Artist:  Harry Hess  

Date: 18 August 2010   

The name Harry Hess will always be associated with Canadian Melodic Rockers Harem Scarem, however since the band split in 2008 Harry has moved on and now wears many different hats.  This month we see him return as the singer for the project band First Signal.  Here we catch up with the man himself to find out more about this project and a whole lot more ...

Then I didn’t hear from him for a few months.  He came back and said Dennis Ward was interested in being involved in doing the production and everything like that, so we started discussing songs.  For about a six month period we sent things back and forth until we found songs we all agreed upon.  About 99% of them were really good, what you hear on the record and that was really it.  A lot of it was laid out for me with what was going to be my involvement, and I have to give full credit to Dennis for doing the lions share of the work, and for doing a great job of it. He definitely was the one with the most work to do. 

MM - According to press cuttings and the press release itself the album had and array of songwriters on the album, did you have any input as regards to the song writing?
Harry - No, actually we didn’t even discuss it to tell you the truth.  I was just asked to sing on the record and be involved from that perspective.  I didn’t even think that that was something I was going to do, so basically I took it as this was my job (to sing) on this project and that’s how I approached it.  I went in there focused on doing a good job as a vocalist and that was kind of refreshing, not to have anything else to worry about.  It was fun and I really enjoyed doing it. 

MM - So there was no pressure on you at all?
Harry - No, none at all.  The songs were there, I knew they would translate great as rock songs.  They were what they were and I just wanted to make sure I did them justice and to do a good job with them, as far a vocalist goes.  I think it worked out nice and as I said it was a pleasure for me to do. 

MM - So given the opportunity, would you do it again?
Harry - Absolutely, no doubt about it. 

MM - Again the press release is stating that this is the next best thing to a new Harem Scarem album, was that just the press release or did you approach it as simply another job, or did you approach it as something that the Harem Scarem fans would like? 
Harry - I think if you’re a fan of that style of music, the chances of you liking this record are pretty good.  I never personally set out to do something that sounded like Harem Scarem or anything else.  In my mind it would be quite ridiculous to try to make it sound like Harem Scarem and not have the rest of the band involved.  Me and Pete write the songs and produce etc, there were so many aspects of Harem Scarem that were Pete and I together, that aren’t even in the equation in this situation.  I don’t see how anyone can make a Harem Scarem record sound like Harem Scarem other than Pete and I.  That wasn’t our role on this record, although that being said I don’t know how you could draw the parallels of this release, apart from me singing rock songs.  

It does have that flavour.  If you do enjoy that style of music then you will enjoy it.  I think the majority of Harem Scarem fans are fans of bands in that genre, who do enjoy music along those lines.  So all that being said, I do think a Harem Scarem fan would enjoy it, but it wasn’t built to be a replica or try to persuade ex Harem Scarem fans, or current ones, to buy this record, in my mind at least. 

MM - That’s what I thought, I mean that wasn’t what your solo albums were about.  I see this record as a totally different animal, just with your involvement.
Harry - Yes, at the end of the day you're not going to fool anybody.  I don’t know what the point would be to tell someone it's something, then when they hear it, it's the opposite.  That was never my goal.  I would find it completely natural and normal for a record label sending out a record with me singing rock songs, the obvious sales pitch would be ... "Hey Harem Scarem fans, you're gonna love this!" ... 

I'm not saying that’s not the case, I do think Harem Scarem fans would like this release, not because it sounds like Harem Scarem, but because it has good songs and good production and I think I did a good job singing on it.  I think it stands alone as a viable release.  People will make comparisons with my involvement in Harem Scarem, that’s the first and foremost thing people ask me during interviews that I’ve done.  Sometimes they spend twenty minute to halve an hour before we even get to the First Signal subject, because people are still very interested in talking about Harem Scarem.  Finding out what we're doing either individually or collectively and asking if we’re ever going to make another record again. 

So I still see that people are still very interested in Harem Scarem as a whole.

MM - Yes I set out with this interview not to dwell on the Harem Scarem side of things, but it is a genre where people want the old bands to reform and light the candle again for Melodic Rock, and it is hard for artists to step away from that and do other things.  The fans expect a lot from the genre. 
Harry - Absolutely, with respects to that, this is the closest thing that you will get from me doing anything like this because it's not naturally what I sit down and write in 2010.  It's not the style of record that I would be focused on if I were to just sit down and make a record on my own right now.  In all fairness if you do want to hear this style of record with me being involved, this is the way you're going to hear it as far as I’m concerned at this moment in time. 

