The Latest With Maya

Musician Jack Harris | The Latest WIth Maya

• Maya • Season 3 • Episode 45

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0:00 | 22:54

 A conversation with Jack Harris.❤️ Go stream Jack's music! 


Theme song by Austin & Colin! Follow them here:

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Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/09D3Uv7yejstvSlTdkxHzT 

SPEAKER_00

Hi Jack. Welcome to The Latest with Maya. Jack Harris is a musician whose newest EP, What Overthinking Sounds Like, is out now. I am so excited to be talking with you. I love your music. So thank you so much for joining me.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you for that intro. I'm happy to be talking with you, Maya. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Um, so is there an artist or song that you consider to be the gold standard when it comes to songwriting and storytelling?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that's a good question. I think I think for most of my life I've always thought that Bruce Springsteen was a great storyteller. I've grown up listening to his songs. They feel like movies to me when I listen to them because they all have characters and and storylines to them. So I'm sure I could think of others, but I think off the top of my head, Bruce Springsteen's songs are like movies to me. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I love that. Yeah, I I love Bruce Springsteen. So I um yeah. Uh so is there a song of yours that is your favorite?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, my song Right Behind You is currently my favorite song to date. Um, that one's about like if your depression could speak, and the the chorus of that song is written from the perspective of my depression. And I just love the concept of like giving a personality to an emotion or to like something that's going on in your head. And yeah, I think of all my songs, that's that's my favorite.

SPEAKER_00

Oh wow, yeah. Um, so what uh do you find to be the biggest challenge with creating music in the age of social media?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's a really important question. Um I think the biggest challenge is definitely paying too much attention to what other people are doing. I think being on social media and being able to constantly see what other artists are posting, what other artists are um having certain things blow up, like trying to stay away from following those trends and and stay true to what your message is and and your sound and all that. I think it does get really difficult to do that when you're constantly having to see what other people are doing all the time. So yeah, I think that's probably the biggest challenge. And then just the demand for content, I think, is in and of itself a big challenge because you're constantly having to spend more of your time making videos. Although I love doing that, you're spending more of your time doing that than you are in a studio recording the music. So yeah, it's a good question.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. Um, so what are the songs that make you sing along whenever you hear them?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that's a good question. Um songs that make me sing along. I think Billy Eilish Bad Guy is a song that never gets old to me. I like I don't listen to it all the time, but whenever that comes on, I'm like reminded how good of a song that is. Um let me think what else songs that I always sing along to. Um, there's a lot of Mac Miller songs that I love. There's uh um any 21 Pilot song really is is something that I'll sing along to. I'm a huge 21 Pilots fan, so anything of theirs I would absolutely sing along to.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Um so if you had a warning label, what would yours say?

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow, if I had a warning label, okay. Um, I think I think the label would be he's not telling you everything. Because I think whether it's like something I'm struggling with that I'm holding inside, or it's maybe like a success I've had that I'm holding inside. I think I hold a lot back when I when I'm talking to other people. Um and and it's often just from a place of of not wanting to share everything, and I'm not sure why I do that, but I think I think my warning label would be like he's not telling you everything.

SPEAKER_00

I like that one. Yeah. Um, so what is the um biggest obstacle either personally or professionally, that you've overcome?

SPEAKER_01

Ooh, let me think about that. Um I think a couple of things come to mind. I think one thing is stage fright. Um I wouldn't say I've fully overcome stage fright, uh, because I I still get very anxious before like playing a show, but I think I've I was always a very anxious kid, um, especially when it came to being in front of a crowd, no matter how small it was. I was very prone to like panic in those situations, and I think naturally as a musician, I've ended up on stages and and I've had to confront that fear. And for those who can relate, it's like a really powerful fear to face. So I think that's one of the biggest ones. Um and then I think I would so that's personal and professional. I would say um personally, a struggle that I'm still trying to overcome is like living in the moment because I'm constantly thinking about what's next, and um and it hits me sometimes that that's a really unhealthy mindset to be in because there's always going to be something next, and the only result is that years down the line I'll look back and be like, oh, I never really experienced any of those moments because I was just thinking about what's next, and so I think as hard as it is, I really want to get better at living in the moment.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, definitely. That's also that's something I I'm working on too. Uh yeah, because I realized my mind's always kind of somewhere else, like thinking about all these other things. So I'm really trying to focus on um that too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's hard, but yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Um so I am uh pop culture obsessed and I go in stages of shows that I cannot stop watching. Um, is there a show that you are currently obsessed with?

SPEAKER_01

Um let's see. Well, there's there's a lot of there's a few shows that I re-watch a lot. Um, I re-watch The Office all the time. I re-watch um Parks and Wreck, uh any of those like feel-good comedy shows. Um but then I think I really enjoyed Severance to talk about a more recent one. Um I'm looking forward to that show continuing. So I think recently that was a really fun one to watch.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, cool. Love that. Yeah, I have um, I mean, so many shows I'm watching at the moment, and then ones that I just like constantly re-watch and just put on when I need something in the background.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, what what are you re-watching?

SPEAKER_00

Um well I have um the shows I'm constantly maybe I don't like re-watch it from start to finish, but there's like I go to like watch different episodes in different seasons. Um, so that's it's recently Will and Grace. I mean, that show I have on constantly um in the background. I think every day I have that show on. Um and yeah, and then there's like white collar that I have on. I put that on like every night when I'm falling asleep, when my brain's kind of starting to go again and just kind of racing. I put that on um every night to fall asleep.

