Harkness is an interesting character that sort of came out of nowhere and severely impressed everyone here at IMP. Based in the Toronto area, (Steve) Harkness is making 100% organic music all made with real instruments. He’s doing so wearing an outfit that may distract you at first, but he says it’s so that people can actually focus on the music rather than himself. He wants to be a vessel for the music. He’s a multi-faceted instrumentalist so he’s pretty good at it!
HARKNESS – MAD SCIENTIST
Well, however you want to summarize what he’s doing, he’s nailing it. I would have to say Harkness is in my top 5 favorite featured artists we’ve had over the 5+ years in our business. Harkness’s sound is so unique but also extremely accessible to any listener. His melodies, harmonies, and chord structures are musically intelligent but with pop sensibilities. He clearly stands out in this crazy and often noisy indie music scene.
I hear many influences come thru in his music. His sound encompasses anything from Beck to The Beach Boys. For over a decade Harkness has been working like a mad scientist in his basement developing his sound. Harkness says he didn’t give a shit about being on stage until recently. Basically, he was just having fun with his friends.
Eventually, he decided to take it out of the basement. He says he was just having too much fun to worry about letting the world see it, but with this project, everything felt so good that he thought it was the right time to release it to the world. Dave said in the Deeper w/ Dave segment that he needs to be charged with a minor crime for withholding this amazing music! HA!
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