Harvey Jay Dodgson: “I turn thoughts into personas in songs”
Harvey Jay Dodgson talks to artsymix.com about his songwriting, his headline show, playing at Glastonbury and supporting Tom A Smith.
Who is Caroline and who is Marilyn Rose? Harvey Jay Dodgson explains to artsymix.com that they’re both fictional characters he has created, as a way to express his thoughts through lyrics. He has a way of using metaphors and fictional scenarios in order to express his thoughts on certain matters, which creates an element of mystery around his songs. He has his own interpretation of what those lyrics mean, but he also likes the idea of people making their own assumptions about what those lyrics might actually mean.
On Monday 4th of December, Harvey Jay Dodgson played his last live show for 2023, supporting Tom A Smith in Cambridge. Now he can take a break from music activities and reflect on a busy and productive year, in which he made his first appearance at Glastonbury.
He talked to us about the progress he made in 2023 in his career, his journey towards becoming a full time musician, his approach to songwriting and how he uses his emotions to create personas and put them in his songs. He has a way of creating a bit of a mystery about his lyrics and he likes to let people have their own interpretation of what the song talks about.
First, we talked about his most recent activity, the 7 shows as a support act in Tom A Smith’s headline tour from early November until early December:
“It was a great experience. The first tour I’ve done with the band as well. To support someone like Tom, has been quite an honour. He’s brilliant and that makes us want to play even better. We went to a few new cities I had never been to before. The whole tour was fantastic”.
His general assessment of 2023:
“2023 has been different in a way for me, kind of finding who I am and the music I want to do, the path I want to go down. My latest EP Alligator is a good representation of that. And then to be able to play this new music on Tom A Smith tour, Calum Bowie tour and play at Glastonbury as well, is great experience. It has given me the chance to express myself. It’s been a productive year”.
About his first headline show in Portsmouth in 2023:
“Fantastic. One of the best gigs I’ve played. It was my first even headline, so I experienced that feeling knowing that the people are there for you, rather than someone else you support. I played at the Loft in Portsmouth and it was sold out. I think at some point the floor was actually shaking. It was fantastic to be there with the band, seeing a lot of friends and a lot of people I didn’t know as well”.
Glastonbury:
“It was a magical moment. It’s a bucket list thing I think for most musicians to be able to play there. Getting that opportunity was such an honour. The set went really well. I had a set on Thursday, I got a couple of hundred people walking by and decided to stop, so the crowd was kind of building up throughout the set. The weather was boiling. The whole weekend, being able to experience the whole Glastonbury magic is absolutely fantastic”.
Caroline and Marilyn Rose:
“Caroline is not about a real person. It’s like a personification of keeping an eye on the brighter side of things. I remember writing about the summer going and I’m a summer person, I don’t like the winter as much. So it’s kind of like ‘remind us of the summer time’. It also has an underlying meaning about all the things that happen in the world, all the things that hold you down, you have to focus on the better things. Marilyn Rose, again there’s no such person. It’s all made up. Another fragment of inspiration”.
Harvey also talks to us about his influence from hip hop and how he can apply those influence in his rock music. The title track of his EP Alligator is a good example of that.
The sacrifices and determination to do things right
Harvey is trying to build a career in music, while having a day job as a window cleaner. He puts all his money into music, trying to have the best possible productions and making videos for many of his songs. In addition to his apparent talent in writing and performing music, Harvey has a very interesting artistic approach when it comes to expressing his thoughts through his songs, with elements of sophistication and mystery.
It’s clear that he’s not making music in order to make money. He spends all his money in order to make good music. And hopefully that will ultimately get him to the point of being able to focus solely on music.
Watch the video with the full interview here:
Tickets for Harvey Jay Dodgson’s headline show in Portsmouth
His official website: https://harveyjaydodgson.komi.io