real buzz, across the board.\u00a0\u00a0So be a part of it and go support x<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HarleighbluOfficial?fref=ts\">HARLEIGHBLU<\/a>&#8216;s debut album &#8216;<em>Forget Me Not<\/em><em>&#8216;<\/em> is out October 14th on Tru Thoughts Records. You can see a special performance in our &#8216;Nusic Presents Harleighblu&#8217; mini-doc <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/nusic-presents-harleighblu\/\">HERE.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;It\u2019s like a mini motown going on in our own city!&#8221; &nbsp; As part of our Artist of the Month feature, we like to try and get an interview with said artist. So I was lucky enough to have a little chat with October&#8217;s AoM HARLEIGHBLU about her impending album and the Nottingham scene&#8230; &nbsp;&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"bookmark\" class=\"theme-button-text wvc-button wvc-button-size-xs\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/harleighblu-artist-of-the-month-interview\/\"><small class=\"wvc-button-background-fill\"><\/small><span>Continue reading<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[185,4,180],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-artist-of-the-month","7":"category-blog","8":"category-interviews","9":"entry-post-skin-dark","10":"entry","11":"clearfix","12":"entry-grid","13":"entry-columns-default","14":"entry-post-module-layout-fullwidth","15":"is-youtube","16":"no-post-thumbnail","17":"entry-post","19":"entry-post-grid"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11242"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11297,"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11242\/revisions\/11297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nusic.org.uk\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}