Meet Harper Starling, The newest musician to emerge and the artist to listen out for on the radio, when you see her on tour and stream her music on Apple Music and Spotify. Out now is her brilliant new single “Cannot Tell A Lie” on all streaming platforms, also check out the music video and spot the familiar faces in the video.
At what age did you know you wanted to be a singer?
If we are not including the 3-year-old Disney singalong, I would say I got very serious when I heard Lady Gaga perform. I knew then that was my calling, I always knew it was something I wanted to do, but it was her performance that gave me that push, I told my sister what I was going to do and then my parents and a couple of weeks later I moved out to Los Angeles.
Your current single ‘No More What If’ What is the story behind this song?
I was very fortunate and blessed to work with Cindy Valentine; Cindy and I had worked on other projects before this one came out. We discussed as you do when you are writing together with our experiences which were very similar to moving from our home towns to pursue our passions for music.
Cindy at 3 am came up with the concept of ‘No More What If’ and had the melody for me the following day. I fell in love with it, and the pieces fell into place. She had worked with “Niko” previously and knew he would be the best fit, which we got from it.
I think it is a perfect representation; I like to have uplifting music, I want to make people happy, and this song demonstrated what I was going through in my mind, and I am so thankful to Cindy for picking up on that. It’s a combination of the two of us on this, and I am so happy with what she has done, and I was able to Parrell is with my own life. We included the pickup trucks in the music video, everything that happened five years ago from moving; this was my documentary.
Have you thought about doing a BTS based around when you are on tour etc?
We were going to do that when we came out to the UK, many behind the scenes. We are working with a team on how this all comes together; one day it will happen.
You have a new single out on October the 29th. Can you tell us more about it?
“Cannot Tell A Lie” It is based on real-life, when you have one of the WTF moments of what I just did, That happened to me. I talked to Cindy about it during one of our sessions, and she was writing it down as I was discussing what was going on. She says we will write a song about this. I am so happy with how it turned out. I won’t give any details away about all the lyrics, but it is a fun one. I am excited for everyone to hear this.
Can you tell us more about the music video and who is featured?
It was a massive part with Cindy, and I love her so much. I loved her idea of flipping the script, and then I was the one who took charge in the end. We found a spot right here in Los Angeles. The day of the shoot was great. We had so many people be a part of it. We wanted to keep it as close to the original as possible.
When will the video be launched?
October the 29th, the same day as the single. We were fortunate with everyone that worked on this project.
Do you have an Ep or album that you will be releasing?
There is going to be a full-length album released by spring.
What is your creative process? How long have you spent making this album?
This has been a year and a half in the making. I have grown a lot since quarantine, the songs we have created, the new music, I see myself growing as an artist.
How does it feel to you to be up for best new artist in the Grammy consideration?
It is Crazy! I was so happy when I found out. I grew up watching it on tv and hearing artists on the radio and thinking in the back my mind ‘what If’, and now no more there is no more what if!
I was that kid they would say, ‘you practice with a shampoo bottle’, and honestly, I can’t tell you what item I practised with, but I was in front of the mirror pretending. So I am very honoured that this is all happening. I have so many people to thank for that.
What music are you currently listening to?
It depends on the kind of mood I am in and also the time of day, sometimes its Jazz or classical the for my work I want hard rock then out with my girls downtown, I want to do Hip Hop or Pop it completely depends on the situation I have a very eclectic taste.
You performed at Fashion Week in Los Angeles. How excited were you about this?
I was so happy, Huge thank you to Jacob, the Petersen Museum, I am so thankful I got to perform for them and that show, I got to wear one of the outfits; it was a custom design head to toe that was all Jacob it was fabulous.
Is fashion something you would like to me into alongside the music?
100% I have always been a massive fan of fashion from magazines to watching tv and going into stores. There are so many beautiful designers here in LA. I would love to meet them one day and in NewYork and Milan, Paris, all those places I live and breathe it.
What are some of your favourite fashion styles and accessories?
Again, it depends; for day wear, I like to be comfortable casual, I do like my leather, I like leather jackets a lot. But, when I am performing, I love a good thigh-high boot moment, the bling, the glitz, the colour. I love them to stand out.
You are going on tour with A1; what are you most looking forward to?
“I look forward to 2022 and the announcement from A1 on the tour dates.” This will be my first time visiting the UK ever. I am so excited, it was always my parent’s favourite place to visit, and they always wanted to take me, now I get to go and do what I love. There are so many places that I’d like to visit. I love the history, and you guys have the best accents.
Anything else live coming up?
The Pre Grammy event on January the 29th is confirmed; My social media will have all my live dates as they come up.
Final messages?
All the people that were involved with the “Cannot Tell A Lie”. Music video, we talked about the concept design, Fernando at industrialism films was co-director with Cindy, we had “Johnny Roastbeef Williams” it’s crazy that we got him in the video, he has been in ‘Goodfellas’ and Greenbook which won an academy award, we also got four TikTok influencers who were so much fun to be around, “Gabby Marie” “HOOTIE HURLEY “Brittany Galvin” and “Jack Bloom” they were at the absolute best and I did get some of my friends as extras. It was a very good time.
