Little Kings
Before founding Little Kings, Ryan made the first steps of his musical journey in his hometown, Hong Kong. “I began playing music at 15 in Hong Kong after listening to Ramblin' Jack Elliot's version of 'Don't Think Twice.' I remember laying in bed having it on repeat and just soaking up the guitar playing, the lyrics, and how different it was to what I'd heard so far. That said, I now barely listen to him and my other old favourites - Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, etc, but they still have a special place with me.”
M. Ward is another artist that Ryan admires for bringing together an eclectic range of songs under one record. "Seeing him get away with it gave me the confidence to go ahead with the upcoming EP's collection. There's a Western-gothic ballad sung by Leah, an indie-rock tune, a solo-fingerstyle piece, and a couple of more folky songs. Buzzing to share it with peeps!"
After discovering old-time folk, Ryan fashioned a harmonica rack from a coat hanger and played it. "I'm forever grateful for the opportunities I had in Hong Kong to develop, because looking back, I was pretty shocking! But we all start somewhere I suppose. I was just grateful to have a hobby to be bad at but enjoy, other than sports (which I was bad at, but also didn't enjoy)."
"At 15 I formed a folk-duo, The Folk Ups, as guitarist, vocalist, manager, and songwriter, with my pal Jasmine Kelly.” Over the next two years the band achieved many impressive things. They performed at Clockenflap (the world-city's biggest music festival) as the only student band that year, they played live on the radio on multiple occasions and they received over 15,000 Spotify streams with the two original EP's they recorded.
Since leaving Hong Kong in 2017 to study Music in Derry, Little Kings has been Ryan’s musical focus. "Little Kings began as a concept that I'd be a permanent fixture, but surrounded with collaborations as some form of collective. We all know that the Gorillaz and Bon Iver is Damon Albarn and Justin Vernon respectively, but their musical output is more than just the individual. I enjoy music most when working with others."
The first radio coverage for Little Kings came in 2019 on Bangor FM, as Ryan performed live with flutist Lewis Hanlon. Following that, in 2019, Ryan collaborated with electronica producer, Phil Kieran, on a piece of music that was debuted by the Ulster Orchestra at Celtronic Festival. “Between 2019-2020, I led on writing, arranging, and recording six original tunes across genres with 17 musicians on the debut Little Kings EP. In November 2020, the single of the EP was released, alongside a music video featuring me as a Seagull.” The EP was described by Derry Now as “A melting pot of musical styles. The songs of Ryan Harling and his revolving line-up of collaborators boldly defies the conventions of today."
As well as writing and performing, Ryan also work at Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin in Derry. He is responsible for their marketing and “speaking broken, Connacht DuoLingo Gaeilge, rather than our Ulster Irish.” He enjoys travelling, and solo busked his way around Western Europe at 18 for a month.
“One of the things that aggravates me about Irish culture is how musical everyone is. Often, I will ask someone if they play, and they'll reply 'no, not really', and twenty minutes into the conversation, it'll transpire they play 12 instruments, and have done so with their family since the cot. Coming from a family that enjoyed music but never played it, I am incredibly envious.”
“I am a lazy songwriter, and often let songs come to me rather than pursue them if I can get away with it. That should probably change, but at the minute its mostly a matter of playing something I like on guitar and letting a stream of consciousness guide the direction of a song.” After a song has been written it is usually fleshed out in an evening and written into a score. The score is then shared with Aoife and Leah.
The band plays Alt-folk music at the minute. “It allows people to expect the unexpected a bit more! I described the debut EP as indie-folk-pop-trad (for want of a better genre), but think alt-folk is more succinct.”
Ryan enjoys writing alone and with others. “Bouncing ideas off each other on stage, the camaraderie, hearing a song come together is what makes it great. I do enjoy the catharsis of song writing by myself though, it feels more personal that way.”
Little Kings newest release “Hands Were The Sun” was written during lockdown, and is about being apart from being someone close ("Well I wish that my hands were the sun, so you'd feel me there still. And I'd warm you when cold, just like times before."). “It reflects on how distances could be overcome if we weren’t limited to our bodies, and could instead be something else, somewhere else.” He added that “Music made for a nice break from drunk zoom quizzes at the time.”
"Stop playing like you're practising at the end of your bed (from one of my University Lecturers)."
Little Kings have started gigging more often with their last gig taking place on the 18th of August at Sandinos.
The band says that their proudest achievement to date has been “Gaining support from Help Musicians! The funding has been a game changer, and definitely brought a sense of vindication to the music and our ambitions. It's allowed us to go into the studio and not be inhibited by lack of funds otherwise.”
So, what is next for Little Kings?
“We'll have an EP launch on the 7th of October in Cultúrlann Uí Chanáin, Derry! Support will be from Emily McCormick, it's going to be a great night. Tickets aren't live just yet, so be sure to follow us for updates!”
Make sure you follow them and keep up to date with all their songs, events and gigs:
Spotify: Little Kings
Instagram: itslittlekings
Facebook: Little Kings
TikTok: itslittlekings
YouTube: Little Kings
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