Interview: Harry Jay Robinson

Harry Jay Robinson is a dream rap artist based in Leeds, UK. Amassing an impressive 1,800,000 streams from his self-released debut single 'You Are Not Charles Bukowski', Harry released his latest single 'The Gauntlet' on 29th June. We had a chat with Harry about his music and how things are going.

You released your latest single ‘The Gauntlet’ last month - tell us about the meaning of

this song.

It’s basically about those anxious moments where you contemplate all the infinite different

decisions you could have made in life. When there are so many different ways to live, hobbies to choose, skills to learn, jobs to take, people to interact with, it’s really easy to get to a place where you wonder what life would be like if you’d made different decisions earlier on. It’s definitely something that’s often bothered me, and something that can be pretty distressing as you get older and wonder if you’ve really been ‘living your life correctly’ up to this point. So it’s sort of a reflection on that, wrestling with the thought of all the parallel universes where you did things differently, and wondering whether you can make up for having made the wrong decisions.

Was this recorded in a studio or at home? Do you have a preference and do you feel like

it changes the sound?

At home! I’ve never recorded my stuff in a studio, unless you count the room in my flat I put all my gear in. I’m a very in-the-box producer: so don’t use a lot of live instruments and rely mainly on programming stuff in the computer, manipulating samples etc. It’s a funny one because I want to say it suits my production style perfectly, but it’s probably the case that I’ve just evolved my production style to perfectly suit doing it all at home. In that sense I do have a preference for producing at home – though that’s likely due to me having figured out exactly how I do my workflow, and the fact I’d have no idea what to do with a big outboard desk in a professional studio. I’m not much of an engineer.

How would you describe your sound? Are there any bands or artists you take inspiration from?

I settled on the term ‘dream rap’ – which is only half-serious really because artists love deciding they’ve invented this one specific genre that’s never been heard before and I find it kind of funny. Lyrically I’m pretty squarely focused on being very personal, and I’m a big nerd for complex multi-syllable rhymes so always trying to make that a big focus of writing. Ultimately though I pull from a lot of places and try to situate it all in a style that suits what I’m best at. Old school and lo-fi hip-hop is a big influence, as I love the grooves and dusty-sounding samples. At the same time I’m a huge fan of producers like Kanye & Just Blaze so love a big, maximalist arrangement. Essentially I listen to a pretty wide range of stuff and tend to pick out individual elements I like the sound of, and just fold them into the chill, lo-fi, hip-hop centred sound. So that can be anything from indie guitar textures to glam rock gang vocals, and I just find a way of still making it all sound ‘dream rap’ in one way or another.

Alongside your solo project, you also play in indie band Far Caspian. Do you feel that both your solo project as an artist and your role in Far Caspian allow you to express yourself creatively, and how do they differ?

They’re definitely very different. Far Caspian is Joel’s solo project, so I don’t write any of the songs and never really give any creative input – mostly I just learn the songs and play them how he wrote them. The extent of my creative expression when playing with Far Caspian is what I wear on stage and what direction I shake my arse in, and I absolutely love it. It’s really fun to be able to take more of a supporting role in a musical project because it lets me focus a lot on the general showmanship on stage, and has taught me loads about what it means to be part of a bigger team and get the most out of touring.

You’ve also toured Europe with Far Caspian, how was this experience, and is it something you’d like to do as a solo artist too?

So so so great. It’s such a gift being able to travel doing music, and always incredible to meet so many fans and be in rooms where people know every song word-for-word. It can be challenging of course, and maybe not quite as stereotypically rock’n’roll as some people assume, but I feel incredibly blessed to be able to do it as not many people get the opportunity. I would love nothing more than be able to do it as a solo artist – and I’m sure it’d be a whole different experience – so hopefully one day I might have a large enough audience to make that happen.

A few of your songs have been co-written with Far Caspian singer Joel Johnston. How do you find the process of co-writing works for you?

I’ve actually never sat in a room and co-written a whole song with anyone. There are a couple of songs that originated from Joel – ‘You Are Not Charles Bukowski’ and ‘Serenity’ – and both of those came from him giving me a little sample of something he wrote, which I then ran away with and built up into a full song. This was all while we lived together (also with Vraell and a couple other musician friends) and it was a great household for trading feedback and creative tips. I’m generally a very solo-oriented writer/producer, but almost all of my songs from that period will have with the odd guitar riff or bassline that one of the boys gave me when I was stuck on something. Basically I tend to just hole myself up until I’ve figured everything out, but often when I’m a bit stuck for ideas my more talented friends can come and save me by giving me that extra little piece or inspiration I’m missing.

You also self-produce your music - do you ever feel pressure to produce all your music, or is it a process you enjoy? Would you feel protective of your music if you were to hand it over to another producer?

I’d say I’m pretty protective. For me, the production is just as much part of writing as lyrics, melodies etc are. I’ve spent a long time figuring out exactly how I like things to sound and how I can shape them around what I’m trying to say, so I don’t think I could ever fully let go of being able to have that input. I do love working with other people, and often get a lot of really valuable input on production from my producer friends, but I can’t ever see myself finishing a song without insisting that I can get directly in there and tweak things to my liking.

‘The Gauntlet’ is from an upcoming EP of yours, when can we expect to hear it?

Very, very soon! I’m just being picky at the moment doing final little tweaks to mixes, but it will be out in the world before summer’s over. I’m very excited.

---

Listen to Harry Jay Robinson on Spotify, or follow him on Instagram or Twitter