“Passion trumps everything. When you find your real thing, that you love to do, that is the success”
Harleymoon Kemp, an up-and-coming country music star, is going on a December Bad Dates and Heartbreaks headline tour across the UK.
Balancing a fast-growing music career with national TV exposure, she’s also to appear alongside her radio host brother, Roman Kemp, on Celebrity Race Across The World (premiere on iPlayer and BBC One, 6th of November).
Growing up in a musical household, after a lifetime of writing music and keeping it an exclusive and personal craft, Harleymoon Kemp began releasing her own music during lockdown, sky-rocketing in the UK country charts ever since! Harleymoon has sculpted her career through storytelling about love, heartbreak, family, and friendships. Marrying humour and tenderness, her voice is a powerhouse on top of fun, rustic instrumental production. Her most recent single, that she’s excited to share with her live audience during her upcoming tour in December, My Girls (love me better), has pioneered as a country anthem for female friendships.
Performing on the stages of country festivals, such as joining the Keep It Country 2025 lineup or The British Country Music Festival, she’s become part of the integral revival of country music in the UK that’s been on a steady rise since 2022.
I had a very exciting chance to sit down and chat with Harleymoon Kemp about her story, musical inspirations, her tour and what the future might bring for her career. Read the full interview here, and find all of the further tour details, other useful links and information below!
RL: Before you became a singer and songwriter professionally, you began as a photographer, film director, working mainly behind a camera. What was the breakthrough moment you realised music is your life’s vocation?
HMK: I grew up in a musical household, so music was always there. I was always writing songs, it wasn’t just something I decided to do. I ended up doing photography and directing, but I kept music as the thing that was just for me, that I loved to do. And a lot of my friends were in music. Then, I met a friend, Violet Skies, in Nashville, and we started writing together, but we were writing songs for other people. I never really told anyone or promoted it, it was just something I really enjoyed doing. We were writing songs that were kind of in the pop-club scene, then after a while I started learning the guitar and thinking that I’ve got some different style songs that are a bit more me; more my handwriting. I took them to my music publisher and he was like ‘Oh you’ve gone all country!’.
At the time, he sent me to Nashville, where I fell in love with country music. I was also a massive fan of Nashville, the TV show.
It was always happening in the background, always writing. There wasn’t a big jump between the two. I still sometimes take on photography and directing projects, it’s just been a gradual takeover.
I think really, the main turning point was lockdown. We weren’t shooting, we weren’t doing anything, I was living alone with nothing else to do other than write songs. That was when I put my first record out. I never knew that I would be the singer either, just happy to be writing. That first record then went to Number 1 in the UK Country charts! I was absolutely smack-round-the-face with shock. So, that was the turning point, really. I thought I could push myself a little bit harder there.
RL: As a country singer, it certainly feels like you were born into this role of a ‘cowgirl’ – you fit that aesthetic so well and you embody the energy amazingly – but, your mum was a backing singer for Wham! with her friend Pepsi, then they went on to make Shirlie & Pepsi, both very successful 80s pop bands; your dad was part of Spandau Ballet that rocked the synth-pop and punk scene of Europe. What icons and inspirations have you encountered that made you want to pursue country music, something so different to your parents’ styles?
HMK: I grew up initially listening to a lot of Alanis Morissette, and I just loved that female angry singer-songwriter. I just always loved the style and a little bit of grit that these girls had, like P!NK as well. Those girls that always had a little bit of anger underneath. Then, when I started watching Nashville, I was really inspired by some of the songs from that, then I fell in love when Maren Morris released her first album. That changed everything for me in terms of how much I wanted to be around that kind of sound. The Maren Morris album was called Hero, and I bought it on vinyl. I just thought this is everything that I love. She was country, she had the angry girl thing going on, I just absolutely fell in love with it. I listened to that record over and over again.
Chris Stapleton, around the same time, had Tennessee Whiskey out, I remember just playing that song and going home telling my dad: ‘Dad, listen to this!’. We both sat on the couch and turned it up, and you know when you get that bass face like ‘whoa!’. That was around the time I started going to Nashville. I felt that feeling when you find your people, or just joined the circus and don’t want to go home. That’s the sound I love, and where I feel I belong.
RL: I recently found out that 3.3% of the UK listens to country music as their preferred genre compared to 51% in the USA. As a country artist, do you feel like that’s really reflective of the UK and what perceptions from the public have you and your music encountered so far?*
HMK: It’s funny because when I put out that first song, it wasn’t super country but it sounded country. The first few songs I put out, everyone was asking why I’m doing country. They thought that it was really silly, cheesy. In the last maybe three years, country has just sky-rocketed into people’s radar. Zach Bryan did three nights at Hyde Park, with like 60,000 people; Morgan Wallen is doing the same. I’ve been so busy playing country music festivals because they’re just popping up everywhere, and it is fun! I just came back from one on the weekend, where some people just love the music, some want to dress up. Beyoncé put out the country album which shifted people’s opinions on it, too. The look and the style is enjoyable, but the thing for me is the style of the writing. It’s like no other in music.
