SPOTLIGHT: EMMA HARNER

Photo By Sydney Tate

Meet Emma Harner and tune into her debut EP “Taking My Side”

Taking My Side feels like a self-possessed title. What does that phrase mean to you personally, and how does it set the tone for the EP? 

Taking My Side is more about growth for me than self-possession. For much of my life, I’ve been overly concerned with other people’s happiness and with keeping the peace. This EP centers around songs that put me first and explore the ins and outs of feeling anxiety related to that experience.

This project is described as a coming-of-age story shaped by emotional upheaval and quiet strength. Was there a specific turning point in your life that inspired the EP as a whole? 

My move from Nebraska to Boston was the start of many of the experiences that became songs in this EP. Leaving the home I’ve known forever was obviously a big change, and it prompted me to think critically about all the relationships in my life. “Yes Man” especially is a song that digs into moving on from a friendship that, with some distance, I realized was not serving me. 

You’ve mentioned your writing explores the unraveling of relationships and shifting identities. Was there a song on this EP that was particularly difficult or therapeutic to write? 

Like I mentioned, “Yes Man” felt quite therapeutic to write for me. For a while after writing it, I was unsure I ever wanted to share it because it felt too mean. At the end of the song, there’s a line – “Tell me I saved your life / I know I didn’t”– that I became more comfortable sharing as time went on. With more distance from the situation, I realized that I was allowed to express my feelings any way I wanted. It was therapeutic to put the song into the world, as well. 

“False Alarm” and “Do It” set a strong foundation for this release. How do the three new tracks expand or deepen the story you're telling on Taking My Side? 

“False Alarm” and “Do It” are songs that set a sort of anxious foundation for the point that “Yes Man” and “Again” are trying to make about moving on, I think. The new songs expand the world of the EP by fortifying this sense of change and both anxiety and comfort with that change.

Your guitar work is incredibly intricate. How do you balance that level of technicality with maintaining emotional immediacy in your songs? 

My main musical obsession is melody. My goal is not to create complex guitar parts, but rather to create melodically sensible and moving guitar parts that work together with the melody to send the listener on an emotional adventure. I tend to get too technical with it sometimes and need to pull myself back! However, reigning in my technical intricacy can be a powerful tool to only keep what really matters to the song and is emotionally resonant.

Sonically, your music blends the intimacy of folk with math rock’s complexity. How did you arrive at that hybrid sound, and who helped shape it? 

My sonic obsessions usually fall into one of three categories which I believe form a hybrid that is my style. The first is math rock (my favorite band is Hikes), the second is intimate folk (think Gregory Alan Isakov), and the third is the soundscape-y intricacy of late Radiohead. I take the guitar complexities from math rock and some melodies from indie rock, my tone and love for sad music from a lot of the folk I listen to, and my love for melodies on top of melodies from Radiohead. 

You went viral on Instagram and TikTok for your playing and songwriting. How has your relationship to social media changed as your career has grown? 

Social media has definitely become more of a job for me than it was at the beginning… I mean, how could it not? However, I find that posting still hasn’t lost its charm for me. I love to post on a whim, especially when I write something new or make a cover. It’s so lovely to get people’s immediate feedback on whatever I’ve made. Obviously, the nice comments are quite encouraging. I try not to read everything, though, because that seems like a slippery slope! 

Touring with Orla Gartland across the U.S. and Europe must’ve been formative. What did you take away from those experiences that shaped this EP or your live performance style? 

Orla is such a great performer! I took many, many notes from her stage presence and her performances! Specifically, Orla really knows how to make sure everyone at her shows has a good time. A lot of my songs can be real downers, so taking notes on how she handled her “downer” songs was really helpful for me. 

The track “When You Mean It” premiered as a Zane Lowe World First. What was it like to have such a major platform introduce your debut single? 

It was crazy! I remember tuning in to Apple Music radio and, even though I knew it was about to happen, absolutely losing my mind. Zane was so complimentary about my song and even played it twice!! What a surreal moment.

As someone who writes from a deeply emotional place, how do you protect your own boundaries while still being honest and open in your music? 

I feel like I protect my boundaries in songs by keeping my lyrics more vague. I am always writing about things that are deeply personal to me and usually still quite relevant in my life, so it helps to keep everyone at arm’s length with words that convey the root emotion well but don’t necessarily reveal every detail about every situation I’m in. I love a good metaphor. 

What role has Boston’s music scene played in your development as an artist, especially coming from Lincoln, Nebraska? 

Boston’s music scene is quite competitive, especially around Berklee. So many artists and bands want the same thing and see each other sometimes as obstacles. In my experience, it’s best to find the people who don’t have that philosophy and stick by them. I’ve found a lovely circle of friends who lift each other up and work together in the best way, and that’s the key! Avoiding the toxicity is the best way for me to not get sucked into it. 

You’ve opened for artists like mxmtoon and Tiny Habits, who also blend intimacy with sharp songwriting. Have any of those tours shaped your creative vision? 

The opening spots I did for mxmtoon and Tiny Habits were so lovely and special but quite short! I did two shows with mxmtoon and just one with Tiny Habits. Meeting them was so lovely, and it was also really cool to notice differences between the artists and how they run things. Tour culture is something that I’m still really new to. 

What was your writing process like for this EP? Did it happen in one concentrated time or evolve slowly over years? 

This EP has been a long time coming. The oldest song, “Again,” was written three years ago at this point. I have a feeling that future projects for me will be a much quicker turnaround (or, at least, that’s my goal), but this EP certainly took a long time to come to fruition! 

The idea of “taking your side” implies not just confidence, but confrontation. Was it hard for you to stand in that space creatively and emotionally? 

I am quite a passive person, so for me, “taking my side” meant admitting certain things to myself and being able to recognize when someone is taking advantage of me and quietly exit. Still, despite the lack of loud confrontation from me, it’s still hard to stand in that space of putting myself first. It takes a lot of conscious thought and redirection of my own brain when I tend to go the more people-pleasing route. 

Now that Taking My Side is about to be out in the world, how do you hope people connect with it? What kind of listener did you have in mind while making it?

I hope people find songs they can relate to on the EP! My ideal listener is someone who has an open mind and is ready to let me take them on a sonic journey through this tumultuous time in my life. If songs from “Taking My Side” are on repeat for even one person, I’ve met my goal! 

Stream “Taking My Side” here.