Last week, when Sydney producer Harpoon (real name Ryan Harper) released his latest single Too Late, we were immediately on board with his soaring electronic sounds. With the track’s release, Harper continues to build himself as one of Australia’s most exciting emerging electronic acts.
So fresh off the track’s release, we caught up with the artist himself to chat about the song, travelling the world, and what the future holds.
Coming off the release of his most recent track Too Late, we caught up with Sydney-based producer Harpoon for a chat.
HAPPY: Hey, how’s it going? What are you up to at the moment?
RYAN: Hey man, everything’s great at the moment. Lately, I’ve been keeping super busy working through a tonne of new music to release and I’m also at the back end of shows for my Falling tour.
HAPPY: We’re loving Too Late! How does it feel having the track out there in the world?
RYAN: It feels so great to finally get this track out. It’s been a long eight-month process of waiting so it’s a massive relief to have it out there and show the world.
HAPPY: Could you tell us a bit about the song?
RYAN: So originally the song started when I was in a hotel room in Darwin about eight months ago. I made an instrumental but I thought it needed something else, so I sent it to my good friend Aaron, who is now the vocalist on the track, and he laid down some lyrics and then it turned into Too Late. There have been five different versions of the song before I got it to where it is now, but because there was so many, I released one of the other versions in the remix pack as a VIP mix.
HAPPY: The production on this is pretty insane. How long does it take to piece a song like this together?
RYAN: It usually takes me roughly 3-4 weeks, sometimes longer to finish a track. I try to aim for a track a month usually, but this one took a lot longer because there were so many different versions and ways that I could go with it, but the actual Too Late that has just been released probably took 3 weeks.
HAPPY: How do you view this new single as being different from past material?
RYAN: In my past work, I never featured vocalists very much, whereas all my latest releases and things I’ve got in the works right now all have singers. I think it’s a good vibe at the club because everyone loves a song they can sing along to. Too Late is actually a little bit similar to my other release Into My Bed with Sammi Constantine, which received really good feedback. I’ve been using similar techniques with vocal chops and similar sounding baseline patches to create my own new sound.
HAPPY: You’ve spent a fair bit of time touring around the world… are there any particular gigs/locations that you look back fondly on?
RYAN: The whole experience of DJing and travelling was crazy in general. Greece was a massive highlight because it was my home for nearly three months, and I got to meet so many different people. I also had some gigs in Thailand and Bali which were awesome because the crowds were all vibing the music, they’re such different crowds to Australia but everyone is having a good time. I’m a massive talker and love to meet new people so it’s just a massive bonus for me to have the opportunity to travel and work while meeting a bunch of fresh faces along the way.
HAPPY: Are there any particular artists you’re listening to at the moment?
RYAN: I’m absolutely loving the house music scene lately so my biggest inspirations at the moment are Rufus Du Sol, Hayden James, Set Mo, Lo Steppa and Disclosure. I try and use some of these guys as a reference for producing some of my own tracks.
HAPPY: What’s next for Harpoon? Any other exciting plans in the works?
RYAN: I just finished my two-month Falling tour around Australia which was amazing. I played some massive venues that I’d never been to before which is always a lot of fun. So Too Late has just dropped and coming soon I have a follow-up track featuring the same singer which is dropping mid-April, and there’s a huge remix pack dropping with that also. I’m currently working on a second tour for that release in April which will be hectic. I’ve also got two official remixes for some Australian artists coming out in the next few weeks, and then hopefully heading overseas again to do some shows towards the end of the year. So you could say I’ve got a lot in the works…
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
RYAN: No worries, thanks Bill and thanks to everyone at Happy Mag. I hope you all enjoy the track!
Too Late is available now. Listen above.
