Today we’d like to introduce you to Harrisen Viator.
Hi Harrisen, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have been a singer since I learned how to talk, but I guess I got it from my dad who is a singer-songwriter and has been performing in Dallas since the early 90s with various bands from cover bands to original groups. I didn’t really begin taking music seriously until I was about 19 years old, but I always had it in me. I remember around that time I was visiting home between semesters at college and I shared a poem I wrote with my stepmom and to this day I still remember her saying “this is good, you should keep doing it.” That’s all it took.
Next thing I knew I was writing every chance I could I’ve filled books and composition notebooks with poems and songs, it’s been a long time since that January in 2013. I ended up dropping out of college and moving to South Louisiana to live with my mom’s family, because I knew they wouldn’t judge me for quitting school as long as they felt like I had a plan for my life. I wasn’t a great musician at the time, but they really provided me with the encouragement that I needed to just keep moving forward when I really had no idea what I was doing. I’ve probably had over 13 jobs since then, but 2016 took me and a friend out to LA to live out of my car for 6 months, this is where I was able to meet a cool mentor who helped me record my first demo of songs which I still look back on to remember where I’ve come from. I won’t lie I’m still a bit embarrassed about those songs and how much I hyped them up to everyone I knew, but I guess if you’re not embarrassed about your first product then you didn’t start early enough.
I’ve gone from playing music in the streets of Deep Ellum where I would play 5 hours on Fridays and 8 hours on Saturdays in 2017 to having the privilege to play private events at the top of reunion tower last year. It’s been a journey just to get myself to that point so it was not a straight line and if you know anything about success, it never is.
In 2020 I helped my uncle start a commercial concrete business and over the past 5 year we built it to have over 100 employees, as well as starting a commercial earth moving business last year. Between working 6 days per week and learning everything about construction in a speed run, I have been fortunate to play music gigs on the side, and since 2021 I have performed over 220 gigs from restaurants and bars to house and corporate parties. It has been a lot of work, but I was able to release 6 singles back in 2022 and a single and an EP in late 2023.
My current plans with music is to release an acoustic EP and eventually an album. I’m excited to see where my future leads me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Obstacles are the path forward. Back in 2021 and 2022 the construction business my uncle and I started hit about as many road blocks as we possibly could without going completely bankrupt. We had a project that we lost $300,000 on, another we lost over $150,000, another where our superintendent passed away outside of work and as we were mourning the loss of a friend and employee we had to figure out how to put a new conductor on a moving train. If all that wasn’t enough we had a job that would’ve helped us make it through those struggles, but our client filed bankruptcy and the $450,000 we were owed disappeared into thin air after we had already done the work. In 2022, my uncle and I went 10 weeks in a 12 week period without paying ourselves so that we could pay our employees. If I didn’t have music then I really do not know how I would have made it through that time period. I think I performed 80 gigs in 2022, which was really my saving grace during that time.
Other struggles have been the general losing friends and relationships, struggling with mental health trying to maintain balance, belief in myself, and faith in my dreams. But you can’t stop, no matter what, it’s always a one step in front of the other kind of mentality for me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I play guitar and sing, pretty boring I know.
I mostly play cover song gigs and people in Texas love their country, classic rock, and occasional 90s alternative. You get a lot of people singing along which is amazing. Younger me hated playing cover songs, but now I love the way they can bring people together of all backgrounds and lifestyles.
My original music is more of a rock alternative, the stuff I am currently writing falls more into the folk rock vibe, but I think that comes from performing a lot more country music these days, even though I would never consider myself a country artist. I will say they are fun to sing along to.
I’m most proud of myself for writing as much as I can, I have stacks of books that I have completely filled with over 400 pages each, and maybe the poems and lyrics inside aren’t all great, but I hope that one day when I have family and I’m long gone they can go through the books and find some piece of wisdom that I put in there.
What’s next?
I am planning on releasing an EP of 5 songs I have written in the past 4-5 years that I haven’t released. I am going to have them all be stripped down raw acoustic versions and possibly release one as a single.
After that I am in the process of writing an album, I have 8 songs and my goal is to write 31 songs and release an 18 song album with 6 singles just for the fun of it. I will continue performing more, though I am not sure how many public gigs I will play it’s pretty rare for me to do them and most are private events, but they will help me to pay to get all of this accomplished.
I am really happy with the songs I have written recently I guess I just need to focus on getting it all done now.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://harrisenviatormusic.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/harrisen.viator
- Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@harrisenviator
