Community Emerging artist - Prince Harlow

[Elena]

Hey everyone!

I am coming to you with a different kind of blog today that will hopefully be the first of many to come. 

You may have seen that we started a recurring thread in our Chat Section called Emerging artist of the Month. This is where we invite new and up-and-coming artists to share their music and a little background story with us. 

I am happy to say that the winners of the first edition are the band Prince Harlow. They are 5 lovely gentleman that were kind enough to agree to do an interview with me and talk a little bit about their creative process.

The winning song of theirs was: spotify:track:5pLH7mrPeX7NBed0fieo3Z

Thank you Adam Král (lead vocals, rhytm guitar), Pavel Hrdlička (solo guitar), Ondřej Tomeš (bass guitar), Liam Stayner (keyboards, backup vocals), David Černý (drums).

Before we jump into the questions I'll share some background info that Pavel @Ymmies  shared in the initial thread. He summed up the idea behind their latest album as: ''...taking a look at todays' corporate world where people buy things they cannot afford and everything is up for sale. 

Our inspiration is drawn mainly from contemporary British artists but we have a sweet spot for the old-school classic as well ... something along the lines such as The Cockroaches or The Beagles? Can't remember right now :D''

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Now that we have a better feel for Prince Harlow's style, here comes our interview:

• In the intro you've posted in the thread, you say that you're inspired by contemporary British artists but with a sweet spot for the old-school classic, how would you describe the music that you typically create? 

• Most of our songs are based around distinct guitars and we try to keep things simple. We like to think we don't have defined limits and are quite experimental with the sounds but in the end the simplicity and catchy melodies always work the best. It really depends who comes up with the initial riff or the idea, everyone in the band has a different taste. 

• And based of off that, what is your creative process like?

• We used to create the songs during the rehearsals, which didn't really work. Now we chose a different way. Usually someone comes up with the idea on his own and brings it to the band. There are a couple of jamming sessions and after that we record everything and make our own demo using Garage band. This allows us to fine tune every detail and experiment with all the harmonies and sounds. The final version is created in the studio where we record the instruments again professionally and spend several days working on the final touch.

The visuals for the album are made by the band as well. The barcode works, yay!

• You've also mentioned that your album is a look at today's world, how would
  you say that the internet/modern technologies have impacted music?

• Well the impact is huge of course. Thanks to the streaming platforms like Spotify it is very easy for everyone to share their music. There is of course a flip side to that since the "competition" is massive. It is very difficult for a starting band like us to succeed even in the local market. The modern technology allows us to create any desired sound in seconds, which comes handy of course but somehow it strips all the fun. Where are the times when Pink Floyd used old magnetic recorders to create those distinct melodies, right? Or the old Marshall amps resonating in almost every 60s recording. That's what's all about. Todays technology gave us a lot of possibilities but also took away a part of it. The soul!

• On a lighter note, what is your favorite song to perform, seeing that you had some gigs recently?

• That really depends on each individual. We love to perform Loose Ends and Pauline as the melodies are melancholic or even bluesy. That means we have a chance to take a time and feel the music properly, which is always nice. Anyway seeing people react positively to any of our songs is always great. It's all about that!

• Are there any bands/artists that you find have a similar view on music and who would you most like to collaborate with?

• We haven't been collaborating much with other bands but we have a gig now and then and most of the people we play with share the same enthusiasm. If you want to take a dive into the Czech Indie/alternative scene take a look at I Love You Honey Bunny or Branko's Bridge. These guys are legit.

• And talking about working with others, what would you say is the best advice you’ve been given?

• "Silence plays the loudest" and "keep it simple" definitely. We think every starting band just like us goes through the phase where you are so overwhelmed by all the possibilities so you just create and create. Most of the creations are just a constant noise. No breaks whatsoever. We think it is alright to sometimes lay off the delay pedal and turn down the distortion a little bit. Maybe don't sing all throughout the song? It makes wonders to the casual listeners out there and that was a huge improvement since our first recordings in our eyes. So for us, the plan for the future is stick to the basics and don't overcomplicate things.

• Lastly, we'd be happy to know if you can share with us some of your future plans and what we can look forward to?

• We'd love to enjoy the ability to play live as much as we can. Planning ahead in these times is a little bit tricky. Anyway, we have lots of ideas as well so it seems we might be adding several new tunes to our repertoire! Maybe a new album? Let's see :).

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Lastly we'd like to thank the band once again for participating and cooperating with us. Also thank you to everyone for reading - hope you liked the Blog! Cheers!

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3Pcmyfjr61TFOhGPOf5Xax?si=T1KwPLPGRYW1Y4gOFoEumA&dl_branch=1