Behind the music – Echo Harte

Galway singer Echo Harte aka Jamie Harte has released his new single, Illumination. We asked him the BIG questions . . .

The song marks a departure from his dark techno vibe and delves into the realm of alternative-gospel rock.

He drew inspiration for Illumination during a trip to Paris, where he visited the resting places of Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde and watched gigs by U2 on consecutive nights.

Tell us three things about yourself . . .

I am a coffee junkie. I have an insane Yu-Gi-Oh card collection (Insane being the fact I actually own one. Haha). I quote classic Simpsons religiously. Sometimes people get it, sometimes they don’t but when they do, we have a good laugh. I’ve made many good friends this way.

How would you describe your music?

My music is eclectic. My style is constantly evolving from song to song. I love most styles of music from classical to hardcore drum and bass techno. I like to embrace the music I love through the songs I create. It keeps the process and the journey exciting for me as well as the people who enjoy to listen to my music. Rock music seems to be the core foundation of my sound so I landed on experimental rock as my genre of music.

Who are your musical inspirations?

David Bowie, Tom Waits, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Eels, The Prodigy, Michael Jackson, Johnny Cash, Eminem, Dolly Parton, Blondie, U2, The Doors and most recently Billie Eilish, Ailbhe Reddy and Laura Marling.

What was the first gig you ever went to?

My uncle Mickey Joe Harte and his band sold out The Black Box in Galway city in 2003 after he performed at The Eurovision in Latvia. I was a young child at that gig with my parents. A bunch of family and friends of ours went to that gig to show our support. It was amazing to watch my uncle perform like a rock star on stage and have a bunch of enthusiastic fans jumping up and down with excitement and then run out of their seats towards him at the speed of light when he jumped off the stage mid performance. It was very “Bruce Springsteen” of him. I’ll never forget that gig.

What was the first record you ever bought?

I believe it was Seven Nation Army by the The White Stripes when it first came out. It was the first single I ever bought with my own money. I don’t know where that CD is now though.

What’s your favourite song right now?

Right now, it’s You Are Everything by The Stylistics. Such a beautiful song. I’ve always loved that song but at the moment I find myself listening to it quite a lot. The most recent song that has come out in the last while that I like right now is Fortnight by Taylor Swift. I’m not a hardcore ‘Swiftie’ like the majority of today’s population but there’s something about that song that made me play it on repeat for days when it was first released.

Favourite lyric of all time?

So hard to choose just one but . . . I’ll have to go with One by U2. I have that word tattooed on my right hand in my mother’s handwriting. And so do my sisters. We got it in different styles of her handwriting because one of us sisters pointed out, the lyric is “we’re one but we’re not the same”. I would pick “We get to carry each other” as my favourite lyric from that song.

If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?

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Ice Cream Man by Tom Waits. From his 1973 album Closing Time. It’s my favourite album of all time and it has been since I was a baby. Every time I would scream and cry as an infant, my parents would play that album because for some reason, I would stop crying and my body would sway back and forth to the music. In particular, Ice Cream Man just calmed me down immediately. They would play it on repeat for years until I learned how to use a CD player myself. I’m still not sick of that song. Don’t think I ever will be.

Where can people find your music/more information?

I do TikTok lives at all my gigs and when I busk. It’s a good place to keep up to date with everything I’m up to as well as my Instagram. TikTok and Instagram I can be found under @echoharte_music My music can be found on all streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube under Echo Harte.

Alan Corr