Following the recent success of the first single release from her upcoming EP, “I’ve Got A Secret”, charismatic singer-songwriter Karen Harding has unveiled the brand new single “Til The Ocean Meets The Shore”.
Written during the Melbourne, Australia Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, ‘Til The Ocean Meets The
Shore’ is a deeply reflective and uplifting acoustic guitar-focused story that dives into challenges felt
and a realisation of how far we have come, and the determination that we can truly achieve anything
we put our minds to if we do not give in.
The four-track EP is being released one single at a time, each month, and will be available in its entirety by October 2022. The EP is available for purchase at Bandcamp in digital download and CD formats.
Karen has kindly taken the time to chat with Fierce & Fabulous Revolution regarding the latest release, along with information regarding the upcoming EP. You can find the full interview below.
Hey Karen, thank you so much for this interview. Can you start by telling readers a little bit about yourself?
Karen: Thank you so much for having me! My name is Karen Harding and I am a Melbourne, Australia-based singer-songwriter. I am also a little dog-obsessed.. highly coffee fueled.. a philosophical thinker and a lover of adventure and nature 🙂
When did you first discover your passion for music?
Karen: I have always had a passion for music, for as long as I can remember.. As a child, I was in every choir I could possibly join and would put on little performances for everyone that would come to visit our family home. I was always inspired when I would hear great singers and storytellers.. My dad had a great collection of music and would be watching all the music TV programs every weekend, so I was always exposed to great music.
Have you always known that you wanted to pursue a career within the music industry?
Karen: In one sense, I really didn’t, although I always thought it would be amazing to do music as a career.. I was very shy growing up and didn’t have a lot of self-esteem.. I never really thought that being an artist as a career was a possibility for me and it never really crossed my mind to try.
For most of my life, music has been my passion.. my outlet and my own kind of escape. It wasn’t until the Covid lockdowns that I began to consider that I could share my music with the world. It really amazed me, when people began to connect with the music that I was sharing and that you could have someone on the complete other side of the world, living in a completely different culture, who resonates with what you’re putting out there.
How would you describe your current musical style?
Karen: My music has been a little mixed.. for the most part, it’s emotional, singer-songwriter style.. acoustically based music with a focus on the vocals.. however there have been a few tracks that have been more along the lines of indie pop style. I am very influenced by the sound of ethereal vocalists like Eva Cassidy and Sarah Mclachlan
How do you feel your music has evolved over your musical journey so far?
Karen: It’s interesting.. I haven’t been releasing music for very long.. My first track was out in May 2021, however, since that time I have been so honoured to have so many opportunities to explore writing and producing music with a number of different people, within many different genres and cultures. I feel that by exploring music with different people, your music automatically evolves because every single person you work with, teaches you something new and leaves an imprint on your future music. As well as this, I have learnt a lot more about the processes around recording and producing, which have made a huge difference to what I hear when developing a track. This has meant that I know a lot more about what I want to achieve when developing a song and helps me work better with anyone that I’m working with. As a result, I feel that my songs reflect the depth of the feelings and sentiments being reflected in the song, a lot more effectively than when I was developing my initial tracks.
You have just released the new single “Til The Ocean Meets The Shore”. How did the idea for this song come together?
Karen: ‘Til The Ocean Meets The Shore’ was written during the early lockdowns in Melbourne.. It was a time when I was spending a lot of time just with myself and going through a lot of reflection..
The song was written as a personal reflection for myself and was never really written with the intention of sharing publicly.. I feel like this makes it a lot more vulnerable.
The track is about realising how far you have come and noticing all the hurdles that you have already jumped over and then celebrating and declaring that you won’t stop moving forward, no matter what it takes.. It’s about not allowing our challenges to lead to us giving up.
I was writing this song, sitting on my couch in my loungeroom, with my guitar and it was almost like a meditation.. there was no structure or intention behind the writing.. the song just flowed out of me.
What does this song personally mean to you?
Karen: For me, this song is both a celebration of how far I have come in my own growth and also a declaration that I will keep on going.
I have a side of me that is very determined and I push through a lot of things to achieve what I look to achieve, however, I also have a side of me that tends to want to give up when things get tough and hide away.
This song is a reminder to keep going when things get tough.. you never know what’s around the corner.. and you won’t know if you stop.
If listeners could take something away from this song, what would you like it to be?
Karen: I have two messages.. Firstly, allow yourself to reflect and see what you’ve achieved.. to be proud of where you’re at.. recognise the journey.. Secondly, keep going.. you’ve got this 🙂
Later this year, this song will feature on your upcoming EP. What are some of the things that listeners can expect to hear on the EP itself?
Karen: ‘Til The Ocean Meets The Shore’ is the second single release from my 4-track debut EP, ‘I’ve Got A Secret’.. I am releasing one song each month until the full EP is available at the beginning of October (or you can skip the wait and purchase the digital or CD versions at karenharding.bandcamp.com)
All of these tracks were written during early lockdowns and reflect on different emotions that I was feeling during the time.. it’s a very personal collection of songs that I feel that so many people will be able to relate to.
The title track, ‘I’ve Got A Secret’ was released in early July and speaks about the highlight reels that we were all sharing on social media and the fears of sharing the vulnerabilities that lie behind these. The track is the intro of the EP and gives almost a Vikings kind of feel.
The next track to be released is ‘Drive Away’, which is an acoustic guitar-based track that addresses the desire to escape lockdowns.. or escapes a situation you’re in.. and just drive away.
The final track of the EP is the most emotional within the whole EP, ‘Letter To My Friend’.. during this time, I had a lot of people in my life that were going through challenges with health and with life.. this was a song that allowed me to process the longing to be more for them during tough times, while we were locked down.
What advice would you offer to someone who was looking to pursue a career within the music industry?
Karen: I would honestly say that now is the best time.. you have the opportunity to share your music independently and take power within your own music.. you don’t need to be signed to a big record label in order to get started.
The best advice I can give is just to give it a go.. share what you have and be authentically you.. you’ll be amazed at what can happen when you share a piece of yourself with the world.
Finally, is there a message that you would like to share with the readers of Fierce & Fabulous Revolution?
First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to read this article and for taking an interest in me and my music.. I really appreciate the support.
Finally, if you have a love and a passion in life, or a desire to try something.. give it a go.. life is short and you will never know if you don’t try.
You can check out “Til The Ocean Meets The Shore” on Spotify below or listen on further platforms here.
Karen Harding: Website / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube.
Fierce & Fabulous Revolution 