Har Mar Superstar 'The Handler' album

I am proud to deliver you my new album, The Handler. Writing this letter to all of you is an exciting prospect.

It marks the end of an era and the opening of a new chapter for me which, oddly enough, is what this album is all about.

For those of you who aren't familiar with me as an artist, I'll lay out a brief overview. Since the birth of this project over five years ago, in St. Paul, Minnesota, I have set out, against all odds, to make the music that I love. I've been a huge fan of songwriters like Prince, Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Chaka Khan, Tina Turner, and Elton John as far back as I can remember.

That's all up for speculation though because memories at this point in my career are a whole whirlwind of events that I can't even begin to tell you are pretty unbelievable. I come from a long line of Midwestern, wholesome workaholic artist types, so the second I had the opportunity to record my first, self-titled album for indie stalwart Kill Rock Stars I jumped in head first. I kept up a tour schedule packed with an average of over 200 grassroots gigs per year where by myself I drove, played the show, sold the merchandise, and partied with everybody I ever met. It was all I could do to get my voice and my music into the hands of the people. The word started to spread and by the time I decided to be the first artist in the now flourishing Record Collection/Warner Bros. Family, I had already landed myself on tours with likeminded quality artists such as the Strokes, the Faint, and the Gossip.

In the summer of 2002 things started to change. After I completed my first UK tour supporting the Pattern, I found myself feeling right at home in the British rock scene. Even better though, I found an audience who really understood me, or at least was ready to recognize the hard work I put into my songs. I began to focus all of my attention overseas which lead me on a string of sold-out tours, TV and film appearances, a four month residency in Ibiza, and festivals due to the overwhelming response to my second album, You Can Feel Me. After spending nine months of 2003 in London, I started to feel unproductive because, like many before me, I suffer from a form of writer's block that is brought on by a hectic travel and promotion schedule. The time to sit down at the piano or with a guitar never came.

In November 2003 I moved back across the pond to Los Angeles to undergo the writing and recording of The Handler. Two of my best friends from Minnesota and I moved into the famed Dirt-era Motley Crue apartment on the Sunset Strip. I tried my best to summon the lost spirit of my skuzzy neighborhood by making the most rock and roll R+B album ever. Early in January this year I met my good friend and producer, John Fields. The songs you are now listening to poured out almost magically. John just happens to be a fellow Minneapolitan with a passion for the Purple One who couldn't wait to get his mics on my voice and I was already a huge fan of his production on Andrew WK and Pink to name a couple. Back and forth we spat out guitar, synth, piano and bass lines to each other's delight. The album came together like an effortless puzzle. The first day we got together we left with the musical outlines and most of the vocals recorded for Body Request, DUI, and Bird in the Hand. Every day for the next two months we got together and poured everything we had into making a perfect pop record, and soon enough Karen O, Nick Zinner, Pete Thomas, Michael Bland, Northern State, and a host of other gifted performers started popping their heads into the studio to lend a hand.

This is the album I've been attempting to make my whole life. The Handler chronicles all of the high highs and low lows of the last two years of growing up more or less publicly. Every detail is there for a reason, and I've never laid so much out bare. My goal was to make a more human record that hits everywhere from the joys of being on top, to the harrowing loneliness of the same place. Just as importantly, I think the album is a whole lot of fun, which is something a lot of musicians seem to be having a lot of trouble with lately. Some people wait their whole lives to feel this good about something. I'm lucky it happened by the age of 26. I hope you enjoy The Handler. It's gonna be huge.

-Har Mar Superstar

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Tracklisting

Har Mar Superstar - The Handler