A Quick Chat with Harriet Fahey

This is your first studio release after many years of writing music and performing live. How does this step feel different to the rest of your career so far?
It’s way more structured! I know I should say it’s magical and all that, which it is, but this is the most planning I’ve had to do, ever (laughs). I’ve been so used to writing just for me and hoping people like my songs, but now actually recording something properly makes the whole thing feel so much more mature and serious, and like I’m not just waiting on the winds of fate anymore. It’s scary, but putting yourself out there for any reason is scary, and inside I’m still just hoping people like my songs.

You've spoken about your music's points of difference from other artists from Central Western NSW. What are the ways in which being from regional Australia has influenced your art?
I think it’s helped me focus on myself and on my sound. There are a lot of country music artists around here so having a different style sets me apart in a good way. I feel like growing up and living in regional Australia also adds different themes and experiences to my songs that would resonate with a more regional audience. I don’t sing about riding tractors or anything (laughs), but I think my songs would hit differently if you’re from the city.

Alive explores themes of grim hope in the face of despair. What kind of creative space did the single emerge from? Did you find inspiration in your life or the world around you?
Yeah, Alive comes from a really open, almost confessional place, with really blunt lyrics like “I think I'm losing my memory”. There's a kind of desperation being masked by apathy throughout the song that I feel like a lot of people can relate to. I definitely relate personally to the lyrics, they’re thoughts I’ve had that I wanted to either scream or whisper, and I couldn’t decide so I wrote them into a song instead.

Who would you say are some of your musical influences or inspiration? Not just for this record, but overall?
This is a bit left field, but Weird Al! I’ve been listening to him since I was a kid, so I’ve always paid attention to lyrics, and I think what he does is so clever. My biggest songwriting influence has got to be Taylor Swift though, I remember hearing Love Story in primary school and just knowing I wanted to be exactly like her. I love the way she tells stories, I love the clever wordplay, and I love her energy on stage. I could name-check forever, Green Day, pop-punk groups like Simple Plan, All Time Low, Paramore, I love the emotional and raw connection that comes with the tight instrumentation of pop-punk. I would say that I take a lot of inspiration from early Avril Lavigne, I played the Let Go album over and over, and I love the clarity in her vocals as well as the edge in her lyrics.

You mention a nostalgic component of your sound on this record and in general. How do you feel this resonates with your audience, especially in this day and age?
I think there’s a lot of comfort in nostalgia, and I’m very flattered whenever people tell me my songs have callbacks to an older song or specific genre, because the truth is I’m not trying to write nostalgically! We write what we listen to, and I love 90s, 2000s music, which shows in my writing, whether I can help it or not. At the end of the day, I try to write music that I want to listen to, and I’m thrilled that other people like it too.

As a singer/songwriter from a very early age, you must have a huge back catalogue. Do you remember any of the songs you wrote when you were a kid?
Oh my gosh! I actually do, they're all so cheesy. This was before I learnt guitar so I was basically singing my thoughts out loud, trying to make it sound like the songs on the radio. I think I've tried to repress them (laughs). I do remember one about a friendship on the rocks, the verses were about, I don't know, my friend not sitting next to me on the bus, or whatever meant a lot to me in primary school, and the chorus ended with “Ooh ooh (dramatic pause), are you really my friend?” I'm cringing so much right now! (Laughs) I thought I was so deep. I guess I've been writing from the heart for a very long time.

I know it's still early days for the single, but what's next for Harriet Fahey?
Well I'm writing new music all the time so I'm not going to say there's nothing else coming up, however Alive is my debut release and I'd like it to have its time in the sun. I was lucky enough to work with an amazing, young dancer for the music video, which I am so excited to show everyone, so stay tuned for that! But yeah, Alive will not be the only thing you hear from me in 2026, this year is going to be big!