“When I look back on those times, that was when I had the purest love for music.”
There is something beautiful about looking back at the things we once loved without expectations, without thinking about where they might take us. I think we all know that feeling of simply doing something for the sake of doing it. For Harrison First, those memories go back to his younger years in America, when his world revolved around marching bands, orchestras, practicing drums, and making his first beats on FL Studio. A time when music was only about the joy of creating, long before it became a career. And maybe a little of that feeling is worth holding on to, no matter where life takes us.
Born and raised in America to Nigerian parents and now based in Stockholm, the DJ, producer, and artist carries different cultures and influences into his sound. Moving between house, African-inspired rhythms, soulful vocals, and experimental electronic textures, his music brings something refreshingly different to the table. His journey has taken him across international stages, including touring with Saint JHN, while his previous projects WAAR and WAV. explored grief, heartbreak, and the possibility of dancing through pain.
Now, with his forthcoming project EUREKA, Harrison enters another chapter, one that seems less about finding answers and more about accepting where life has brought him. Its first glimpse, getting closer, already gives us more than a hint of the world he is creating. A wonderfully melodic, deep and intimate track, carried by vocals that add an unexpected twist, allowing different musical worlds to gently melt into one another. It feels just as fitting for a late-night drive through empty streets, or those hours when you simply want to get lost in your own thoughts.
In our conversation, Harrison opens up about finding his own voice, the emotions behind his music, the stories we tell through clothes, and why sometimes the most meaningful discoveries begin with learning to accept life exactly as it is.
Photography by Olivia Huerta
You grew up in America with Nigerian roots, spent several years in New York and now call Stockholm home. How have these different cultures and places shaped the person you are today, both in life and in music?
So I was born and raised in America to Nigerian parents. At home and at my church it was like I was in Lagos, Nigeria, and then outside and in school it was America (laughs). Once I graduated I moved to New York and then 4 years later I moved to Stockholm, Sweden. All of these places I lived, I pull from those cultural upbringings and put it in the production of my music. The way I talk and say words, and the way I design my production is all inspired by my upbringing.
Before Harrison First became an artist project, what were you like creatively growing up? What were the first things you were obsessed with, whether that was music, clothes, films, art or something completely unrelated?
Before the artist project came up, I was a band geek. My life was marching band, indoor drumline, concert band, orchestra. I was dedicated to practicing on my drum and making beats on FL Studio. When I look back on those times, that was when I had the purest love for music.
Your music often sits between two spaces; something deeply emotional and introspective, but also something designed to make people move. Why do you think you’re drawn to expressing difficult or intimate emotions through your music?
I don’t usually have people to talk to about my feelings and express them in a constructive way, so it naturally comes out in music.
WAAR came from grief and heartbreak, while WAV. explored the idea of dancing through pain. As you move into your upcoming EUREKA EP, what were you feeling or searching for that you hadn’t been able to express through those previous projects?
EUREKA is supposed to be the realization of self. It’s me leaning more into the feelings I feel and saying that this is me and my life now and I am accepting what that is.
“Life is not about getting back what you lost but accepting the place that you are at.”
There’s something quite significant about the word EUREKA; that sudden feeling of discovery or finally finding something. What did you discover, either about yourself or your creativity, that made it the right name for this chapter?
Honestly, I am still discovering, but in this moment I am discovering that life is not about getting back what you lost but accepting the place that you are at.
‘getting closer’ is our first entrance into that world. Take us inside the visual world you’ve created for this single. What were some of the first images, films, photographs, people or references you had in mind when developing the track as well as the music video?
When I made “getting closer” I wanted to focus on the poetry of the lyrics which is why the production is semi stripped back and the visual world is intimate. I made a one take video of me in my hotel in Milan shot on a 2010 camcorder. The reason why I produced the song, wrote it, performed it and shot the video alone is because I needed the full emotion of the track to come from me and be simple. I wanted it to feel like me talking and the listener to know that this came from me.
When you’re producing, do you usually begin with an emotion you want to capture or does the meaning reveal itself once the music starts taking shape?
That’s exactly what I do, I start with capturing an emotion and then that dictates the production.
Do you have a moodboard for EUREKA? If we opened it right now, what are some of the strangest or most unexpected things we’d find saved there?
I didn’t create a moodboard but what I usually do is write down my emotions over time in my notes and write down titles of songs that are not created yet. For instance, I had the title of the EP before I had the songs. That helps me add or take away songs when I feel like it’s not aligned.
“When I look back on those times, that was when I had the purest love for music.”
Fashion seems to be another language you use to communicate who you are. What can you express through clothes that you can’t necessarily express through music?
Clothes are nice because it helps cover up things that people might be curious about. It helps tell a story or narrative about a person without them talking. For example, if you see me well put together, smelling nice and everything in place, one may assume, I have everything together. I like that, I like being able to tell stories with clothes.
If you could hand the entire visual world of one EUREKA track to any photographer, fashion designer or filmmaker, living or dead, who would you trust with it?
I would give it to Ruben Östlund or Childish Gambino.
You’ve toured with Saint JHN across the US and are now taking your own music through places like Tokyo. Was there anything you learned from watching another artist operate at that level that changed the way you think about your own career?
In music, I learned a lot from watching Saint JHN. It’s not like he sits me down and gives me instructions but just watching a person can tell you a lot. He helped inspire my music and making vulnerability in music seem very masculine.
What’s something you’re obsessed with creatively right now that has absolutely nothing to do with music?
I’m obsessed with interior design and architecture. These things really make me feel something inside that I can’t describe.
Oh, that’s fascinating! Thank you for the lovely conversation, Harrison!
