Harbour Interview

We were able to talk to Jamie Mittendorf of Harbour. We found out all about the band and what they do. This is what he had to say:

1) What's your name and role in the band? 

My name is Jamie Mittendorf and I sing and play bass for Harbour.

2) What made you want to be in a pop punk band, write punk music?

The first ever record I bought was Good Charlotte’s self title record. There was something about that record that made me want to pick up a guitar and start playing pop punk music. I took guitar lessons at a young age and I didn’t want to learn chords and theory. All I wanted to do was learn MxPx, Good Charlotte and Blink 182 songs.

3) Your band is from Brantford, What is the music scene like there?

The scene in Brantford is strange. As a promoter of 12 years in Brantford, I’ve seen the highs and lows of the music scene. Mid 00’s were amazing for this scene as everyone would come out to the shows without having any clue who was playing. The scene (everywhere, really) gradually started to die as electronic music started to fill the airwaves. Kids stopped picking up guitars at a young age. We only have a couple bands that are under 19 compared to probably 20-30 back 10 or so years ago. The help of WTFest (Jamie Stephens) coming to town and bringing artists like Hedley, Billy Talent, Big Wreck, and Lights here over the last 2 years has definitely helped this scene. I’m confident the music scene here will continue to grow over again over the years.

4) Why did you guys pick the name Harbour? 

Before we even jammed or write any songs, I started to brainstorm names for the band. Harbour came to mind and everyone loved it.

5) If you were to describe Harbour to someone on the street, what would you tell them?

Blink 182 or Green Day.  Its tough to explain to someone who doesn’t know anything about pop punk or punk rock.

6 a) Listening to your albums, I feel your newest album and sound has a very Drive Thru Records sound to it, Why did you decide to go this route?

We simply wanted to stand out. Listening to pop punk these days, it seems like everything is starting to sound the same, and we wanted to stand out from the crowd. We all grew up on this kind of pop punk (Rufio, MxPx, New Found Glory, The Starting Line) so it just made sense to us.

6 b) How would you describe the progression from your first album to Grade School?

 

Grade School Summer has a very late 90’s / early 00’s pop punk feel to it as our later stuff doesn’t really have any real title or ‘feel’. We were still trying to find our sound with our first few releases, and we’re very happy with the direction we’re currently taking.

7) You guys are currently on tour to the east coast, why did you feel that was the next step you needed to do with the band?

We’ve been to the east coast once before and it was a blast. We’ve been having a lot of people ask us to come back sooner than later so we decided to do it. We’re almost done writing a full length record which we will begin tracking once we get back in June.

8) a) How was the Japan tour? How were you guys received?

Japan was insane. We didn’t exactly know how the shows were going to go even though our record has sold quite well over there. We went in with low expectations and we were totally blown away. We headlined every night to sold out crowds to kids who barely know how to speak english, but have listened to our record enough to ‘mouth’ and ‘chant’ almost every part. Kids stage diving, moshing, and singing along to the songs we wrote half way around the world is a feeling like no other. We will be back.

8) b) How is Ontario music received over in Japan? What is it like to walk into a Japanese record store and find that our scene is reaching there?

Japan LOVES the western culture. Not just with music, but everything. And it was amazing to see so many Ontario bands records in all of the stores. We found records from our friends in Seaway, Like Pacific, Splitfist and Safe To Say. Record sales in Japan are still thriving, unlike how they are in North America.

9) At one point in the band, you guys announced that the band was calling it quits, How did you come back from that?

A few of the guys left and we all decided to call it quits. A couple months later, Josh and I had a discussion about bringing Harbour back as a 3 piece with me on bass and adding Mike Bielawski (current guitarist) to the lineup. After a couple months of jamming and writing new tunes, Henry Dowling decided he wanted to come back.

10) Why/how did you choose to work with Steve Ruzin?

Our friend Joe Buscema (New Wave Artist Management) said he knew somebody who would be a good fit for Harbour as a Manager / Producer. Steve came out to one of our shows before we left for Japan, had a couple meetings and crossed some I’s and dotted some T’s. We have recorded our newest EP with him and will be doing our full length with him in the next couple months.

11) Which bands from around the local Brantford scene would you suggest to someone looking for new music?

 

The Ascot Royals are really picking up. Great Indie / Pop band who recently got signed with Sony. Ending Tyranny is also insane… very technical death metal.

  Published 5/9/2016