Harry Edwards

Harry Edwards won Future Radio’s Next Big Thing 2014 with his jaw dropping electronic hip hop tunes. He’s had a busy year since then, working with big-name producer Paul Epworth who has written and produced songs for Florence and the Machine, Plan B, and Adele. Harry’s given in his notice at Tesco’s in Ayslham and is headed to the Big Smoke.I caught up with him to find out what the flip it’s like to land your dream job.

Tell me about how it felt to be a part of the Next Big Thing last year.

I didn't actually think I was going to even get shortlisted for it at all; in fact I think I entered under the impression it wouldn’t happen. When it did, it hit me that I had no live stuff put together at all; it kicked me in the arse to start thinking about that, as up to that point, I'd just been creating it all in my room, without any knowledge of how I would recreate it in a live setting.

Would you say that entering and winning the Next Big Thing competition last year has helped you get a foot on the ladder in your musical career?

I think it really helped indirectly, more so than I thought it would.
It was a huge learning curve for me in what it takes to pull off a decent live show. It also triggered Adam Hill (from Norwich’s Alphabet Bands) to send some of my stuff to other bloggers he knew and that really started the ball rolling on blogs beginning to write about me and pick up on my songs. That in turn got management and record companies to start getting in touch
, which was incredibly overwhelming. So although it didn’t directly impact my career, it had a very big indirect impact, and really started all of the communication I began to have with people, including Paul Epworth.  

Did you actually intend on going into music as a career?

Yeah I'd been wanting to get into music since I was very young, but I never would have dreamed that entering it at this level and in this capacity would have been possible at all.

What have you been up to since you won Next Big Thing?

I’ve been offered various contracts from various record labels, including Paul’s. I've been down and helped out in a few sessions he's had at his Church Studio and I'm moving down to London in a week because he’s offered me a job as a producer, and it's very likely at this stage I'll be signing to their label.

 Did I see you met ACTUAL BECK?

Yeah! One of the sessions recently was with him. It went very well. He got my details from his management because he wants me to work on a song personally for him. At the moment it's pretty surreal!

 Have you taught yourself how to produce from making your own music at home?

Yeah, apart from a couple of drum lessons when I was about eight or nine I've learnt most of it by teaching myself.

Have you got a record coming out?