I recently discovered Samantha Harvey after a Facebook friend had “liked” one of her videos covering a popular pop song. I was immediately impressed and seven or so videos later, all I could think is “I have to talk with this girl! She is amazing!”
The singer, from Hitcham, Suffolk, England is quickly becoming the next big thing in music. With nearly 1 million Facebook fans, she is looking to take her career to the next level! Check out my exclusive interview with her!
When did you first discover your love for singing?
I discovered my love for singing when I was eight years old. I started performing with a local amateur dramatics company where I found something that I really loved and enjoyed, which was singing, acting and dancing. When I was 11 I was given the lead role to play Alice in “Alice in Wonderland” and absolutely loved it and went onto performing with a semi-professional dramatics company, then onto studying and graduating in Performing Arts in college.
Who are some artists that you looked up to growing up? Is there anyone you would love to duet with or work with in the future?
The artists that I looked up to whilst growing up were Adele and Ed Sheehan. They are both so down to earth as artists that have worked very hard to get to where they are and it seems like they really appreciate their success. I would love to write songs with Ed and I think if I did that my life would be complete! And actually I think Adele would be a great laugh to go on a night out with!!
You have covered so many great hits, is there a favorite song or artist you love covering the most? How do you decide what songs to cover — taking into account fan requests of course?
I love singing emotional ballads that people request through private messages. They tell me their reasons for why the song means so much to them and I do them based on their memories with the song. Somehow through my music people find an emotional release and I find that really heart warming that I can help people with difficulties they are going through in life just by me singing my take on someone else’s song. That’s why I can’t wait to release my original material and hopefully people can relate to mine in the same way.
We hear you are working on some original material, what can we expect? What is your style of music going to be like?
I have been writing with several producers and really good songwriters across the UK and also in Berlin, Germany. It feels like every producer and writer I meet has a different flavour or twist and that all goes into my music. As for style, well I will let that be a surprise! Let’s just say, I really enjoyed writing these songs and I hope that people can hear that when they listen.
What is your process for creating your own music?
The process of creating my own music varies with different producers. Sometimes I go into the studio and the producers have already created a backing track with me in mind, to which we then sit and talk about ideas of what is going on in my life at that moment or things that have happened in the past that we could write lyrics & a melody on. Other times I can start completely fresh writing about situations I have been in and past relationships, we write certain sentences down that I have said or another writer has said and turn that into a song, that is my favourite way of writing and it is very personal that way. When you listen to a song and it makes you want to cry that’s when you know it is personal, but I always make sure that other people can relate to the situation too.
Your Facebook page is about to hit 1 million fans! What is that accomplishment like for you?
It is absolutely insane that my page is about to hit 1 Million fans! I used to sing at parties and events where people would say ‘you should record yourself singing and put it online’ so one day I did whilst sitting on my bathroom floor. Not once did I ever think that it would be resulting in the opportunities that are now arising and that I would be sitting here watching my page hit the 1 million mark. It’s very surreal but the best feeling knowing that I have done it by doing something that I love and hopefully people listening love it too.
Creating music from your bedroom has become a staple for you, as your fame continues to grow, will you continue this?
I like to think that I will always do the odd cover here and there as my success continues to grow. I see it as people have liked me and continued to watch me through doing bedroom covers that are relaxed and heart felt, so it wouldn’t feel right to take that away from the people that have been there supporting me from the start. But also I am excited about all the new original music I am doing. It feels like a natural progression. When I hit 1 Million fans on Facebook I will be doing a live stream where I can interact with my fan base and sing to them live, so that should be exciting. I’m looking forward to that!
You are very active on social media, responding to your fans, what do your fans mean to you? How do you keep up with all the comments?
I have always been very active on social media and I have found it so interesting that my followers have grown naturally from me interacting with my fanbase. I used to spend a few days responding to every single message that I received to personally thank them but now I receive a crazy amount of emails a day, sometimes into the hundreds. I would literally have to take a month out of my schedule to reply to everyone. Any spare second I have whilst I’m on a train or laying in bed once I finish my work for the day I try to reply to as many as I can. At the moment I love Snapchat, that is where I can really get to speak to people 1 on 1 very quickly and people can keep up with where I am and what I’m doing every day by watching my snapchat – SamHarveyUK. My fans mean the world to me, because without them I would never have had the confidence to continually post videos online. I never post videos with the thought in mind that I will grow my fanbase and gain success I have always thought of the audience and that my music somehow helps them in their every day lives with their experiences or stressful days so I do it for them to say thank you in return for them sharing my covers.
When you are not recording music, what do you like to do in your spare time? What are some things that people would be surprised to learn about you?
That I actually work as a cleaner! It’s true! I don’t mind it, it keeps me grounded and makes me value every penny I earn. I’ve done it for a couple of years now. I know there is no easy way in music and it’s always good to have something you can fall back on, even if it’s cleaning! Be proud of who you are and what you do, whatever that is, is what I say. I also love spending time with my family, especially my niece and nephew who are 4 & 2 years old respectively. They make me so happy. I also love going on countryside walks. I live in the country and don’t get out in my village as much as I should do but there is a gorgeous lake fifteen minutes walk away from my house and I often go there when I need to clear my head and it makes me think what a beautiful world we really live in.
What do you have coming down the pipeline in the next year and/or what do you hope to accomplish over the next year?
Because the fans and followers have grown so fast in the last few months it’s hard to keep up sometimes. I have had so many offers to do television formats but I want to do it my way, through hard work and not a quick fire maybe, maybe not approach. I’m lucky I have a great team around me and we have a chance to explore all options. I definitely want to start releasing my own music and soon and I really can’t wait to start touring. I have done some smaller public shows but it is important for me to meet and personally thank those that constantly support me. My dream is to hear people singing my lyrics back to me at a big show somewhere, that will be the moment when I say yes, I have reached my destination. To travel the world with my own music is definitely one of my biggest goals. I’d love to get to thirty and look back on my life knowing I’d worked so hard to get to where I wanted to be.
I want to thank Samantha for chatting with me! I am so excited to see where your career takes off to in the next year! You are truly talented! Make sure to “like” her Facebook page here and follow her on the other social media platforms below:
Snapchat: SamHarveyUK
instagram.com/SamanthaHarveyMusic
twitter.com/SamanthaHMusic
