It’s been a big year for Danny Harley, or The Kite String Tangle as he is more commonly known. Regarded as one of the best breakthrough artists of the year (with an ARIA nomination to prove it), this Brisbane-based producer is becoming a firm fixture in Australia’s burgeoning electronic music scene.

“It was a surreal experience,” says Harley of rubbing shoulders with pop royalty at the ARIA Awards. “I feel quite flattered to be in the same category as those other artists. It was one of those crazy things I never thought I’d do.”

Spreading his wings as a live performer, 2014 has seen an intensive period of touring for Harley. Venturing into the American limelight, he made appearances at massive festivals like SXSW and Coachella. “I didn’t play as The Kite String Tangle at Coachella but I featured as a vocalist for another act called Adventure Club,” he says. “It was kind of an insane moment. We played at 9pm at the Sahara Stage, which is a big dance tent, and there were probably 20-30,000 people there. It was crazy walking onstage and comprehending the fact that I was supposed to be there.”

As the summer festival season enters full swing, The Kite String Tangle will be one of the hotly anticipated acts performing at Field Day and Falls Festival. The latter event holds particular significance, as it is where a relatively unknown Harley performed last year and subsequently skyrocketed to prominence.

“It was cool to play that early slot,” he says. “That was when ‘Given The Chance’ was really kicking off. It was a really special moment for me, especially because I had won the triple j Unearthed competition. That and Falls were two of the big contributing factors that made the national tour possible.”

There’s also a scattering of small festivals scheduled for 2015, including the second incarnation of Mountain Sounds Festival on the Central Coast, which features a collection of local and up-and-coming artists. “It’s a different beast, I guess,” says Harley. “I find the smaller festivals are more about the music than the party. That will change from festival to festival but it’s a really refreshing sense of community.”

While Australia has quickly latched onto Harley’s ethereal brand of electropop, he says it’s been a slow process compiling the new EP, Vessel. “There wasn’t much of a plan in place. I released one track and it was received quite well, so I thought I should do more. I’d been writing random things for ages and then I started writing new stuff, so it ended up being a mix and match of my favourite bits.”

There is a contemplative quality to Harley’s music; a dreaminess that steadily creeps into something more danceable. It’s a soulful kind of melancholy laid over handcrafted beats. Shedding light on his production process, he says, “I actually do the beats first – the percussion and the drums – and then the melodies, and finally the lyrics. It used to be that the lyrics were almost an afterthought but they’ve become more important. I guess I just never envisioned people singing my songs.”

On that note, Harley has released a number of killer covers, including a smooth rendition of indie queen Lorde’s ‘Tennis Court’. His Like A Version cover of Flight Facilities’ ‘Clair De Lune’ also won praise, hoisted to new heights with a string quartet. While admittedly hooked on these songs, Harley is also attracted to covering female vocalists. “It’s harder to draw a direct comparison to the original song,” he explains. “The focus shifts to the song and what you’re doing with it rather than how well you cover the vocals.”

Fans might be forgiven for assuming The Kite String Tangle is an ensemble rather than a solo act. However, collaboration is becoming a bigger part of Harley’s practice. “I come from a band background – that’s what I’m most comfortable with. I’m even toying with the idea of expanding The Kite String Tangle, but it’s very economic for me not to do that at the moment as I’m travelling overseas. I have a feeling there will come a time when it’s obvious to make that decision.”

As the year draws to a close, Harley has writing new material on the agenda for 2015. “I’d like to delve a bit deeper into what I’ve already been doing, to focus and refine my music,” he says.

In thinking about how Harley’s intricate and emotive sound fits into the wider spectrum of Australian music, it seems we’re witnessing something of an electronic music renaissance. With the success of artists such as Flume and Chet Faker, the world has an eye on Australia for emerging talent.

“There’s this whole wave of producers who are carving out their own types of future house and future electronica,” says Harley. “I mean, Chet Faker is first and foremost a songwriter – he writes songs and then puts production on it – whereas Flume is the opposite. There’s a lot of interesting stuff happening at the moment.”

The Kite String Tangle will be playing at Field Day, in The Domain on Thursday January 1 alongside Alt-J, SBTRKT, Dillon Francis, Jamie xx and more.

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