Join us as we get to know Harli, a singer songwriter out of Adelaide who’s recently dropped her latest single ‘Wrecking’.
But there’s much more where that comes from; her new EP set to land at digital retailers everywhere early in the new year.
Discover more about the Harli story. What was the first album she bought? Who are her go-to artists? And what would her chosen career be if it wasn’t music?
Find out all of those answers (and many more) below in our latest Get To Know feature.
01. Name : HARLI. I was born Mahalia but was called HARLI all through my school years. It was a very easy decision for me to base all my original under HARLI, because it’s been with me my whole life.
02. Where are you based? Adelaide, South Australia – the festival state!
03. How did you get your start in music? I was lucky enough to have a musical family for starters! I used to record and sing songs with my two older sisters when I was younger; and that led to me being awarded a scholarship for the Australian Girls’ Choir. I definitely had some amazing opportunities as a child that I was able to bring through to high school and eventually to where I am now as an artist.
04. Give us five words to best describe you as an artist. Creative, Authentic, Inquisitive, Bold, Joyous.
05. Tell us a little bit about your sound and how it developed. I’ve been told my sound can be deemed “buttery”, “sultry”, “unique”, “warm”, and “husky”. I’m completely happy with those descriptions. Haha.
When I was singing in 2011, I have a recording of me singing a hard-core rock song; an original I wrote with a band I was in. I listen back to my voice and I sound completely different. Yes, I still sound like me, but my tone and sound has evolved. I believe the more life experience you have the more depth your voice gains.
06. What’s your earliest musical memory? Singing jazz scales in the car with mum when I was four years old. It’s a very faded memory, but when I studied jazz vocals it came naturally to me and then that memory hit! My mum also talks about how cute it was when I would be sitting in the back, singing along to old cassette tapes.
07. Who have been your musical influences? My main influences include every single artist that I’ve witnessed work SO hard to get their music and vision out there, including the ones whose hard work has truly paid off. I also admire the talented people who I work closely with in the Australian music scene.
I’ve always admired strong females in music such as Sia and Lady Gaga. But my heart is very connected to artists from another time, Billie Holiday and Jeff Buckley are huge musical influences.
08. What are your favourite songs of all time? ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ by Jeff Buckley, ‘The Breach’ by Dustin Tebbutt, ‘Sparks’ by Coldplay, ‘Porcelain’ by Moby, ‘Don’t Explain’ by Billie Holiday, ‘From Eden by Hozier, ‘Many Lives’ by Andrew Belle… I could go on and on!
09. Where’s your favourite place to listen to music? My all-time favourite location to listen to music is in the studio. But when I’m not in my happy place, it’s when I’m at home prepping myself to go travelling.
10. Who are your go-to artists when you’re feeling: Happy? Sad? Introspective? Exhausted? Lately? It’s been Andrew Belle; every time.
11. What was the first album you ever bought? Spice Girls!
12. Give us a little fun fact about yourself that people might not know. I used to work as a dog behaviourist and know a lot about dogs.
I’ve got two dogs at home and they’re my fur babies! Bear, who is a Husky x Samoyed x Swiss Shepherd (just visualise a polar bear), who I’ve had since he was born. And Mabel, a brown and white Border Collie who’s only eight months old and yes… I treat her like a human. If I could have five dogs or lived on a farm (one day), I would!
13. What would your chosen career be if music wasn’t an option? My mind pulls me in all sorts of directions, so I can imagine myself as a psychic, or even something in astrophysics!
14. What’s the best advice you’ve been given in your career? Persistence is key! Without persistence, it would be too easy to give up with any push backs or shut downs. The industry is full of being told you’re not enough or feeling like you’re not enough.
Being persistent has helped me not care about the industry and just do what I need to do and try to share my creative energy with listeners while I am at it. Truly, there is no golden ticket, no one way trip to landing the dream. Every day I get to sing and write, that’s my paradise! But that takes persistence and courage.
15. If you could trade places with any artist in the world right now, who would it be? Right now? Lady Gaga.
16. Tell us about your latest release. ‘Wrecking’ is my latest single that I just recently released! The track was created in a time of my life when I had such little control over my body. I was extremely unwell; my life was at a standstill because my body just couldn’t cope.
This song has such depth to me but brings me so much joy to know where I am now after last year. It’s a special part of my creative song writing, that I truly hope the listener relates to and can experience the journey with me.
17. What do your future plans involve? My EP will be released on January 11, 2019. I have some really exciting things in the works. My EP live launch is at Chateau Apollo in Adelaide on January 31 with some incredible support acts.
From there, I would love to continue to collaborate with more producers and start to showcase more of what I can do as an artist, especially through my versatility as a vocalist and as a creative. The dream is headline major festivals… so any festival event managers reading this, call me! Haha!
18. Where can our audience catch you live? I’ll be releasing links to my EP launch very soon, so make sure follow my Instagram page and come along!
WEBSITE : www.thisisharli.com
FACEBOOK : www.facebook.com/thisisharli
INSTAGRAM : www.instagram.com/thisisharli
TWITTER : www.twitter.com/thisisharli
SOUNDCLOUD : www.soundcloud.com/thisisharli
YOUTUBE : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx1VCnEKi61ssyxkJe-h0Og
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