A story of survival
Waiting For Smith is British singer/songwriter Harry Lloyd. Formerly a ski instructor in the French Alps, Lloyd broke his back in two places during avalanche training. Wondering whether he’d survive in the helicopter on the way to the hospital, he had an epiphany that if he was ok that he should dedicate his life to music. After spending a year in bed recuperating and learning to play guitar, he formed Waiting For Smith, named after endlessly waiting for their original drummer Smith, who always failed to show up.
Produced by Andy Wright and Gavin Goldberg (Eurhythmics, Annie Lennox, Natalie Imbruglia, Jeff Beck), his new single “Lines of Love” was inspired by a long-distance phone call walking around King Cross at night. The song is a plea for someone to hold on through a difficult time in their life, to know you will always be there for them no matter what, and that everything – even the hardest times – will pass eventually.
“I want people to feel hopeful when listening to Lines of Love, to dance carefree and even raise their hands in an almost tribal sense of unity. We can overcome the speed bumps in the road, our lives and our relationships and that is surely where the good stuff comes from – out of the struggle.”
Lloyd confides.
The musician explained how music is like a free form of therapy and hopes that he can bring a similar liberating feeling of comfort and emotion, to make listeners smile and sometimes cry. With features in British GQ, Rolling Stone India, MTV Germany, Clash Magazine, Earmilk and Holland’s JFK Magazine, Waiting For Smith’s mission is to engulf the world with unforgettable melodies spreading a much-needed message of positivity.
Waiting for Smith can be found on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Spotify. Keep on reading for our interview!
Welcome to Positive Publicity! To begin, how have you been doing during this time of social distancing? Have you found inspiration in unexpected places?
Really well, I found an extra sense of focus actually in amongst the unified moments of worldly panic! A lot of my family decided not to watch the news, but really think about what positive input we could have in our own lives. I feel this is something a lot of us could do with. The video for Long Life was perfect for reminding people to stay light, and focus on the good and not just the bad. I released more acoustic videos on my YouTube Vevo Page, wrote new songs and had some fascinating conversation with people I never thought I’d speak to. The pandemic was strangely unifying because once you realise we are all a week away from food shortages and that anyone can get sick, you’re suddenly all the same.
Yours is a story of survival and realization. I’m curious if spirituality plays a large role in your music making?
I’ve always been fascinated by the big questions in life like: who we are, where do we go when we die and what are we going to do about it while we’re still alive? I’m not sure why – I was never told not to be curious I guess, I believe all kids are naturally. We are all trying to get back to the age where we don’t care about what other people think – that’s magical.
When you’re in bed for a year and you’ve watched every episode of Suits, delved into the great poets, listened to everything Bob Dylan’s ever done and learned to play guitar – you might as well think about where we go when we die. I’m not sure why people don’t leap out of bed every morning and go; “holy shit I made it back”. In short, yeh I’m really influenced by the mind and what connects us all.
Tell us about your new single Lines of Love. What do you hope people feel when they listen to it?
Hope for sure – songwriting for me is free therapy, it’s a great way of understanding who you are at that moment. With Lines of Love I was asking, well more pleading, for someone to trust me that it was going to be alright. I was desperate as I thought I was gonna lose them. So it’s a song that I want people to believe that it’s all gonna be alright, however difficult life seems at that moment. All struggle passes eventually, and on the other side of it there’s often treasure. Look at me – I broke my back, had to learn to walk, and from that I learned to play guitar and became a songwriter.
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