A Chat with Harry Fazakerley (12.06.26)
This interview was contributed by Jay Lowe (guest contributor)
Harry Fazakerley is a 17-year-old Scouse singer-songwriter. He has five impressive singles under his belt and is supporting Jamie Webster at his hometown show on 5th July.
You’ve so far released five singles. What strikes me is the high quality of all of them. Which one is your personal favourite?
Fazakerley: I love all of them to be fair. Every single song for me has got its own individuality. Fingers crossed in the next few months I’ll be releasing an EP with two new songs, as well as ‘When You Cry’ and ‘Anchored’. My favourite one to perform live is ‘When You Cry’; I did that at O2 Academy Liverpool when it hadn’t been released yet, but it still managed to get the crowd up for it.
‘When You Cry’ is my own personal favourite of yours. It’s a bit of an epic! Is that you on the electric guitar? It sounds like my idol, Brian May!
Fazakerley: I wish it was me. That’s my lead guitarist Charlie (Beaver), but we all call him Googy. Sometimes when we’re performing with the full band, I just catch myself staring at Googy’s playing. I’m just watching him play the guitar, and I’m like, wow. I think I am so lucky that he wants to play with me and on my songs. His guitar solos are one of the first things that people pick out. Charlie and my drummer Flynn (O’ Neill) and bassist Dan (Kelly) have a lot of creative involvement. I show them the songs and their opinions matter to me most, as they’re the ones playing them. You can’t go out and try and earn a living from this by yourself.
Even your debut single ‘Patience’ was impressive. How did that one come about?
Fazakerley: That was actually the first tune I ever wrote. The way that came about, I was sat on my couch playing the guitar, and I jumped in the shower, and I got the little melody in my head. The words then came to me just like that. My new track has quite a few similarities to ‘Patience’ with its fastness. Proper indie. With ‘Patience’ getting 15k streams, I feel like that solidified the next few songs to have a bit more credit to them. I think it made things easier and gave me confidence.
What’s your own approach to songwriting? Some of your lyrics seem to be about heartbreak and relationship regrets?
Fazakerley: (Laughs) I don’t have any of them! To be fair, with all my songs, people always ask what they’re about. Sometimes I’ll just be blunt and tell them the backstory and inspiration, right down to the bare root and bones of it. But sometimes I like people to have their own interpretation of the songs. Specifically with ‘When You Cry’, that one was written about my friend, who at the time was going through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster within his relationship. He was confiding in me and my other mate saying, “I don’t know what to do, I don’t think she’s giving me the respect I deserve”. So I was sat there on the couch with my guitar just thinking, and I had the chord progression for months before. I say to my mates: “Don’t be mates with me, cos I’ll write a tune about ya”! But there are some aspects of my own personal experiences, and I’d like to venture more into that in the future. If I get people coming up to me and saying they were really moved, it feels like you’re connecting on a personal level alongside the music.
How excited are you to be supporting Jamie Webster at one of his Liverpool shows this summer?
Fazakerley: Yeah, oh my God! Throughout this entire journey I have been compared so closely to him. At first I didn’t really see the resemblance, but we’re both Scouse, we both sing Liverpool tunes, and we both wear 110’s! I used to cover Jamie’s song ‘Weekend In Paradise’ and butcher it something ruthless. I think he’s personally kicked the door down to all of these fantastic musicians to come through. Recently he’s been the first one from the Scouse scene to do albums, play M&S Bank Arena and play Glastonbury. Now there are so many bands who have supported Jamie and are equally just as big.
You are supporting John Denton at his own EP launch in a few weeks. How did you get to know him? I met him personally at a Tommy Scott show and have interviewed him!
Fazakerley: He’s a boss lad, isn’t he! He’s a mad United fan. His tunes are boss, and I’m looking forward to that gig you know.
Isn’t your brother George a musician? Are any of your other family members musical?
Fazakerley: No, but he might as well be! He sings, dances and acts. He wants to go to theatre college in London. When I started out, I didn’t feel very comfortable singing. George has always been the singer in the family. He essentially helped me out at the start and showed me the ropes with the singing. My nan plays the ukulele, so she was the musical inspiration. My dad’s an electrician full-time, and my mum does a lot of youth work. Within my family, I’m the only one who plays the guitar.
You were recently invited to the Liverpool FC kit launch and will be heading to Norway for the Liverpool Festival in July. How proud are you that you’re involved with the club?
Fazakerley: I am very proud of the fact of how close I am with the club. But it has got its drawbacks obviously, because a few Everton fans might not like it. We try to keep everyone happy!
Is the plan to remain an independent artist?
Fazakerley: Fully independent for now. At the moment it’s just me, releasing and paying for my own recording and rehearsal sessions. You pick all this up and talk to people and learn who to get in contact with. But it’s a tough nut to crack. I’ve just left college so I’m going to give it a good shot at singing and playing the guitar and see how far it takes me. If a big record label came in, I wouldn’t be clued up about what they could offer me. And my biggest worry would be to fall into a trap of somebody owning my own songs. But fingers crossed someone comes in one day with a decent offer! The biggest thing a label can offer is exposure and a budget. I sing some Liverpool and Oasis songs at the weekend, and that’s my bread and butter. But that doesn’t go as far as what the labels can give you.
Who are some of your favourite artists?
Fazakerley: It’s always been predominantly Scouse bands, such as The Kowloons, Keyside, The Cheap Thrills and The Sway. They’re people who you surround yourself with in the types of places you go to with the music. But as a bigger inspiration, it’s Jamie Webster. The Cheap Thrills are Walton Vale lads themselves and so supportive.
Learn more about Harry Fazakerley on Instagram, Spotify and TikTok.
