Pure Sky feat. Harmony (@harmonytividad): The LA musician who looks like she’s cosplaying a Hollywood pop star until you realize that maybe she is just the only real one left. Formerly one half of the universally-beloved Girlpool, Harmony’s subsequent solo work has been a masterclass in self-exploration, a construction of what she calls her “new playground.” Her bright and brash debut solo album “Gossip” was a powerful tone-setter, but rumor has it she might be going soft and sweet on her next stuff. We’re excited for the world to hear it. Read on for our Q&A and click here to listen to a playlist courtesy of Harmony.
What should people do while listening to this playlist?
Be on their way to get a milkshake at dusk, feeling bittersweet.
You’re a music theater kid and a Baz Luhrmann devotee; it only makes sense that you’re one of the voices leading the resurgence of maximalism. What’s your elevator pitch for the cause?
I've really come into acceptance with the reality that I'm a writer, a performer, and a strange girl who needs to be in her weird-o powers, but it isn't really about maximalism. I feel like i'm just trying to create with every side of myself. Sometimes it’s loud and colorful and other times it’s gray-tone.
You put out some solo work during your Girlpool days, but I’m curious how it felt to embark on a full project as Harmony.
It felt unique. I think the thing with Girlpool was we had such a distinct voice from the get-go and I loved that, but straying always felt like we were pulling further and further from what was wanted of us. I think starting fresh felt like an opportunity for me to really break my own rules for myself and that was really liberating, to create a new playground that I could create within.
“Gossip” is coated in irony, but it feels like you’re using that as a vehicle to prod at messages on modern virtue and values. Do you worry about people misinterpreting what you’re trying to say here?
I wish I worried more, I think misinterpretation is so integral to making art. I figured that out at a really young age. The reality is being alive, you're going to
be misunderstood a lot of the time, but I think that's a source of strength.
I don't think we should actually want everyone to understand us, and I don't
feel like any art I make has to "represent" me per se. It can all be a part of my universe because so many things exist and inevitably as artists we're gonna wanna explore the entire field you know?
I give myself permission to be everything I am and also what I am not. And to be misunderstood. The next thing I have coming out (soon) is so different from “Gossip”.
Your mother, Wendy Tividad, has had a solo career resurgence of her own as a psychic medium. How often do you consult her, and about what?
I consult her a lot but it's always different. She's really busy though so I can only get in with her so often, especially since she just opened a space in LA. Once we were in a parking lot and I was worried I was pregnant and I said “I have one question can you touch my hands really really quick” and she goes ok and I'm in her passenger seat and she immediately goes, "well at least you're not pregnant" (I wasn't pregnant) so her help takes many forms for me.
One ritual you swear by:
Driving Mulholland while smoking a cigarette listening to the song I just wrote, windows down (I don’t smoke but I will to do this… I am a social smoker, I do not buy).
You love the Internet. What’s the biggest difference between how you used it when you were younger and how you use it now?
I was a Tumblr girl as a teenager... constantly blogging, reposting what other people were doing. Now I'm more a creator and less of an observer. I feel like my personal voice is so much clearer now and I'm more interested in sharing my writing and embodying all my creative work.
Are we in the midst of another vibe shift? ... Is it in the room with us right now?
The vibe is always microshifting, really. It is in the room with us. I’m feeling a return to nature myself — a reconnection to earnest truth because the world feels so perverted right now.
Where does a record start for you? Where does it end?
I honestly have such a wild stallion style of creating, it all just kinda happens and then certain songs end up holding hands with others and the realization of something larger takes shape. I’m not very organized, I have to just let it all come out and learn about what it is.
→ Find Harmony on Instagram, Spotify, and YouTube.
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