Track By Track: Harris Breaks Down His New EP 'Defiantly, Maybe'

Eleven years after his teenage band The McQueens were triple j Unearthed High finalists, Melbourne/Naarm singer-songwriter Harris has released his second solo EP, Defiantly, Maybe. The five-song collection includes the recent singles ‘Oat Milk’ and ‘My Girl’s Wicked Smart’.

Harris recorded Defiantly, Maybe with producer Sam Swain, known for his work with Melbourne bands Rat!Hammock and Obscura Hail. The new EP follows Harris’ debut release, OK kombucha, which came out in July 2021. Here, Harris draws back the curtain on the making of Defiantly, Maybe.

Harris: Defiantly, Maybe

1. The First Rule of Breakfast Club

This song is about having a fight with your partner, and that is then explored through the foggy lens of pop culture. It’s also about when the world feels a bit too much and you are fluctuating between feeling completely overstimulated and overwhelmed, and then defeated and low.

We wanted this song to sound like a blend between sample-based music and grand anthemic indie rock. Sort of like The Verve meets the Gorillaz.

2. Oat Milk

This song is about that period in a relationship when you’re still feeling each other out and learning things about each other. The excitement, the intensity, the fear, the anxiety and then eventually the comfortability.

The drums, bass and acoustic guitar were all recorded live. Capturing Vince [McIntyre], Dom [Buckham] and I in a room is the essence of this song. Of course, we then tracked a million things over the top of it. But I think the bedrock of the live band is why it feels so bouncy and jaunty without loosing its intimacy.

3. Same Panic, Different Disco

This is my “lockdowns were really dull and sad at times” song. There’s definitely a general wistfulness to it. Lots of 80s/90s UK references packed in the lyrics: The Smiths, Trainspotting and Radiohead.

I like to think that this song sits in a middle zone between Britpop and country. Big Thief was a big reference for this song. Then the outro is our big Nirvana noise moment. Well, that’s what we were going for.

4. My Girl’s Wicked Smart

This song is about being so infatuated with someone that you start feeling a little erratic and irrational. The paranoia creeps in and you start letting those pesky intrusive thoughts linger for a little too long.

It’s the first – and maybe last – Harris song to have a guitar solo. It’s definitely the big rock song on the record. The song title is a reference to that famous bar scene in Good Will Hunting. The movie heavily features the music of Elliott Smith, who is one of my biggest musical influences.

5. Chlorine and Indie Rock & Roll

This song is about how exhausting it is to be in the music industry sometimes. It’s about those days where you’re just tired of the hustle and you’re like, “Fuck this, is it even worth it?” I feel like everyone must have those thoughts about what they do. I wrote this song while reading Helen Garner’s Monkey Grip, so it’s definitely a nod to that too. Go Helen.

I made the demo for the song while I was sick with Covid over NYE on my laptop with a Teenage Engineering OP1, which is a tiny little synthesiser that is dear to my heart. The original demo for this song was very sad boy with melancholy synths in a bedroom sort of vibe. Then the first proper mix we got back was very rock’n’roll. But I feel like the final mix meets in the middle.