Audrey Harrer
Boston, MA | Established. Jan 01, 2014 | SELF
Music
Press
Poptimism tells you that there are intricacies which make easy melodies sound so right. Meanwhile, rock buffs tend to find pop boring with its repetition and whatnot. We can settle the score right now, though, just as long as both sides of the battle are willing to flex their definition of pop. Magnolia Loft will do the explaining.
Jamaica Plain venue Magnolia Loft was created by that neighborhood’s own Audrey Harrer. The teacher and musician fosters a rich environment for musicians on the fringe of folk to find a home. Technically a private studio, Magnolia Loft encourages experimental DIY events to take place there frequently, all with the intent of pushing our idea of music into a realm where curiosity is mandatory.
There’s no better introduction to the space’s perks than Saturday night’s Experimental Pop Showcase. The evening of music brings four acts together under one roof, offering them a chance to play to a room of fancy flowers, cozy carpets, and fully engaged humans. This time around, Boston-based multi-instrumentalist Jhainish will open as will Mexico-born composer Mut, organ and autoharp-totting artist Vuk will follow suit, live-looping sensation Nuda Veritas will perform after, and finally Harrer herself will close out the night.
Harrer’s alt-chamber pop brings the evening to a close not just for this Magnolia Loft show but for her spring tour. The harpist has been traveling from state to state performing original material for soon-to-be adoring onlookers. For pop purists, it may sounds like a symphony take on alt-radio hits, but those prying through song structure will find it’s far more complicated than the ears can pick up. That’s what music’s for: making you feel and making you think. As a farewell to this tour’s performance, she will combine vocal gymnastics, live looping, and processed harp, the combination of which sounds like the middle ground between Julia Holter and Natalie Prass.
So take this one motto with you when you go: Pop is fun, but it’s a hell of a lot more so when things get weird. - Dig Boston
Her songs rarely stay in one place, shifting with wild abandon and circuitous wordplay that collectively build a web of intrigue on her debut album. A harpist, composer, and songwriter based in Jamaica Plain, Harrer pitches her work somewhere between classical composition and the experimental pop of Kate Bush and Björk. J.R. - Boston Globe
Out of the bunch, be it for her location or her wealth of talent, Harrer stands tall. Her debut studio release, Alphabet Rain, shimmers with six poetic compositions, each more playful and cinematic than the last. Vocally, she mirrors the leaps of Julia Holter and Jenny Hval, but her instrumentation ranks right up there beside the immaculate precision of indie rock’s most well-known harpist, Joanna Newsom. Though harp is uncommon to find onstage, it’s comforting to think we all have a predilection for harp-based music based off the fragility, tone, and calmness at its very core. If you listen closely, you can hear Harrer pluck harp strings in Jamaica Plain right now after she gets home from working at Berklee College. If not, tie your shoes, grab your coat, and head to Female Composers Night. Live, her harp turns into a mystic creature all its own.
All eight emerging compositions and their creators exceed the limits of rational talent, and their youth only emphasizes that all the more. If we’re going to keep our score books correct nowadays, then it’s time we give attention to those creating some of the most layered, intricate, and gorgeous work in years—especially coming from our own backyard.
CAMBRIDGE PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS: FEMALE COMPOSERS NIGHT. SAT 11.14. HARVARD UNIVERSITY’S PAINE HALL, 1 OXFORD ST., CAMBRIDGE. 8PM/ALL AGES/$15. CAMBRIDGEPHIL.ORG. - Dig Boston
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
Audrey Harrer is an alt-chamber composer/vocalist/harpist who explores sound, language, and aesthetic in relationship to meaning. Her music is an eccentric blend of nostalgic vocals, cinematic imagery, and playful dissonance. Audrey looks for clever ways to connect lyric and gesture and is particularly interested in the space where music and drama collide.
Audrey grew up in rural Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. She moved to Boston (where she currently resides) to study music composition and voice, subsequently adopting the harp as a creative tool for self-accompaniment and sonic exploration.
Musically, Audrey is influenced by artists such as Moondog, Patti Smith, Kate Bush, and Laurie Anderson, and she draws inspiration from vintage animation scores, exotica, modern concert music, and rock. Audrey’s recent album "Alphabet Rain" is an exploratory recording that received best local music 2015 nods from the Boston Globe and Dig Boston.
An experimentalist by nature, Audrey works in many different mediums and has amassed a variety of unconventional musical experiences. She works closely with luminaries from across the musical spectrum as a creative director for Berklee College of Music's digital learning media group, and she hosts artists from around the world for DIY shows at her practice loft. She has studied with groups such as the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra and Meredith Monk’s Vocal Ensemble, written commissions for the Cambridge Philharmonic and the Maine International Film Festival, and she performs solo with her electroacoustic harp in environments as varied as rock clubs, galleries, house shows, hospitals, yoga studios, and recital halls.
Audrey's goal has always been to live an interesting, creative life surrounded by cool, inspired people. She cares about process, sustainability, community-building, and working collaboratively across genres and art forms.
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