Course Studied: BA (Hons) Music (Production)
Year of Graduation: 2016
Top Career Highlights:
- Securing global sub-publishing for my own production-music label, Amity Music Library and seeing such a huge project from conception launch and become a reality.
- Being nominated for ‘Best Original Score’ at the National Youth Film Awards 2022 for the bespoke soundtrack for One Drop – Short Film (2022)
- Having tracks I’ve composed underscore the Amazon Prime Leeds United documentaries ‘Take Us Home’, as they build up to the announcement of much-adored manager Marcelo Bielsa
Following almost ten years working across all stages of production for industry-leading production-music catalogues, Harrison founded his own venture, AMITY, in 2022; solidifying his role of Creative Director / Executive Producer. Predominantly a diverse, artistically crafted production-music label, Amity Music Library is home to a wide range of genres and moods, meticulously produced for use across a multitude of media content including film, television and advertising.
As a well-rounded composer and producer, Harrison already boasts a wealth of tracks featured in countless programmes worldwide, including Love Island USA (ITV), The One Show (BBC), Sky Sports Premiership Football (SKY), Take Us Home: Leeds United (AMAZON PRIME) and The Repair Shop (BBC) to name a few. He has also been credited with several recording engineer, producer and co-writer roles for commercial artist releases, as well as composing bespoke soundtracks and sound design for international ad campaigns and short films; including Best Original Score nominated, ‘One Drop - Short Film (2022)’.
Can you tell us more about this new venture you’ve founded?
AMITY provides sound-worlds for any media content requiring a soundtrack, whether it be from the production-music catalogue, Amity Music Library, or bespoke composition. In its infancy, AMITY is predominantly focused on the development of Amity Music Library, which is now globally available via BAM Music. The artistic vision for AMITY is to create a subconscious and organic understanding between composers/artists and editors. Prioritising a passion for emotion and a meticulousness for detail in the production of music creates a catalogue that editors and directors can rely on; knowing that every moment of music can provide a particular piece of magic for their film, advert or episode. Amity Music Library provides a perfect link between the hidden gems of noteworthy composers/up-coming artists, and music supervisors looking for the next best soundtrack.
What are your main responsibilities when working as a creative director for AMITY?
Drawing on my past experiences across various areas of library-music production, which include writing briefs, critical listening, additional production, many post-production tasks as well as the creative side (composing/producing), my new role as Creative Director is a complete amalgamation of everything. My overarching role is to conceptualise and manage the running of the ongoing music catalogue, working with a number of incredibly talented and passionate composers, producers and artists across all stages of the production process, from album conception to release. I am now in a fortunate, and slightly nerve-wracking position that the role and responsibilities are whatever I make them! With that said, I have a constant drive to ensure AMITY’s music is of fantastic, industry-leading quality and to ensure the label brings success and opportunity, on a global scale, to anyone who is/will be involved.
How did your experiences on the Music Production degree prepare you for this venture?
With the ability and opportunity to work with so many people across a huge range of skills, passions and genres, you’re able to form connections with individuals that become important later down the line. I never realised how much this would have a huge effect on my career so far. Towards the beginning, the fact I was working with a number of artists and bands meant that my name was at the forefront of people’s minds when recommending someone for an internship going into my third year, which led to a number of years within an industry-leading company. More recently, upon curating a new label, it’s been a huge pleasure to re-open some of those fantastic working relationships from my time at Leeds Conservatoire. All in all, the encouragement to go above and beyond and to figure some things out for yourself, outside of the course programme, was something that has continued to drive me. ‘The right place at the right time’ doesn’t arrive unless you’ve put yourself in a position to receive that bit of luck already.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to pursue a career in production music?
I think, during the time on the course, it’s important to work with as many people as you can, within as many different genres as you can. Getting out of your comfort zone and learning how to analyse new genres at that early stage is so helpful. Don’t be one of those people who only does enough to fulfil the requirements of the course. Invest the extra time you have in producing a range of production music tracks to build a solid, versatile and dynamic portfolio, and do your best to make this portfolio as ‘release-ready’ as you can (Track names, album artwork ideas, descriptions, track versions etc). There will tend to be tweaks and changes to make to the tracks, so being open to that is key, but showing an initial understanding of the music’s usage possibilities will be of great benefit to you as a composer/producer. The tricky part is needing that bit of luck as to whether labels and companies are actively looking for additional composers, but there will always be time for music submissions that have big potential and showcase a complete package.
Is there a major difference in the creative approach to working in production music vs. working as a music producer?
Definitely. I think it’s because the emotion lies in a different place. In commercial music, the emotion is the artist’s story to tell, and it’s up to them as to how they want to display that in the track. With production music, the emotion lies with how it is received by the audience watching any given media and how it makes a particular theme feel. Instead of trying to tell your own story, you’re attempting to compose a certain emotion for someone else. Knowing that is really freeing to me, as personally it’s more fun trying to think up ways to create a particular response from whoever is watching the media or listening to that music. I think there is also a bigger longevity in library music than there is perhaps so in commercial music, so the idea of an old track suddenly becoming really useful because of new trends also becomes really exciting.
What do you see for the future of AMITY?
I have many plans for where AMITY could lead and what it could achieve. The production-music label, Amity Music Library will be a continuous project over time, and I would love for it to continue to expand, working with more and more composers, producers and artists along the way. I would also like to see the bespoke music services become an intrinsic part of what AMITY has to offer, as well as a further future ambition to build ‘Amity Music Studios’ – a writer’s retreat studio and home for all things AMITY. I hope the whole project will continue to bring exciting opportunities to composers looking to become part of the production-music world, as well as potential employment opportunities for music enthusiasts as the team inevitably grows in the future.
