Hailing from Cheltenham and formed just under a year ago, Harbour are a indie rock group who in their short time have released four sincere, honest singles that are carried by a mature, atmospheric tone with the end result being compelling.
Tracks like recent single ‘Colder’ and ’Almost Home’ have the ability to instantly gain your attention with their haunting approach. And although they’ve received interest from labels, the band are keeping their heads down and are constantly writing more material. Yet they material so far leaves them with plenty of potential.
Vocalist/Guitarist Chris Capewell recently spoke to Already Heard about the bands formation, their influences, long term goals and more.
Already Heard: Hi Chris. First of all can you tell us how Harbour came together?
Chris Capewell: We all knew each other from playing in local bands before. We’re from Cheltenham which, for a small town, has a really thriving music scene. None of us wanted to continue with the music projects that we were involved with at the time. I guess we’d grown out of what they were. We started Harbour 11 months ago as a way of trying to do something honest that we could actually be proud of.
AH: For new listeners, how would you describe your sound and who would you compare it too?
Chris: I suppose we do our best to make our sound as atmospheric, ambient and haunting as we can but with a definite melody driven rocky side as well. I think we’re a band for fans of Manchester Orchestra, Twin Atlantic and Biffy as well as Futures, Canterbury and all of that crowd.
AH: Are there any bands that have influenced or shaped Harbour’s sound?
Chris: Most definitely. As a group of music fans our tastes are quite eclectic meaning that individually our roles in the band are influenced by loads of different stuff. As a group, though, I’d say bands who keep things simple yet powerful are the ones who influence us most. The obvious ones are Coldplay, Biffy Clyro, Snow Patrol but bands such as MMX and The Bronze Medal do the same thing very well also.
AH: You’ve released four singles so far with the most recent being ‘Colder.’ What is the track about and how did it come together?
Chris: As with pretty much every song we write and play it’s about something hugely sentimental. ‘Colder’ is fairly abstract in concept; it’s about an imaginary conversation I had with my 15 year old self. It’s essentially a positive song telling myself that things turned out alright. We worked really hard when recording the song to try and accentuate the areas of light and dark in the song. It’s available for free as is all of our stuff from WeAreHarbour.co.uk
AH: From listening to songs on your Soundcloud page, I get the impression your songs are rather personal?
Chris: I’m glad you get that from them. One of the things we set out to do was to write really personal songs, that way we knew we’d always have belief in them. We were pretty worried that some of it would be a little too personal for people to get into but one thing that Harbour has taught us is that people infer their own meanings to songs. It’s great to not only be able to deal with our own demons and happiness through Harbour but to also be a vehicle to help other people do the same thing, even if the issue is completely different to what the song was written about. That’s probably the coolest bit about being in this band.
AH: With each song how has the bands sound developled?
Chris: I’d like to think so. We’re certainly becoming more and more confident in what it is that we do. The songs and music that we’re writing now are the bravest thing we’ve done and it feels great.
AH: I understand you’ve had some interest from labels. What are the bands plans for the coming months?
Chris: Yeah it seemed that some people from the big smoke got wind of us and liked what they heard. We’re not getting ahead of ourselves though, we’re very aware that what we have is very new still and we’re working super hard to make sure it’s the best it can be. Over the next few months we’re concentrating on writing. We’re playing the Underground Festival in Gloucester with some ace bands but aside from that we’re putting pretty much all our efforts into new material and demoing as much as possible.
AH: What are Harbour’s long term goals?
Chris: This is a question that we get asked a lot. Obviously we have dreams and want to play our songs to as many people as we can do but I think ultimately our long term goal is to keep writing and playing music that means something to us and to other people. As long as that’s there as the foundation we’d see Harbour as worthwhile and as a success.
AH: The band comes from the spa town of Cheltenham. What is the music scene like in the area?
Chris: We do indeed. We’re really proud to be from Cheltenham. I mentioned earlier that for its size its music scene is incredible. We have a some great bands, great promoters and a great label that all really have each others backs. It’s good to know we have that kind of family atmosphere behind us
AH: Finally why should readers check out Harbour?
Chris: For something that feels truly fresh and honest. If you want to hear some people saying some things that they really mean and that really mean something to them.
Download free songs by Harbour on Bandcamp or Soundcloud.
Harbour links: Official Website|Facebook|Twitter|Soundcloud|Bandcamp
Words by Sean Reid (@SeanReid86)
