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Everybody Likes You

You’re My Best Friend

Going to a Town (Tired of America)

Violet Rain

 
 


In Two Minds


Album Credits

Mixed By: Colin Dupuis (The Black Keys, Angel Olsen, Lana Del Rey) and Tim Smiley (The Head & The Heart)

Mastered By: Andrija Tokic (Alabama Shakes)

Produced By: Scott Schmadeke & Andy Beargie

 
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Press


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Never afraid to put handsome string quartet arrangements front and centre, Harpooner consistently delivers timeless piano power ballads with the vocal and lyrical eccentricity of a Nilsson-worthy melody.

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“pretty noteworthy just on the strength of their tunes…this is a new band to watch!”

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“The band name-check Harry Nilsson and Leon Russell as inspirations, and while “Love Shadows”’s piano phrasings do recall both of those older artists, those sounds make their way to us through Ariel Pink’s vertigo-inducing filters.”

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“teeming with dreamy pop tunes that linger in your mind long after hearing them.”

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“Not only are the lyrics heart breaking, but so is Schmadeke’s crooning over a psychedelic-pop sound. The attention to detail is insane.”

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“Rose Park, Harpooner’s debut LP, is a montage of 1970s nostalgia”

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“instantly going to grab your attention, going to lift you up out of your seat, and make you reach for repeat.”

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“vintage-pop-oriented group's debut full-length is nicely crafted and heavy on big, airy hooks that recall ELO at their grandest”

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“combines elements of more modern bands like the cathedral-like production of My Morning Jacket and the icy harmonies of Fleet Foxes”

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 About


SHORT BIO

Rising chamber pop artist Harpooner (aka Scott Schmadeke) is gearing up for the release of his sophomore album, following his acclaimed debut Rose Park which landed the support of the high profile publications including KCRW, Native Magazine, Glide and Flood Magazine.

Harpooner was born in 2014 - the solo project and brain child of Scott Schmadeke an Indiana transplant in Nashville, who first cut his teeth as a side player, performing with national acts Houndmouth, Diane Coffee, Andrew Combs, and an exhaustive list of East Nashville groups. Now, he opens as Harpooner for acts like Rayland Baxter, Margo Price, and Jessica Lea Mayfield exemplifying Harpooner’s crossover capacity to find a connection to a diverse audience.

Those years touring with other bands helped him develop his eclectic style in music which has been described as chamber groove-pop, with a unique blend of handsome string quartet arrangements, piano power ballads, and Nilsson-worthy melody writing. The resulting live show unfolds in waves and movements with a complexity that has already drawn a diverse range of comparisons to artists including: Jeff Lynne, Carole King, George Harrison, Chet Baker, alongside modern acts such as Tobias Jesso Jr, Andy Shauf and Ariel Pink.

LONG BIO

Created by Scott Schmadeke, Harpooner was hatched in 2014. Schmadeke first cut his teeth as a side player, performing with national acts Houndmouth, Diane Coffee, Andrew Combs, and an extensive list of East Nashville bands. The early years touring with other bands helped Schmadeke not only develop his eclectic style in music, but appreciate the beauty in vastly differing socioeconomic settings.

Schmadeke enlists a vanguard of Nashville musicians to help him achieve his unique blend of handsome string quartet arrangements, piano power ballads, and Nilsson-worthy melody writing resulting in a live show that unfolds in waves and movements more than a standard-grade rock performance. Opening for acts like Rayland Baxter, Margo Price, and Jessica Lea Mayfield exemplifies Harpooner’s crossover capacity to find a connection to any audience.

Before relocating to his current home in Nashville, Schmadeke lived in Bloomington, Indiana where a rotating tight-knit community of musicians, artists, and writers gave Harpooner a freedom to express and a fertile ground to create symbiotically. With a self-released album out, Rose Park, and having just completed a new batch of songs, Schmadeke has always kept the producer duties to himself. Making an almost monthly pilgrimage back to Blockhouse Studios in Bloomington, Schmadeke works with engineers Andy Beargie and Tim Smiley (The Head & The Heart, Foxygen) to capture his cinematic visions in the state that raised him.

A musician who sees music as a vehicle for social healing, Schmadeke says he hopes that collective artistic movements bring us closer to attaining beauty, making it richer, more accessible, more generous and if his earlier work is any indication then this is an artist whose voice will continue to shed light in the darkness of modern socio-political unrest.

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