Artist Interview: Harvey Causon

By Resonate | February 13, 2020

Words by Dylan Shortridge

Photos by Abbie Humphries

Whilst wading through the murky reality of the 21st century, Harvey Causon is waking up to many of the issues the world is currently facing. He wants to use his music as a voice for change, as well as offer an escape route from the horrors of the current climate.

Harvey Causon’s career is about to step into new territory. After establishing a name for himself in the Bristol music scene, with his ambient style of R&B served with a sprinkling of electronica, I caught up with him a few weeks before he headed out on tour with Lucy Lu and Loyle Carner. I found a man versed in physics and philosophy, absolutely determined to get hips moving.

“It’s this idea that’s really hard to get your head around, unless you speak in terms of mathematics and quantum physics – that I just wanted to express through my music,” Harvey says over a tea in a cosy Park St café. His idea to explore the immensely complicated world of quantum physics in music came after discovering Káryyn’s album, The Quanta Series. This inspired Harvey’s, as of yet, unreleased concept album that explores the chaotic nature of this theory. “I might release it in the next few weeks,” he explains before adding, “It’s kind of unfinished, but I think I like that.”

The nature of Quantum Theory, in layman’s term, states that at an atomic level, everything that happens is infinitely chaotic and random. Essentially, it’s the role of the observer that puts meaning to everything. This interest in physics has bled into many other releases. Take the track London Stock, in which he plays with the idea of entropy through the gaze of London falling apart.

Normally, Harvey would spend a year on such a piece of work. However, for this album, much was done in one take, with minor post-production tweaks. This was in order to, as he describes, play on the idea that “its complete chaos, and then we put meaning on it”.

If you haven’t gathered already, there is an intellectual edge to Harvey Causon that doesn’t just begin and end with his love of physics. The term eudemonia (the theory of doing and living well) might ring a bell if you’ve studied the works of Aristotle. As he explains, this early example of the recent human preoccupation with mindfulness has also found its way onto Harvey’s recent release, Artifice. He explains: “I think the song is about relationships with people, and about the happiness of not thinking about the past and enjoying the journey – however, as the song progresses it becomes about different states and not being able to move on from those past relationships.” As a contrast to the world of physics that inform the record, tracks like this also give Harvey’s work that necessary, and accessible, human edge.

With reference to the lofty concepts that have informed the lyrical content of his music, Harvey is aware of the pitfalls that come with covering such territory. “People want to hear easy lyrics for easy listening, and potentially, I over complicate things a bit,” he confesses.

Harvey’s music has a less complex edge that keeps it rooted in the dance. On a first listen there is a slick, easy listening vibe that feels far removed from a rave. However, anyone that’s been lucky enough to see him live will know the dancier, heavier elements of his sounds emerge in full force. “I just want to make people’s arses wiggle!” he chuckles when discussing the live transition of his music. Having completed a December European tour with his good friends Lucy Lu and Gabriel Gifford, in support of Loyle Carner, we can only presume arses will have been wiggling all across Europe.

Harvey’s first meeting with emerging R&B star Lucy Lu came earlier in his career when they both supported Puma Blue. But, it’s his friendship and collaboration with Gabriel that has become a key part of his work, having co-wrote the 2018 EP, Murphy’s Hand. As the artists are also flatmates, their partnership has transcended beyond music, resulting in an interesting, creative dynamic. “It’s a good working relationship,” he says about his fellow artist, having cultivated a huge amount of respect for their musical creations both together and individually. The duo have different skillsets and strengths that intertwine and mesh into the music they make. Harvey explains: “We don’t sit down together and write a song every week, but maybe we should. He’s a really talented guy and handles areas that I don’t do so well, like producing and mixing.”

As well as collaborations, Harvey has been using his music to help make a difference in the environmental sphere. The current global climate emergency has seen many musicians begin to think about sustainability, with specific regard to touring. “I always push for trains and buses over flights and I’m conscious of environmental issues, but I’d really love to be able to use my music to help this cause more,” he tells me. He is passionate about this and is currently writing the music for a documentary, funded by the United Nations. The documentary is based around a set of Pacific islands near Australia that are being directly affected by climate emergency, resulting in rising sea levels.

“The footage is heartbreaking, but hopefully the ever-growing awareness of this crisis will force real change,” he tells me. “It would be an honour if I could do a good job of helping people via this project.” The documentary will be shown at the UN in front of many of the world’s policymakers. 

With other projects in mind, it would seem impossible for Harvey to have time for his own music. Still, 2020 has not been a dry year for his fans, as he excitedly tells me, “I’m itching to get my stuff done. It’s quite all-consuming in producing, writing the lyrics and then bringing that all together though it’s a powerful position to be in.” Being a self-proclaimed perfectionist, and an artist that handles their entire creative process single-handedly, it’s easy to see how one could end up banging their head against the wall and going round in circles in that search for perfection.  It’s this attention to detail that makes Harvey stand out from the crowd.

Both Harvey’s Causon’s intellect and creativity are blossoming at brilliant levels, despite still being in the infancy of his musical career. These are very exciting times in the life of the Bristol artist. Not only is he forging a distinct, strong musical direction, but he is also working hard to help others. He is an artist to keep a very rigid eye on.

Want to hear more from Bristol artists? Check out this interview, from Ngaio.