Im Interview mit Waiting for Smith

Vor seinem Konzert in Köln hatte Ich die Chance Harry aka Waiting for Smith zu Interviewen und ihn ein paar Fragen zu seiner neuen EP und generell zur Musik und anderen wichtigen Themen zu fragen. Und hier sind seine Antworten.

Festivalstalker: Hey Harry thank you so much for your time.

Harry: Hello, how are you doing?

Festivalstalker: Good thanks, so I wrote down some questions and the first one would be, why did you chose the artist name „Waiting for Smith“?

Harry: I chose the name Waiting for Smith because it was based on the first drummer Smith who never actually showed up, so it kinda became like a joke, like this little waiting for this guy Smith all the time, and then someone said:“ that’s a great name. Why don’t we just take it and use it“. And I kind of like that it’s very light, light hearted and it’s like a joke but it’s also kinda poetic aswell. So it feels like the perfect explanation for the music that I’m making.

Festivalstalker: That’s great, your lyrics are poetic aswell, I really like that.

Harry: Thank you

Festivalstalker: How would you describe your music to someone who’d never heard your music before?

Harry: okay I think it real break the musical soul joy, so it’s my own genre, and the thing behind it, the mission is to help people feel more themselves, to let go of anxiety, to let go of depression, so essentially raise up to the highes level of who they are as a person. And i believe that it’s kind of essentially like a joy, and a loving presence and so the music kind of helps and supports that. So the last album was called „Raised up“ and that was very acoustic and had a chorus in it from South Africa, so had a string guitar and Djembe and real South African musicians, and then the new one is more based for the radio, so that has more like really nice warmbase and drum loops and groves. So i would put it more on the indie pop bracket but I think I would go more between indie folk, indie pop and then a little bit of something else.

Festivalstalker: That’s great. What is the story behind one of your favorite tracks you have written so far?

Harry: Mmh One of my favorite tracks. Okay so „I like life“ is the lead song from the „I like life EP“ which just got released.

Cheers btw *both laughing*

And i like the story book behind it because I had just come out of a period of really difficult mental health problems and before that, I had a really big accident, where I broke my back and I had to basically recover in bed for 9 months. I came out of this period of recovery and then overcoming this mental health things. And I decided to move to Amsterdam because I met someone, and I was like „there is something about that place that is, feels happier there as where I’m from“. I started talking to people and got really curious and I ended up spending a little bit of time there, I started writing some songs with some people, one of the guys that I met is that guy called Jara, he will play with us tonight, he is on the keys, he is playing some parts of the chorus and stuff like that. And i met him and I was just coming out of this period of really difficulty with my mind. All this kind of stuff and „I like life“ was this little beak in the hope, you know, it came so quick it came in 15-20 minutes. We wrote the song and I had this idea on the guitar and it was going like *him singing* I like … I think it was honey or something like that. „I like honey mmh, I like honey“ and i was like that doesn’t make any sense and I was like what about „I like life ahhha, do you like life.“and then Jara was like „oh shit dude I love that“ he puts the beats down and then Remond who was on bass started joining in. It was this like *crew singing „i like life“ in the back* this thing that came so quick *hey, hey someeone from the crew is filming us*. It was this swill of creativity and suddenly „I like life“ was born. I like how this was one of the first songs that’s like super uptemper and makes you feel instantly like hey, it’s going to be fine.

Festivalstalker: You talked about mental health, what advice would you give to someone who is struggling with their mental health?

Harry: that’s a great question Mary, I would say a couple of things. I would say, first is talk to people about it, its a lot, it was for me anyway, a lot of shame around the thoughts I was having, and the way that I felt. I was looking at the world and opening up to my family and opening up to my friends and saying this is what I’m going through and especially my partner. This was the first step, because if you keep this inside it gets bigger it grows and it expands it gets worse it gets worse, so you have to let it out. So I said that’s the first thing because I believe anything said out loud is also the same thing like taking out the rubbish, all right you enter your house of rubbish, just like you have rubbish thoughts and you go like I’m feeling fucking shit right now. And you let it out and it’s being said, and there’s no shame attached to that. So to be listen to, to talk to someone it’s the first thing.

Then I would say check what you are eating, check what food you are putting in your body, because I think food have a huge impact on it. Like some people are very sensitive to sugar some people are very sensitive to alcohol, so check what you are eating. Check if what you are eating is helping your feel good, alright.

The third thing is I would say regular movements. Even if it’s not a full-on exercise, you’re not weightlifting or going to the gym or running hours, even just like simple stuff. You’re about to see this is written well but the simple stuff like doing this, just get up and go like and shake like this and *him clapping his whole body down* tap your whole body down from head to toe and it’s so so simple. And first that looks crazy but secondly what’s that really do, try it, try to just tapping your body down when you’re full of anxiety, when you’re full of worry, and try to shake it and I believe, it moves the energy out cause emotion is an energy and it’s uncomfortable especially anxiety is very uncomfortable, depression is really heavy it feels weighting right. It feels like you sing to the floor, so you need to exercise it, you need to get it out open up to people yeah.

Festivalstalker: Thanks for these advices. One question about the concerts, what’s the most important song on a setlist so the concert feels complete?

