Littlehampton musician hopes for great things from The Harbour’s debut single

The Harbour’s a cappella versions of classic songs by the likes of Slade and The Kinks became underground hits on YouTube; now they are taking it to the next stage.
Fraser MoyleFraser Moyle
Fraser Moyle

Fraser Moyle, originally from Littlehampton, is hoping for great things from New Tattoo, the band’s debut single.

New Tattoo is being billed as the perfect introduction to the five young musicians who make up the band – Fraser, plus Andrew Mott, James Partridge, Ollie Kember and David Ferguson.

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All in their early 20s and all multi-instrumentalists, they write, perform and arrange all their own music, aiming to “create textural bliss alongside moreish solo voices, producing a sound you’ll want to hear again and again.”

Andrew read music at University of York; James was BBC Young Songwriter of the Year and studied music at Cambridge; Ollie studied BMus (Hons) (Bachelor Of Music) at Edinburgh University; David has a BMus (Hons) from Aberdeen University; and Fraser has performed all over the world and is a qualified music therapist.

Fraser met the rest of the band while they were on Gareth Malone’s Voices show. They were all part of the choir.

Ever since, Gareth has been really supportive, offering them advice along the way. But since putting up some videos on YouTube they have attracted the attention of Simon Cowell who has asked the band to be on this year’s X-Factor – an offer they turned down.

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Along the way, the band has also performed on The One Show – all part of a career they are sure is heading in the right direction.

“We met as session singers on tour this time last year with Gareth Malone,” explains Fraser, who still has family in Littlehampton and sang in Arundel Cathedral before becoming a chorister at Westminster.

“We recorded an album about two years ago and then we went on tour and did 14 dates up and down the country.

“The five of us just decided afterwards that we wanted to get together.

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“On the tour, eight of the boys did barbershop a cappella arrangements of songs by the Beach Boys and The Beatles. Three of the others weren’t too keen to continue, but we were keen to carry on doing a cappella versions because we all just love singing. It took off from there, and we just started to get a bit more poppy. We are now working with tracks, now guitars and drums, but the focus is still very much on the singing.

“We mainly do original tracks now. We have got about ten originals. We have set up our own record label and started producing the songs ourselves. We are really looking forward to seeing how the new single is going to go. It’s a dream come true for any musician to have a song on iTunes.

“There is certainly pressure in this business and in this career. We are obviously hoping to make a career of this, but first and foremost we just really enjoy doing what we do. We want to get out there and gig and hopefully people will like our music, and we will build up a fan base.

“We have only been going for a year. It’s not even a long-term thing year.

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“We are going to go for an EP of two other songs that we have got, in September. An album might still be a little way off. But really it just depends how well it goes with the single and if the demand is there.”

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