SPEAKER_01

So I never got into white collar. I just I think I would be into it, I just never did. I know my sister watched that a lot, so I caught some bits of it growing up.

SPEAKER_00

Oh yeah, oh cool. Yeah, that um I was telling my mom one time that uh there's I mean, so many shows that I love, and White Collar is one of those shows that I can put on and it just like completely turns off my brain, um, which I love.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah. Um yeah, and I'm yeah, I'm watching for the first time right now. Now I'm watching Ugly Betty. Um, so that's the one I've been like really obsessing over recently. Yeah. Um yeah, so what uh genre of movie would your life story be told as?

SPEAKER_01

What genre of movie? Um interesting. I think I think it would be a mix of like comedy drama. Um like you know the movie Little Miss Sunshine?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I love that movie.

SPEAKER_01

It's so good. I I love movies that sort of tell more mundane common stories, um, but it makes it more relatable in that way. I think my life would be in that genre where it's like um there's no like crazy horror. I think the the day-to-day drama and real human like emotions are are the parts I would want to tell. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I love that. Yeah. Um, yeah, so is there a song that you are currently obsessed with?

SPEAKER_01

Is there a song I'm currently obsessed with? Um let me open my Spotify right now because I don't want to like just say the first thing that comes into my mind. Um, yeah, it's uh Drag Path by 21 Pilots. I have been listening to that on repeat for like the last three weeks or month or however long it's been out. Um it's a really like emotional song, but also has that sort of sing-along energy. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, I love that. I'm writing that down right now so I can go listen to it afterward.

SPEAKER_01

It's a good one.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, thank you for that recommendation. Um, I'm excited to listen to it. Um yeah, there's yeah, there's a few albums I've had on repeat lately. Um there's uh Caitlin Tarver has a new album out that I've been um really obsessed with, and then there's a band called Nightbreakers that have a new album out too that I'm also listening on repeat.

SPEAKER_01

I'm writing these down because I want to check these out too.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'm blanking on the album names right now, but I can look them up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, is it like their their most recent stuff?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, cool. Nice. I'll check that out.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I'd love to hear what you think.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Um so who in your life has had the biggest impact on how you choose to live?

SPEAKER_01

Ooh. How I choose to live. I think definitely my mom. Um she uh is a preschool teacher and she has been a preschool teacher my whole life, and um just the the values that she has always taught me, the creativity she's always taught me. Um I think I has been deeply ingrained in me, like kindness and um and empathy and just things that that help foster good relationships, and and so I think she's definitely had the biggest impact on on how I've turned out.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Um so if you had the opportunity to put a message on a billboard for everyone to see, what would it be?

SPEAKER_01

Oh that's really good. Let me think about that. Um there's a few things coming to mind. I think one thing one thing I would put on a billboard is um there's still time. I think um I think a lot of people Especially with how fast things move with social media and everything, I feel like there's this constant sense that time is slipping away and and that it's too late to to do something that you've wanted to do for a long time. And I think um I think it would be good to like look up at a billboard and be reminded that like there's still time if you want to try something new, and that's not to say like there's always time, because that's certainly like like you've gotta you also have to like get on top of what you want to do, but um, yeah, I think just sometimes taking that pressure off would be good.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I love that, yeah. Um so what uh three words best describe you okay three words um I have to I have to say creative.

SPEAKER_01

I feel like um I feel like I've always loved my creativity and I I feel the most like myself when I'm being creative, whether it's writing songs or making videos or coming up with business ideas or whatever. Um I would say creative is is one thing. Um I think um I think loyal I have I have some very close friends who I feel like I I can tell anything to and and I'm very loyal to them if if they ever need anything. And then I also think open would be the third thing because I anytime I meet someone, I feel like I very quickly am open with them about something I might be going through, or or open in the sense that they feel comfortable sharing things with me that they might be going through. And I think that's really special to to have people open up to you about things.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, definitely. I love those, those are great words, yeah. Um yeah, so um my final question for you is um today, what are you most grateful for?

SPEAKER_01

Um what am I most grateful for? I think oh wow, it's really hard to I think I'm most grateful I'm most grateful to be making music every day. Um making music has always been like this compulsive passion of mine that I would always be doing, and and so to have a bit of an audience and and to be able to create music in that way every day and make things that might have an impact on people, I'm forever grateful for. Um I think that that's a big thing, but then I also want to add like being grateful for my friends and my family, I think in times that I have been struggling mentally, I've I've often had some family there for me and some friends there for me, and um, and that still is a source of support for me emotionally, and I I'm extremely grateful for that.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Um, you know, well, um, thank you so much for joining me today. Um, I've had uh so much fun talking with you, so thank you.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you, Maya. I've had a great time. Those were great questions, and and I'm happy to have been able to talk with you.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. Um yeah, and I can't wait to um hear more of your uh your new music, and I'm sorry, everything's like it's In my head, I know what I'm gonna say and then nothing's coming out, right? So sorry about that. But um yeah, I I I'm uh very excited to hear all the new music you keep uh putting out, and if you ever wanna come back on, I'd love to talk with you again.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, absolutely. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, um thank you, and uh I hope you have a great rest of your day.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. I hope you do too.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. Um, and that's a wrap on today's edition of The Lightest with Maya. The latest with Maya! It's the latest with Maya. Okay, what she gonna talk to me, what she gonna ask about.