42 - Harry the Hat

Giannis Kampiotis
January 13, 2023

Hello music people 👋

Today in the spotlight, Harry the Hat

Coming from the United States, he's been making music for 15 years now. He's doing so in a budget setup but listen to his groovy tracks and you will certainly not feel that.

A lot of inspiration to take from this issue 🎶

Read Time: 9 minutes 📰

Studio

Gear List

Teenage Engineering - PO-33 KO (x2)
Korg - Volca Bass
Korg - Monotron Delay
Logic Pro X
AKAI - MPK Mini MK2 Midi Controller
Yamaha - PSR-6
Focusrite Scarlett - Solo 1st gen DI box
Epiphone - SG
Cheap nylon acoustic guitar

This issue is brought to you by

Our own G.A.S. Newsletter Instagram Profile

Follow to see in-studio videos from the featured artists 🎛️🎚️

Interview

Who are you and what is your relationship with music?

My name is Zack Williams. I’m a 27 year old musician based in Bristol PA and I produce music under the name Harry the hat.

Currently my primary source of income is cooking in a local pub and the few kind donations I receive on my Bandcamp releases. It would be great to perhaps one day earn some money with what is now only a passionate hobby.

I began making music 15 years ago in middle school by learning the guitar and playing in local bands with some talented friends and went on to perform with many small acts gaining experience on a variety of instruments along the way. Later I acquired GarageBand and Logic Pro and taught myself to record and produce music with software.

I now mostly produce a variety of groovy electronic music on a small hardware setup and share my synthy jams and love of music with the awesome community on Instagram!

Which piece of equipment in your studio is essential to your production process?

Probably my Teenage Engineering PO-33 KO.

I love the sound and workflow of sampling/sequencing on it and use to it as the foundation of most of my tunes lately.

What is the most budget-friendly piece of studio gear that gave you the most results?

Most of my gear is pretty cheap but I’ve recently bought a Korg Volca bass and have been using it in almost all of my jams since. I Love the classic 303-esque sound/filter and the ease of sequencing bass lines. Fits perfectly with my current style of production.

My Monotron delay is certainly the cheapest piece I use though.

Walk us through your process for creating and producing music.

Ill typically start with one element that inspires me in that moment. A particular synth sound might inspire a few chords that I’ll sample into the po33ko and build upon, or I’ll hear a bass line in my head and recreate it in the Volca Bass later.

On other occasions I’ll program a dance beat into the po33 using some samples of classic drum machines and listen to it on loop for a day or 2 until I come up some chords or a melody.

Lately I’ve been using one PO33 KO as a drum machine, another to trigger samples of synth chords or to perform synth leads using sampled sounds, and my Volca bass to create and perform basslines, all through a korg monotron delay to add effects and further color the sound.

I will usually sit down at my gear with the intention of just having some fun once or twice a day and not force it if I’m not feeling particularly inspired. Dance music like deep house has been the most inspiring to me lately because of how straightforward and expressive it can be to create.

How would you describe your personal style as an artist?

Lately I’ve been into lots of retro house stuff.

I try to limit myself to the elements that would have been used to make the stuff I like, so when I’m sampling I’ll limit myself to drum sounds of the era like the tr-808 and 909 or Lm-2. For synths I’ll typically use classic FM stuff like DX7 sounds for pads/ pianos or very analogue sounding synths from the poly/retro soft synths in Logic Pro. I also decided to buy a Volca Bass as a cheap method of getting a 303-esque bass sound in my music to further lend to the classic 80s style sound.

I would say the biggest defining trait of my sound currently aside from the stuff I sample is the sampler itself, using the PO-33 KO to sample and sequence these elements into tracks I get a LO-FI 16 bit sound that further lends to the thick warm old school sound I attempt to emulate on a budget.

What’s your biggest struggle?

My biggest struggle would probably be the same as many others, music gear is expensive and producing music is a time consuming craft that few are privileged enough to consider a legit source of income.

Regardless the joys of making music are priceless, and I’ve been blessed with many talented friends to learn from and many hours free to make the best of whatever equipment I had at my disposal. There are also seems to be many cheap but incredibly useful and quality sounding pieces of hardware becoming available lately, which is amazing for guys like me who are working on a budget.

Has building a hardware setup changed your perspective on music or life in general?

Definitely.

There was a time when I composed everything on a guitar with a pencil and paper, and after spent years of producing in DAWs which are amazing but can lead you to fixate on the visual feedback and listen a bit less I think, or get lost in the plethora of plugins and other options available.

Producing on hardware is something still a bit new and fascinating to me but as I’m getting more gear I'm beginning to learn that I love the process of exploring each machine and their individual sounds and quirks. Working with the limitations they introduce really inspires creativity and I look forward to hopefully getting more and finding cool ways to use them and work them into my arrangements.

What’s your ONE tip on music-production or creativity?

Allow yourself to be moved and take the time to try and better understand what about that art moves you and why.

Create what you love to hear and what you have fun creating, and strive to understand yourself and what you love with depth.

A book, movie, article, or album that has inspired you?

Not too into the new stuff but I was a massive Star Wars nerd growing up. The original trilogy and prequels had a huge impact on me and my little brother.

Anything else you'd like to say?

I would just also say to those starting out, don’t let a lack of expensive stuff slow you down. If you truly want to make music you can do so much with so little if you have the desire to create and love what your doing!