Hopefully people are going to enjoy it for what it is.  I mean Dennis does good work and I don’t think he needs to copy anybody or a sound, he has his own thing and I think whenever he’s involved, he’ll have his stamp on it also.  In my mind it was never an attempt to sound like Harem Scarem, 100%, we never discussed it.  Dennis and I never got on the phone and said how can we make this sound more like ... it honestly never came up. 

MM - Apart from the First Signal album are there any other things or projects that you're involved in that we should keep an eye and an ear out for?
Harry - You know what, I’ve just been busy doing production stuff, writing and mixing since Harem Scarem ended. That’s been my main focus.  I signed a publishing deal with Universal Music Worldwide.  I’m travelling the world, I’ve been to Sweden, Nashville, L.A. ... obviously Toronto where I live, working away with different acts and different writers, just working like crazy.  It's been great and when First Signal came around it added more to the pile.  It's been a busy time for me.  Right now I’m focusing back on production and writing at the moment.  

MM - Is that through The Vespa Music Group?
Harry - Yes, Vespa is my studio and my production company.  Obviously I work with other labels when asked to produce and mix.  I wear many hats and the writing thing is just another completely separate thing as well. 

MM - I think you have to be multifaceted as an artist today because of the way the industry is going at the moment. 
Harry - Absolutely.  Before people that were very successful that I worked with, the one criticism they were saying was ... you're spreading yourself too thin ... you're trying to do too many things ... find one thing you really love and focus on that and be great at that, because you can't be great at everything. 

Which was a good point and that’s probably why I haven’t excelled at any one thing, but I have had my hands in a lot of things, top to bottom, either being in a band, writing or producing.  It seems to work out good because as you said, in this day and age you can't just do one thing and survive doing it.  So I attribute my being able to do this as a living, as a result of having all those attributes, having many different hats and doing many things confidently, and being able jump from one ship to the next constantly while doing records.  

MM - Are there any artists you’ve been involved with that have really shone for you?
Harry - Actually, from a song writing perspective, I have co-written on a record for a Canadian band called My Darkest Days.  They were produced by Chad Kruger and they just signed to Island Def Jam out of Los Angeles.  The record will be out in a couple of months and the first single just came out. 

They’re a band that’s been floating about Canada for a while.  One of the brothers is from a band called Three Days Grace, which was another band developed here at my studio.  They’ve gone on very well to sell millions and millions of records in America, but I think My Darkest Days will be the best, they will do well.  There's definitely a heavy rock thing going on and the production on it, well I think it went back to a Mutt Lange type production.  Probably because Chad just finished working with Mutt on the new Nickelback record, so there's obviously been some influences on the production.

I had another couple of songs on an album from another Canadian band called Die Mannequin who are signed to Warner Music.  I think they do well in Germany and some pockets in Europe as well.  They're not a new band, they have been around for a few years, but their first album only come out officially about six months ago.

That’s it really, that’s what I have ongoing right now.  I have some other things but they're just developing right now.  They don’t have any specific release dates yet, but those two things that I've been involved with have kind come out more recently. 

MM - So is the Canadian music scene at an all time high at the moment, because if you mention Canadian artists people always say Celine Dion! (laughs)
Harry - You know what, I think Canadian music, because of the fact the country is so big but the population is small, you have to do well outside of Canada just to sustain any type of career.  So a lot of Canadian acts get signed directly in America or are just doing an indie sort of underground thing that doesn’t extend beyond Canada.  

Any Canadian act you hear about outside of Canada is probably signed to an American label.  That’s probably more true now that ever before.  That really is a necessity for being successful as a Canadian artist, you have to look outside of Canada as well as doing well here.  Whereas as twenty years ago when we signed our deal with Warner there were acts on the domestic roster here in Canada, not only on Warner but on the other labels as well.  Bands that just sustained themselves selling records in Canada and touring solely in Canada, back then you could do it, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore.  You have to breakout because financially it's just not feasible any more. 

MM - When you look back over your career do you have any regrets, or if given the chance would you do things differently? Harry - Looking back, yes in hindsight you’d always do things differently as regards to career decisions.  We were honestly doing what we thought was best for the band.  Every time we finished a record, we were proud of it at the time.   Of course now looking back I can see the flaws and rip things apart and would perhaps do things a little differently, but I can honestly say at the time we put our best foot forward and did the best we could, and it worked out good for us.   Whereas a lot of bands put out one or two records, we had a long career, over twenty years, and sold well over a million records, and for an underground band, which is what we were, that was pretty respectable.  We toured the world, so no regrets as far as the bigger picture goes.

