Joshua Harrell
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Joshua Harrell

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"'Day'dream believer"

OUT SINGER JOSHUA HARRELL RELEASES 'BRIGHTER DAY'; PREPARES FOR WORLD TOUR

With "Brighter Day," his follow-up to his 2006 EP, "Johnny Be Happy," out singer Joshua Harrell fuses electronica with raw emotion, he said, to "deliver a fluid message that delves fearlessly into the depths of the human condition."

"It's definitely a more personal album," said Harrell during a recent telephone interview. "We worked song by song and arranged the music and added the lyrics and then tweaked the sound. On some of the tracks, it was more like a jam session than a recording session. It was the first time I had done anything like that."

If there's a meaning behind calling the EP "Brighter Day," Harrell doesn't say, but what he hopes people hear is that even when you're happy in a relationship, sometimes that other shoe does drop and you're left to pick up the pieces.

"I wrote the songs based on my life experience as an openly gay male in Atlanta. This is my experience and I don't know what's going to resonate for other people," said Harrell. But not all songs are about relationships. The title track, he said, is about him and his mother. "It's me talking to my mom and saying, I didn't realize you had a plan for me and thank you very much. But midway through the song, I kind of stop talking to my mom and put a call out there for potential lovers, that we can make a brighter day together, too."

Not that he's single. Far from it, in fact. Of his boyfriend, he offers little information, except to say he's happy and content and owes much of his creative ambition to having someone willing to push him.

Originally from Ft. Lauderdale, ("which wasn't then the gay mecca it is now," he said), the 32-year-old Harrell calls Atlanta home, where he is not only working on both a new album and videos for the just-released EP, but also where his clothing line, Otter Fashion, is based. The line, which started as brightly colored T-shirts before spawning separate men's and women's products, will be featured prominently in the third season of the here! TV show, "Dante's Cove."

"We have some designs that are inspired by the show. We have a shirt that we made just for them that they'll be handing out around the country, so it's kind of cool that we can take this one experience of one show and watch it become eight new designs for our line," said Harrell. If the fact that more often than not the men of "Dante's Cove" are shirtless (as are most of the women) bothers him, he doesn't let on. "As the season goes on, they do start wearing more and more clothes."

Harrell is currently preparing to embark on a European tour before returning to the United States for a North America tour and to begin recording a new album. Then there's his fashion line, which he calls his "baby." That needs all sorts of nurturing right now, as it begins to pick up steam and gain a reputation. At Atlanta Pride this year, said Harrell, one kid told the Otter Fashion crew that he didn't need their promotional information because he already knew about the company. And then he took off his pants and showed off the pair of Otter Fashion briefs he was wearing. That, said Harrell, was when it started to sink in that the clothing line was making an impact.

But a new album. That's on his mind a lot, right now. Will he stick with the formula that has proven successful already or will he experiment with a new sound? He just doesn't know.

"The album will come out in the spring, but I think through touring, I'm going to find some new sound. This ["Brighter Day"] album is defining me right now. After the album is finished, I think I'll evolve even more and get into the studio right away with some momentum," said Harrell. "And if the pop radio station didn't play me, that's not a big deal. But if people listen to it and say, you know, this really resonated with me, then I'm OK with that. Even if only one person says that, then I'm totally happy and this will all have been worth it." •

- William Henderson - IN NEWSWEEKLY


"Music - Joshua Harrell Brighter Day"

Never in my wildest ethno-musicological dreams would I expect the mix of disco, soul and electronica that is Joshua Harrell to come out of Atlanta, Georgia...the state of Georgia did produce the phenomenon known as R.E.M. And Atlanta, colloquially known as Hotlanta, has given us Harrell, who offers some evidence of urbanity on his latest studio release, Brighter Day. While the album cover features him decked out in a silver velvet jacket, recalling Southern acts of yesteryear, Brighter Day is much more European swish in its production. The beats are good and juicy, making it hearty dance floor material, and harrell's voice is sunny and playful. He's at his best when the songs are upbeat with a touch of sass, as on "Touch My Body." On "Enemy", a track that would be perfectly at home in the Ricky Martin catalog...Harrell is well on his way to bringing a brighter day to the South.
- Kai K. Andersen - DaKine (Hawaii) September 2007


"Recording artist Joshua Harrell looks forward to a Brighter Day"

Joshua Harrell’s first full length album is a collection of infectiously catchy electronica mixed with good-old fashioned neo-soul and trip-hop influences giving the album an eclectic feel without sacrificing continuity of the music. While it is apparent that Harrell is new to songwriting (as a couple of the tracks feel a bit forced and even somewhat dated [Touch My Body] and his vocal range is somewhat limited in places) Harrell does a great job working around his limitations even if he doesn’t completely overcome them.

