Upcoming band Harbour Sharks have just released their debut single Alive To Survive, so we asked guitarist Rob Rees to give us an insight into it. We also reviewed the track. Check it out below!
What is the story behind Alive To Survive?
Alive to Survive’s underlying theme is depression, anxiety and domestic violence. Jack is a fantastic lyricist who can write exceptionally deep and meaningful lyrics, however this song is widely open to interpretation and can mean different things to different people.
Can you describe the writing and recording process for the track?
The writing process started with me putting a few riffs together and trying to get the basic structure and feel of the song. I usually make a crude demo of the music on my phone. I then have the always tense task of presenting the idea to Jack and Jamie for them to critique it. Fortunately, they both liked the direction of this track, and having given me their input on my idea so far, we all started collaborating and throwing in ideas to complete the structure and arrangement of the song. Once we had the music written, Jack set about composing the lyrics and vocals.
When Alive to Survive was ready to go, we headed to Freefall Studios to record it, along with its B-Side Disaster Artist. We spent a weekend recording the tracks with our producer Antonio Hanna, who really developed the tracks and gave them the character that they have.
What made you choose to release it as a single?
We had only written about four other songs when we finished Alive to Survive, but to us it stood out as the obvious candidate for a single – there’s something for everyone in it and I think it’s got a really powerful chorus, and the riffs are pretty cool too.
Would you say Alive To Survive will be representative of your debut album or is it more of a standalone piece?
We’re still in the process of writing out debut album, but if the finished product is anything similar to how it sounds now, Alive to Survive will certainly be representative of it – big choruses, groovy drum parts and riffs aplenty is how the album seems to be shaping up.
And finally what do you have in the works for the rest of the year?
We’re going to spend the next few months writing and recording the album, whilst bringing our live show to venues across the UK.
Alive To Survive Review
Alive To Survive is a great starting point for Harbour Sharks and shows a lot of potential from this up and coming band.
Although Alive To Survive is perhaps best described as a ‘safe’ release, with Harbour Sharks not really stepping outside of the box, regardless of this it is a great little listen and features a highly emotive performance from all three members, which is definitely something to be commended. The song as a whole is powerful and memorable – the vocals in particular are smoothly delivered and succint, with the instrumentation complementing them perfectly. Additionally, the more you listen, the more it worms its way into your head and you’ll find yourself singing along before long!
This is a good and strong release from Harbour Sharks and although it may not be the most adventurous offering out there, shows a nice amount of room for growth from the band – so it will be interesting to see what the future holds for this band.
