STACK #143 Sept 2016

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MUSIC NEWS

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INTERVIEW HARTS

TOURING 16/09 - 08/10

F or his debut album, Darren Hart’s ideas spilled out like liquid lightning – some were done in a day, and he had to learn to trust that that didn’t mean the song wasn’t as good as something he’d worked on for longer. Because the truth is, right now he’s absolutely chockers with ideas. “I want to do another [album] straight away; I’m trying to capitalise on the creativity that’s building in me right now,” he says. Despite what his press shots might tell you, Hart (AKA Harts) is quick to reveal a smile – his intense looks belie a very tranquil manner, and an ease in explaining his approach to the incandescent, disco-funky, technically astonishing and beautifully stirring tracks on Smoke Fire Hope Desire . “These songs started as a groove with just the rhythm section – drums or bass,” he says, “so it was very similar to how hip hop guys work; they just work on beats, beats beats, and then they get artists to collaborate and turn those beats into songs. That’s exactly the process I went through with this one.” A shining talent on bass, drums, keys, guitar, and voice (all of which he solely plays on Smoke Fire Hope Desire , as well as producing), you’d imagine Harts’ childhood environment must have been full of instruments – but it didn’t happen at home. “They weren’t available,” the musician says simply. “I didn’t grow up in a musical household or anything. I got into music when I was around 15, in high school. I used to stay back after school and book out the music

room, just so I could play [drums].” “My parents hated it – they hated every aspect of me doing music at that time,” he continues. “Only recently did they actually accept it. It’s hard for a parent… the music industry’s so hard. It’s never a given. If you don’t understand how to

words: ‘Bass should be renamed ‘b-a-s-e.’” He recognises the Prince Effect, gratefully and graciously. “Prince changed me. There’s so much stuff embedded in me now. I’m like ‘Where did I get that from? Oh, Prince said that, that’s why.’ He gave me so much straight-up advice, and I understood exactly what he was saying.” Harts believes that because Prince had been articulating these things for so long, he’d condensed them down into these maxims that stick in your brain, much like b-a-s-e. And he wouldn’t have minded Harts sharing them; in fact, it was his wish to further interest and excitement in traditional musicianship in young people. “He’s trying to spread the word through musicians,” Harts says. “That’s one of the reasons why he pulled me up, because he wanted to get in touch with my audience, the younger audience. He wanted the real musicians and real music to make a comeback in pop music so badly. He encouraged a lot of people like me… to spread the word, to bring peoples’ attention to what could be done. It’s really hard to explain. But he could have articulated it perfectly.”

Smoke Fire Hope Desire by Harts is out September 16 via Dew Process / Universal.

actually navigate the business… you can still make music for the love of it and that’s fine, but if you want to make a career out of it, you can’t. I actually did quit for a couple of weeks. I was looking for other jobs and stuff. Then Prince called me.” Prince had seen some of Harts’ videos on YouTube, and got in contact to invite him to Paisley Park to jam, learn, record. Harts’ understanding of music is now coloured with notions he absorbed from Prince, and his speech is peppered with purple wisdom. When speaking about his very percussive approach to bass – his style is a fascinating marriage of rhythm and melody – he says that ‘bass’ should be spelled ‘base.’ “That’s something Prince actually told me. He said that in those exact

FRANK OCEAN

I t’s really, finally here: Frank Ocean has released his third album Boys Don’t Cry Blonde . Forget all the hype, forget the visual albums, the wait, forget channel ORANGE . Blonde opens with lead single Nike , a commentary on the social injustices in America today. It’s layered with vocals swaying from his soothing falsetto to auto-tuned hooks: the perfect way to kick off. Pink + White is a cold beer on a hot day, though you wouldn’t know it was Bey on backing vocals if it wasn’t written in the credits; Solo

something unique which still has the pop sensibilities to appeal to the masses, and a remarkable capacity to reflect on his life in the present. Moments of self- realisation ( White Ferrari ) are the most powerful and intimate on the record. The release culminates with the epic nine minute-long Futura Free , an ode to the past four years and the album’s creation, in which the musician reflects on times before he was ‘Frank Ocean’, day- time jobs, and Tyler, The Creator crashing on his couch. You won't be disappointed.

is a heavy-hitting comedown, a jaded sequel to channel ORANGE ’s Lost ; Solo (Reprise) pops up later in the album with Andre 3000 letting Frank take a back seat – a dramatic footnote to this Lost/Solo trilogy. Much of the album plays out like a late night diary entry, Nights and Seigfried especially. Ocean is so popular because he can create

Words: Tim Lambert

Blonde by Frank Ocean is out now, self- released by the artist.

SEPTEMBER 2016

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