This episode introduces Harry Kappen, a musician, multi-instrumentalist, and music therapist based in a village outside of Amsterdam.
- Harry's latest music releases include "Not All of Us Agree" and "The Freedom Inside," the latter of which reached the iTunes pop charts in the UK.
- The discussion begins with the impact of music on people, emphasizing the emotional and universal appeal of music. The conversation touches on the deep neurological connection between humans and music.
- Harry shares insights into his diverse musical career, from playing in bands to producing his music and teaching. He describes his musical journey, including early inspirations and how his experiences from the '70s, '80s, and '90s influenced his music.
- The episode explores Harry's song "Not All of Us Agree" and its message, touching on concerns about technology and AI and the suddenness of technological advances without societal agreement. (A snippet of "Not All of Us Agree" is played for the listeners.)
- The host and guest discuss the influence of music and how it complements and carries the message of the song.
- They shift to Harry's previous single, "The Freedom Inside," which was created to encourage a more positive outlook, even in challenging times. Harry explains that the song was inspired by negative attitudes he observed in society. (A snippet of "The Freedom Inside" is played.)
- The conversation delves into the unique fingerprint of each song and Harry's musical diversity, emphasizing that the central thread connecting his music is his voice.
- They touch on Harry's creative process, with Harry sharing his spontaneous approach to music creation and the magic that happens when a song comes together.
- The discussion shifts to Harry's role as a music therapist, where he emphasizes the importance of using music in therapeutic contexts. He highlights the role of music in communication, adjusting to one another, and translating emotions into music.
- They talk about the acceptability and effectiveness of music therapy and its use in various contexts, such as youth care centers and with clients with dementia and disabilities.
- Harry explains that music therapy is more mainstream and widely accepted in Europe compared to the United States.
- The episode ends with a glimpse into Harry's future work and the imminent release of a new album. He also discusses his collaboration with music manager Michael Stover.
- Harry offers advice to other creatives, suggesting they seek professional help on the business side of their careers to maximize their potential.
This summary offers a concise overview of the podcast interview with musician and music therapist Harry Kappen, highlighting key discussion points and insights shared during the episode.
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Welcome back friends to our podcast unlocking your world of creativity and we're stamping our creative passport today in Amsterdam. In a village outside of Amsterdam and we're talking to a musician multi instrumentalist and a music therapist.
Our guest is Harry Kappen. Harry, welcome to the show.
Thank you. Thanks
for having me. It's so good to talk to you. Yeah. . As I said, Harry's working on a lot of great music. And he's just released a song called Not All of Us Agree.
And previous to that, a song called The Freedom Inside. That actually got up the iTunes pop charts in the UK. So we'll talk about that a little bit. And as I said, this creative direction of music therapy and teaching. So it's really about music impacting people, isn't it? Harry, you've got a real idea of impacting on people.
Wow. That's
obvious. Music affects everybody. I think. And or you hate it or you
love it. That's right. Why do you think music, before we get into the actual songs, why do you think music has impact like this on people? I think it
has to do with the development of the human being, as as when we are in the room, you already hear noises of the heartbeat of your mother and it's before language and there are some scientific analysis and that the music area in your brain is much deeper than your language.
Language comes later. So I think everybody will be affected by music.
Let's get an overview of your musical journey. You've had a very diverse career playing in bands, of course, and producing your own music and this other work. How did this all get started? What was your interest and creative outlook for
music?
I had a very musical and creative sister. And she's four years ahead of me, and she started to play the guitar. So I was interesting. And I lent her guitar sometimes and I also wanted to play something on one string, . I think my first loop was the
It was in your head already? Yeah. I like that. Let's come up to date then with the new work, Not All of Us Agreed. You've got a really important message you're trying to convey in this song. Why is that so important in today's world?
I'm really not trying to be a messenger of the, of whatever.
But I, I noticed things and I feel insecurity about, for example, the upcoming of technology and AI and that kind of things. And I think it's a wonderful thing, but also very scary. And we had the yeah, I'm worried. So I translate that into a song.