Harry: I like, I do really like playing „I like life“ live, if it’s really fun. Instantly fun is when we do this bit with the audience where we are splitting down the middle and we get to sing to each other „I like life uuuh“ „do you like life“. I feel like it’s a special thing because that song again, it bridges the gap between acoustic and then Indie pop and then stuff, and I feel like it’s instantly likable for everyone, even if you are not into the acoustic thing you likely to like „I like life“ and if you’re not really into the dancing you likely to like „I like life“, so I feel like it’s a nice bridge. It feels like it wraps up „The Joy of Living Tour“ and a nice kind of okay that’s a complete package so yeah. I love that question. Great question.

Festivalstalker: What is your favorite quote you live by?

Harry: It’s good. This one my dad always says to me which is an old, which is like „life is great if you don’t weaken“ meaning there are times in your life where you feel you can’t do it, you can’t overcome the things you’re going through, we are so more extraordinary and capable then we think ourselves to be. And the other thing I would say is „change the thoughts in your mind and the thoughts you have towards yourself and then the world will love you back“. A really really simple quote which is really really old comes from a guy called Lao-tzu it’s just „thoughts words actions“ so you changed the thoughts, to change the words, to change the actions. And when you change and reset the way you think in your mind it start to perfect your reality, because you have thoughts and say that they are very negative and you speak negative words, and then of course it’s a self feeling prophecy. Everyone seems to be sad and everyone seems to be low there is a minute you are like „hey I’m a beautiful soul I can fucking do this“ and you say that to yourself, you say it out loud, there are other people than me who feel the same thing. So I believe this is kind of the principle of lower of distraction. It’s like change your internal reality, and your external reality will change, so yeah.

Festivalstalker: What random item should never be missed on tour?

Harry: Oh it’s a good one. I would normally say Yogi tea *laughing*, I love warm Yogi tea so comforting but something I just recently got, two things one is this in-ear monitors, like glitter orangey gradients in-ear monitors. They are incredible i’ve been using monitors, floor monitors my whole life and I just started using in-ear monitors it’s incredible because you’re just completely inside your own music and I would say the other thing is, Yogi tea, in-ear monitors and maybe a sharpie to sign random things. It’s always good, I’m carrying one in my pockets *he put out his pen*. I remembered mine today, good to have a sharpie on me. Always ready, always ready.

Festivalstalker: Perfect. How much does this new EP „I like life“ reflect where you currently are in your life, mentally or emotionally?

Harry: That is a really nice question. I think, it’s sums up actually really well because the “ Raised up“ album, the album before that was honestly the most joyous the most love filled experience i’ve ever had recording. We were recording in between power cups, we were getting up early in the morning. Surfing, like doing vocal takes in the sunrise and I was just full of love, full of joy everything was just gliding in the right direction. And I feel all the music on that album, the EP feels like that.

And the „I like life EP“ is joyous but it’s also, there are also lyrics in there which are saying hey I’m struggling like in „I like life“. You know again it’s talking to someone about it, it’s saying this is how I’m feeling. It’s just a powerful thing to say how you’re feeling to someone. It can be a stranger, it can be a friend. I think the „I like Life EP“ is reflecting really well where I am at.

Because last year I think, I was actually feeling ecstatic all the time and now this year there are some big changes coming in my life. I just recently become a father to a little girl, and that is like huge, it’s like a huge spectrum change. Because your levels of joy and your levels of gratitude go like this guy rocking through the roof. And at the same time other things come through, like bigger anxiety, bigger worries like what if this? what if that? So there has been more stuff to deal with, biggest spectrum. And I feel like the „I like life EP“ sums that up, it has to light and a shame it’s not just hey we are sunshine, it’s fuck we feel pain but with choose, we choose for the joy, we choose to come back to life, which choose for kindness. And that’s what I like about it. There are kind of a lot lyrics in the songs about that.

Festivalstalker: Congrats first. How has becoming a father changed your way of thinking? If it did.

Harry: That’s a beautiful beautiful question. You know it’s a complete cliche, but all cliches are kind of true. The kind of truth is, it changed my perspective of time. So before I would maybe worry and are worried about something, and I don’t have to time all the luxury to do that. So what it made me is be really grateful for the time I have, and use it, and use it. And be like „okay I want to do this idea, I’m going to go through, I’m not gonna worry about the idea“. It also changed I think my sense of responsibility and the feeling it’s not just me in this world, it’s not just me I need to take care of and you know my wife or my friends. But this little girl who completely relies on me for everything on the father hand side. I mean Lian is most of it, she raised her, she feeds her, as a father it’s super important for me, to calm for her and provide her safety and all this things. I feel like it’s the blessing when I’m doing that, it feels like the best work you can do. So it changed my perspective on how important something is, I feel like „mmh does it really matter? She’s well and that’s all what matters, it’s fine“.

Festivalstalker: I have one more, if your EP would be a person how would you describe it’s personality?

Harry: Okay, do you ever seen the film „Ferris Bueller’s day off“? I would describe like that, it’s like it’s serious and has really serious ideas in it, sport it’s very very lighthearted and it doesn’t take itself to seriously. So it feels like „Ferris Bueller’s day off“. I love that quote, he is like „live moves pretty fast, if you don’t stop and look around once in a while you could miss it“, and the music comes like in *he makes the end sound* and it’s the same like the „I like life EP“. It sums up all of this ideas, and this kind of energy and the light hearteness and fun.

Festivalstalker: Thats all, thank you so much for your time and your great and honest answeres.

Harry: I have to thank you for the great questions.