Q&A Scene: John Harvey ~ Mal de Mer

December 21, 2021 Mary Boukouvalas

Tell us about your new single ‘Do You See Me?’?

I wasn’t a part of the writing for this song as I was away, however the lyrics speak to me so much and anyone else that has gone through a bad breakup and realised that they were much better off on their own.

What’s your favourite work at this point in time?

Do You See Me? is definitely my favourite work right now. I generally start disliking the stuff I write after a while because my taste in sound is always evolving, however, having nothing to do with this one means I get to enjoy it forever!

How would you describe your sound in food form and why?

Our sound is a big mixing pot of influences very much like a stew of sorts. James and Bella are the base of the stew; the broth. Saskia is the meat and veggies; the main flavour. Julia and Ashton are the salt and pepper, the yin and yang. Then there is me John , I’m the bread I just soak it all in.

Tell us a quick, on the road or studio, anecdote.

This one time me and former band mate Reggie Dale got pulled over by the cops coming back from Geraldton. After a long night of drinking and partying having supported DZ Deathrays (really cool people) we had to drive back to Perth (and quickly) because Reggie had work. Knowing this I may have been a bit la di da with the speed limit, halfway back to Perth I saw the blue and red lights in my rear view mirror. The cop asked me if I knew how fast I was going I said yes, he then proceeded to tell us how he caught some other people running meth after they were caught speeding. I told him there was none of that in my car, and he let me go with a fine!

What, or who, inspires you?

Saskia (lead singer) inspires me; she has a great work ethic! Very cool as well.

Which song do you wish you wrote?

I wish I wrote Blue Coupe by the Twin Peaks

What’s next for you?

January is going to be busy with recording a new EP, after that we have a show at the Beerfarm brewery with Caravana sun on the 29th of Jan. Also a big tick off the bucket list we’re supporting The Murlocs at the Railway hotel on the 4th of February, exciting times ahead!

What’s your scene?

Our scene I would say is hard to say, we branch out everywhere genre wise. We are like a social floater dipping our toes into the surf grunge scene, the R&B scene and many more. But our home I would say is the funk.

About Mary Boukouvalas 1539 Articles

Mary is a photographer and a writer, specialising in music. She runs Rocklust.com where she endeavours to capture the passion of music in her photos whether it's live music photography, promotional band photos or portraits. She has photographed The Rolling Stones, KISS, Iggy Pop, AC/DC, Patti Smith, Joe Strummer, PULP, The Cult, The Damned, The Cure, Ian Brown, Interpol, MUDHONEY, The MELVINS, The Living End, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Rage Against The Machine, The Stone Roses –just to name a few - in Australia, USA, Europe and the Middle East. Her work has been published in Beat magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, Triple J magazine, The Age Newspaper, The Herald Sun, The Australian, Neos Kosmos, blistering.com, theaureview.com, noise11.com, music-news.com. She has a permanent photographic exhibition at The Corner Hotel in Richmond, Victoria Australia.