Yes. Right from the opening lyrics AI is here.
The machine knows your name. You do the answering machine. Yeah.
Imagine. And what worries me is that technology just happens and we have to cope with it all. And it suddenly exists and we have to cope with it and we don't have, we didn't agree on it. Yes. Yes. If you understand me. Yeah.
Let's take a quick listen to the song and listeners.
I think you'll enjoy this sample. This is not all of us agreed. By Harry Kappen
well, Harry, I think not only the lyrics. You really tuned us into the message, but let's talk about the music, the drive, rhythm, the sound . How does that contribute to the message? Oh,
It does naturally because the music is first. So I'm inspired by the music. So I contribute to the music, not the other way around.
Yeah. But it could be a soft ballad, it could be a hard rocker, it could be, acoustic, it could be a lot. Yeah. You had some choices to make. Yeah. What supports this message, right?
Yeah, it comes naturally and I don't think about it too much. . , that's maybe not very satisfactory to hear, but
No, but you're saying it comes natural when write it flows.
Yeah. ,
When I write music, I try to make it perfect and then add some lyrics. And it works or it doesn't. That's the magic of making a song. Suddenly it makes sense , or it doesn't, and you make another song. Yes. And it's a bit of a magic and I.
Really don't understand how it works.
Sometimes it is magic, isn't it? It is. Let's talk about your previous single then, The Freedom Inside. Is it really a song for positive change? Yeah. What was the inspiration behind this song?
The inspiration was what I saw on TV and what I heard from other people around me.
They were nagging and they were negative. And the nothing goes and there's the government this and the government that. And I thought let's start with ourselves. And then criticize others.
Interesting. Let's take a listen to a sample of this. This is the Freedom Inside by Harry Kappen.
All right, very good. So a lot of people say that musicians often have, one style. They recreate sometimes, but these songs are different. These songs have a different fingerprint. I think. What were you trying to accomplish? Comparing and contrasting the two songs. I
was I was raised in the 70s, 80s, 90s.
So I'm influenced by a lot of music. And I just make the music that I like. I'm currently I'm in the process of making a new album and there is. every kind of music in it. And it's funk it's folk, it's hard rock. It's, it goes everywhere, but the central line is me. I'm singing everything and yeah.
And that binds it.
Yes. And yeah Harry, we'd love to talk about creative process and craftsmanship on this show. And I see you've got a couple of guitars handy. I'd love to talk a little bit about your creative process lot of creatives, especially authors who have, scraps of paper and, files of ideas and note cards and so forth.
Yeah. But do you have the audio equivalent? Do you have I like this rhythm or I like this progression, right? You should like this sound. When I
come up with an idea, I take my phone and record it. Directly. My phone is full of small snippets of music.
And you go back and you refer to those and say...
Sometimes I forget.
I forget them. Sure, with that
many. Last week I listened to my phone and said, ah, what was that? And it just suddenly remembered, oh, why did I forget it? And it's a beautiful song. It becomes a beautiful song.
Yes. We've been talking about the power of music with Harry Kappen. I'd like to also go then to your I'll call it your vocation and that is as a musical therapist.
And as you teach the use of music particularly in youth care centers and, with young children, how do you think or how have you found music to be therapeutic?
I at the advantage, I was playing in a band with another music therapist. And he said, Harry, that's something for you.
I said, okay, I will try that. I was becoming a father, so I should be a bit more serious and have a regular income. So I thought, yeah, I got to study that. And playing in a band. playing together. It's a great base for music therapy because music therapy is about communication, about adjusting to each other like that about emotions, of course, and how to translate emotions into music.
.
Emotions really does play a big part, doesn't it? It is. I read the word cope in the description of your work and I thought, yes, cope. Perhaps that's what the word we're looking for on how music helps us. Yeah.
It's a great place to practice. I also have families for instance.
I'm not only one on one with adolescents, but also with their parents, . And a lot of times you have this dysfunctional patterns in a family. And when they come and make improvised music, you instantly hear what's going wrong in the communication between the players. , so you use the strength of music in this therapy.