MM - Going back to the First Signal album, Harry have you had a chance to read any of the reviews or do you not bother reading reviews?
Harry - Everything that I’ve heard, I’ve always said the people that go out of their way to have an interview are usually the ones that like the record.  Nobody who hates the album wants to do interviews about it.  Obviously there are reviews that are less than favourable, but for the most part it's been extremely positive.  As you’ve pointed out, not many people have been “fooled” for lack of a better word, as regards to what it is and what the plan was with regards to making it and putting in out.  It's been pretty positive on the whole.  

MM - The album itself mixes things up a bit, for instance if you take the likes of ‘Part of Me’, it's a more modern rock song, whereas ‘When November Fails’, I'd put alongside the tracks from your solo material.  It's a mixed collection that spans right across the board. 
Harry - They were the first two tracks that I heard that got me involved with the whole thing in the first place.  I thought the exact same thing.  They're two Richard Marx songs.  

MM - Yeh, both songs are good in their own separate ways.
Harry - He’s a great song writer.  Great melody and great lyrics.  The songs are perfectly crafted and put together.  It's great for someone like me who's working on the record to work with that kind of quality.  It all starts with the song and it's all dressed up differently from there as regards to the production and direction, but the basis is always ... do you like this song?  It's just a matter of how you perceive things from there.  

MM - You’ve traveled the world in the name of Rock n' Roll, what have been some of your all time high and lows when it comes to touring? 
Harry - Definitely on our first record we played in Canada solidly.  We played over a hundred shows and we went across the country a couple of times.  I think it was Mood Swings that was the one that first got us multiple release territories.  We only had a few on the first one but Mood Swings busted it open for us worldwide.  I think maybe forty countries released Mood Swings. 

We'd go over and play in Europe, we did countries like Spain, Portugal and Germany, and then we really started to branch out.  Then Japan happened, basically at the end of the Mood Swings release, which got us to Japan on the Edge of Reason Tour and that was defiantly a highlight.  Our first tour was sold out and we just arrived there and had no idea what to expect.  Just from a culture shock perspective it was enough of a shock, let alone being half way around the world and hearing people sing-along to your songs, fans who can't even speak English.  That was definitely a highlight for us.

There were always highs and lows depending on what your expectations were.  I think by the second record and definitely by the third, we'd got into a place mentally to fully understand what this was.  We used to say it was a roller-coaster ride.  One minute you're up at the top then the next minute you're down at the bottom.  So we never really judged ourselves on how many records were sold, or how many people liked us that day, because it wasn’t like that for us.  

When we knew we were pretty safe as regards to making more records and that we could at least start making a living from what we were doing, it felt a lot better.  We never felt that we did well enough to rest on anything, we always strove to write better songs and make better records, that was our goal.  We always pushed each other to be better and we just wanted to make records that blew people away.  That was always our true and honest goal.  There was no other reason for us to make them, it was a by-product to make a living out of it.  That was an honour, to be able to make a living out of making music.  We never treated it as anything other than that, so we respected the process. 

MM - Where does Harry Hess go from here?
Harry - I’m supposed to be going over to Belgium in a few weeks time, I’m cutting a record with a band from the Netherlands.  I'm working out of a studio over there, then I’m coming over to London to do some writing around the end of September / the beginning of October, so I’m just trying to figure that out as regards to dates.  After that I’ll be back here in the studio, so basically over the next few months I'll be travelling and working.  

MM - Well Harry it’s been an absolute pleasure talking to you, there have been some subjects I have purposely kept away from.
Harry - If you want me to discuss them, you just let me know, and I’ll be happy to answer them.

MM - I know you’ve been bombarded with the Harem Scarem thing, this is something new fans should just embrace it for what it is.
Harry - Yeh, hopefully they will.  

MM - I’m sure the album will do well, there will be questions asked when it's released but that is inevitable.
Harry - Yes for sure, that kind of stuff never bothers me.  I never shy away from it, so it's never a problem for me. (laughs) I’ve put up with it my whole life so I don’t get offended by it.  

MM - Well Harry good luck with the new album and I’m sure a lot of Melodic Rock fans are gonna love it.  Good luck also with whatever else you're involved with on the production side and I’ll check out those two bands. 
Harry - Yes, thank you and I’m sure we’ll talk again real soon.  

MM - We'd like to give our sincerest thanks to Harry for taking the time out of his hectic schedule to chat with us this evening.  Be sure to check out his new album with First Signal as it's a solid release that most Melodic Rock fans will enjoy, regardless of whether they are familiar with Harry's musical history or not.

All content copyright of The Mayfair Mall Zine unless otherwise stated.