We had the good fortune of connecting with Harry Rooster and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Harry, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
Life is about taking a journey. Why would you give up? Turn your failures into opportunities. I believe you should never give up in anything you do, but you also must be wise enough to know when something is working or not. Everything you do comes full circle in one way or another if you keep moving forward.

I was living in Detroit and set out on a 52 week project where I released a single, an EP, or full album every week. I knew it would be years before I would start making money, but the journey would get me where I needed to be in life. During that time, I came to Nashville for 2021 summer NAMM and networked with really good people. I wrote a business plan, bought an LLC, and never got the funding to get that business off the ground.

Two months after my project, I was given the chance to own my own record label through my distributer. I was able to use my LLC to make it official. Because I kept moving forward, things came full circle the way they needed to.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
One of my friends is a burlesque dancer who performs with a cyr wheel. When I see her perform I lose my mind. I wrote the song Crash to the Ground to one of her performances. From here is when it turns from a song into a recorded album in 45 days.

The song involved me playing 2 synths connected by a midi cable with my left hand, a vocoder with my right hand, and a song programmed in my drum machine. Absolutely no computers. I drove from Detroit to Nashville 3 days later and played it at an open mic night and the crowd loved it. This was the moment I realized how I was going to go into a pro recording studio and record an album live in one day.

It took two weeks before I wrote the second song. I came up with the concept that I am a 500 year old alien that comes to earth, steals the circus queen, takes her to outer space, and she escapes.

Then I called Welcome to 1979 studios and booked a day to record 30 days out. I spent the next two weeks writing eight more songs. I picked the sounds for the final song, but I planned to record that ad lib. I rehearsed ten songs over and over until two days before recording.

It took me a total of five hours in the studio to record the entire eleven song album live to tape with no computers and no overdubs. Just me, four synths, a guitar, and a drum machine. The final three songs I recorded on the first take. The very last song was written as the tape rolled.

I mixed the album in January and released it on February 14th, 2023.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Dino’s bar has great burgers and get the animal fries. Pizza Perfect for pizza by the slice. Prince’s for hot chicken. If you like food trucks, pick any of them.

Check out music at any local venue you drive past. Nashville is full of local and national talent. You never know who you are going to run into or see on stage.

Lots of big name acts play at venues like Basement East, Eastside Bowl, and Brooklyn Bowl.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The band Sleep Nation deserve a huge shoutout. We all played in a benefit show in Nashville in January 2022 and I started following their social media. They had a few shows around times when I could make the trip from Detroit to Nashville, so I started surprising them by randomly showing up. That ended up being eight times during the year before I moved to Nashville.

Bran and Joey are great musicians and friends. They put on top notch show and their music is really good. I knew I was on the right path when I met them. Plus I got to be in several music videos. I appreciate everything they have done for me.

Website: https://harryrooster.com

Instagram: @harryrooster_music

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTDgmTIL7Nc3cUOA4HRt53w

Image Credits
Self, Angela Jean

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.