You use harmony, you use volume, your dynamics, all what's make music. You use in the treatment and it's very acceptable for the members of the group for the family, because it's music, we are talking about music. We are not talking about, Oh, you're a horrible man. No, I say you're out of tune.
So maybe you can tune a bit better so you can hear the others and like that. And that's a great way to make a safe environment for treatment. That's
so interesting. And obviously the clients that are coming to you and attracted to this therapy feel the potential, but I can also wonder, do some people say I'm not musical.
I'm not very creative. This won't work for me. Do they say that to you? Of
course for defense, but I don't know. I cannot say, just try it and take your hand and let it let your hand fall on the piano and you have a sound. What do you think of that? And can you do it a little less hard, less loud so you can hear your son?
Oh, yeah. All right. And you don't, it's not music like making songs. It's improvising. It's reacting to each other.
I love the metaphor, could you play a little quieter so that you can hear yourself harmony? Love that. Yeah. Yeah,
Yeah. Because the music doesn't sound right if you don't.
And are the clients more accepting when you say you're out of tune versus you're outta line? ?
Yes. You are talking about music, not about the person. ,
Uhhuh, . Yeah that's terrific. Where could we find more about this program here? More about your work in this area in music therapy?
Yeah, I have a page, of how music therapy works and yeah. And my website is www. HarryKappen. com and you'll read about , the albums and the singles, but also about music therapy. .
Yes. And do you see the output, all these in the show notes, by the way, all the links and so people can find them.
So when we think about future and future work, how do you see music? and music therapy developing. Do you think that's becoming, more mainstream, more acceptable, the more that we realize how much music plays in our lives? I think it's, there's
a difference in between America and Europe and Holland in particular, that's, it's very acceptable.
Music therapy is not a rare thing here. It's used in youth care, but also clients with dementia and with disabled things.
It's used in a very broad
way. Do you see that continuing to grow?
Yeah, I think, yeah, I think so. There are still growing number of scientific evidence evidence based treatments.
It's growing. .
Oh, fantastic. I loved covering both of these aspects of your work here. Thanks for sharing these. And as we think ahead then, you mentioned that you were working on some new songs and perhaps a new album. Do you see that in your future? Oh, very
Near future. Yeah, I think within one or two months,
it's ready.
And you've recently taken on some new management. How do you see, I'm speaking now to other creatives who might be listening who say I'm thinking about bringing somebody on to help me on the either business or career side of my work.
I'm very lucky to meet Michael Stover for MTS management group.
And by accident, I I met him I had this, I had a connection on LinkedIn and they told me, Oh, you should do more about your music, but I don't know nobody. And they said, Oh, we know Michael Stover, blah, blah, blah. And it's great. He's working so hard for me. And and the Spotify hits of views are booming.
So it's great. And really showing the results then. Yeah. More than 200, 000 hits. That's for me, that's a lot.
Yeah. Absolutely. For anybody. Be proud of that. Thanks for sharing that. Cause I think a lot of times as creatives, we think, yeah, I just need to work harder. I need to learn these social media or I need to post more or I need to do something differently.
And you were open. To this other avenue. So I think that
you can do anything, everything that you have to be creative. You have to, I do a lot myself. I record myself. I make my album cover. So the lyrics, everything, but in business side. You should let the do some, someone who does it very well. And Michael does that.
Oh, fantastic. Yeah. Folks, my guest has been Harry Kappen. He's a musician and a musical therapist, but he's got some great music. We've heard some today, but be sure to go to harrykappen. com and hear more of his songs and read more about his work. Harry, thanks for being on the show. I've really enjoyed getting to know you.
Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. And I hope our creative travels come to Amsterdam again. Hey, you're welcome. Fantastic. Listeners come back again next time. As I said, we're going to continue our creative journeys. To talk to practitioners everywhere about how they get inspired and how they organize ideas.
And as we've heard today, how we gain the confidence and the connections to launch our work out into the world and be successful in that work. Until next time, I'm Mark Stinson and we'll continue unlocking your world of creativity. We'll see you soon.