With a little work and some tweaking of his sonic palette, Harrell could well become a contender for well-crafted, pop-centric dance music. As first albums go, this is a daring and mostly well rendered offering that deserves a listen. Look for Joshua Harrell to refine his sound and release more tempered and focused work as time goes on and he grows more steadily into his role as a recording artist.

Recently, Joshua Harrell took time to speak with O&AN about his new album during an exclusive interview.

O&AN: Your first release was an EP called Johnny Be Happy a year ago. Why did you decide to release that first as opposed to pursuing a full album like you did this time out?

JH: That was my first time writing, so I did really well to get out two songs. So we just did several remixes and I just had to do Siouxie & the Banshees Peekaboo because it is a song that has never gotten enough attention. I felt like it was my duty to bring it back to the forefront.

When I was doing the licensing research for the song I was shocked to learn that no one else had covered it. Being in Atlanta, the Hip Hop capitol of the world, I feel like I’ve had to look to Europe a lot for inspiration and those are the songs that I embraced at a young age and grew up with. With any luck I will be able to do covers of some other people’s work that I admire in the near future.

O&AN: What was your inspiration for Brighter Day and what do you fell it says about you as an artist?

JH: It was very important to me that this first impression of me as a recording artist be reflective of who I am as a whole at this point in my life. I didn’t so much look at this album as a project so much as I looked at it as my coming out. I was really proud of Johnny Be Happy, but I don’t feel like I really went for it as an artist with that release as much as I could have.

I knew this time it would be my coming out as who I am as an artist. The album is very much about happiness and acceptance. When I was going out to dance clubs as a younger gay man all the way up until now it was never really about scamming on guys. It was about getting out on the dance floor with my friends and having a great time being free of all our worries while the music flowed around us. We would all lip sync the songs and put on little performances to the songs that we loved. When I was writing the opening song that was what I had in mind. The rest of the album deals with relationships and the people in my life and who I am in relation to them. From the time I was three years old I’ve known I wanted to be an entertainer, but I think I hid out in the business world for a long time before I finally decided to go for it.

O&AN: How difficult is it as someone who has lived in the relative comfort of the business world for so long suddenly stepping out as a recording artist?

JH: In the business world it is so much easier to talk about things. Even if what you are talking about is something you created, it still has a life of its own separate from you. All of a sudden as a recording artist I have to talk about myself and I find it’s much harder.

Everyone wants to know what inspired this song and why did you write that lyric and I have to think of responses for it all. It’s almost as if I have never had to talk to anyone about anything before because it’s so true and it’s so raw that I don’t know that I can give anyone a quick sound bite without having them over to tell them all about my life. It’s a real challenge, but I wouldn’t trade it in for anything.
- Out & About by F. Daniel Kent


Discography

2007 Brighter Day

2007 Johnny Be Happy: remastered EP

2006 Johnny Be Happy EP

Photos

Bio

Joshua Harrell began recording his first EP, Johnny Be Happy, in the winter of 2005. This was also his first time as a songwriter and producer.

The 2006 Johnny Be Happy EP is an eclectic collection of songs inspired by the rhythm of Joshua's life. He wrote the title track, “Johnny Be Happy”, and “Sanctuary” as well as covering the Siouxsie and the Banshee's classic, “Peek-A-Boo”. Three unique remixes of the title track, remixed by Globoy, were included to round out Joshua's love for 80's synth-pop and lush layered electronica.

On July 3, 2007 Joshua released his second cd of all original music, Brighter Day. The album has a strong vibe of techno, soul, R&B, jazz, synth-pop and even a little disco, resulting in a unique sound all its own. The album starts off with “Dance Floor”, an upbeat urban dance track, and moves you right into “Enemy”, a torn love song of sorts. “Touch My Body”, definitely the most sensual track, makes you want to do just that. The title track, “Brighter Day”, is about the vulnerable search for understanding and refuge in another's arms. Joshua has a way of melding all these genres into one smooth, clean, sexy sound that will bring you closer to expressing your own emotional world.

All of Joshua's music can be found on iTunes as well as retailers all over the world.

Photos, song samples and more can be found on Joshua's website at: www.joshuaharrell.com.