Lyrically, it can be so entertaining and that’s why I think it can be cheesy, but you can go into the details of what the bar smelled like, what texture the glass was. I don’t know any other type of music, where you can get that intimate.
I love it also because I love making films and taking pictures. Country music is a film for your ears! It’s really interesting how in the past couple of years, it’s really grown. There’s a country festival which is happening in April, which is like two nights at the O2 Arena sold out, then going on tour with it. It’s really, really picking up!
It’s fun – that’s what I like about country music, you can use lyrics that really make you laugh and that’s brilliant, listening to songs that make you laugh when you hear the story. I love it.
RL: Since you embody the country girl and cowgirl aesthetic really well, you have a song called America and Back in Tennessee, you’ve also travelled to Nashville for regular recording sessions. With the low count of people who listen to country music in the UK statistically, would you ever envision yourself settling down somewhere in the South of the US and pursuing country music further from there; would those statistics ever have an impact on your decision?
HMK: I wouldn’t say no, put it that way. I’ve been building it up here, but if some opportunity came up in the US, I would pick it up in a second. I really do love it. Nashville specifically, the quality of writers out there is amazing. The quality of the production, too. If you want to be an actor, you go to LA, if you want to make music, go to Nashville. The whole city is built for listening to live music. It’s something that I’ve never experienced anywhere else, where the whole town is built for music.
RL: Writing music is your form of emotional healing. Some people might lead a journal, others talk to their closest people. When writing such personal songs, does it ever intimidate you to release that out into the world, and then perform it?
HMK: You know, I’ve never really worried about how anyone thinks of me, or about me. I just make songs that I like and hopefully, other people like them. I’m not questioning myself to be like ‘Oh, are people going to judge me?’, because I do find songs that are the truth, to be the best songs. I can only write what I know, which is why when I wrote songs for other people, I didn’t love those songs and they didn’t touch me. You can write and say something, but when you write a song because you need to get it out of your system, with something to say, it feels so good! If no one else likes it, and it only sat as a demo on my phone, that’s fine too!
RL: You recently released your song, My Girls (love me better), singing a song of gratitude for your friends. In history and popular culture, there’s an everlasting impression that a muse is romantic. Do you feel like non-romantic relationships and friendships can be and have been your personal muses?
HMK: The reason I wrote that song is because I had this realisation that the best relationships I have had in my life have been with my best girlfriends. We have loved each other since we met at 15 years old. We’ve seen each other get married, have kids, move away – we still ring each other every week, text every day, we look after each other, if one’s in trouble then we pick each other up. Whatever it is, even if it means going out for a drink, we’re there. We’re our biggest cheerleaders! I’m so grateful to have them, they’re always there to pick me up.
It’s funny because I was talking about relationships and sometimes they come and go, but the ones that last the longest are those friendships. Especially girls, we have this sisterhood together, where we overshare, telling each other we love each other. I felt that they deserve the song. I wrote so much about those that broke my heart, but what about those that really love me? That’s why I wrote about my family too, they’re the same – they’re such a big influence in my life, and so are my best friends. I always say when we play it at the show, my friends have and can love me more than any man ever has done.
RL: Your song, What good looks like, mentions the amazing and inspiring impact your parents have had on you growing up and as an adult. Aside from being your life mentors, how has their experience in music and show business prepared you, maybe what golden advice have they given you?
HMK: The advice is just always ‘follow what you love’. I don’t think that there’s anything more you can do than be passionate and be honest. Passion trumps everything. I never thought to myself that the goal is to be famous, I just want to make songs that I love. When you find your real thing, that you love to do, that is the success. Whether ten people or a million people are there, the success is finding something you love and hopefully being able to turn that into a job.
That was the main thing that I really learned from them. My parents weren’t trying to do anything other than what they loved.
What you do learn when your family is in entertainment is the reality of it. It makes you a lot more grounded and a bit less affected by people. Show business is less glamorous once you’ve seen behind the curtain. I don’t think that that was something they ever wanted for us, but just wanted us to try and pursue our passions, really. That is what I think makes people live the happiest lives – when you’re pushing for the thing you love the most.
RL: You mentioned for The Sun magazine that your parents’ relationship has set the bar incredibly high for your personal relationships. And with your dad who loves everything you do but your mum being more critical, as you’ve briefly explained both in The Sun and on the Twixmas panel on Loose Woman, do you think they have set the bar quite high for your creative path, or did they leave you to do your own thing that made you happy?
HMK: They definitely, like any parent, wanted us to be happy. Like I said, show-biz or fame isn’t necessarily happiness, it’s feeling fulfilled. Validation is nice but that’s not the goal. My dad always said to me that there’s a million people trying to do what you’re doing, so as long as you’re doing it with real integrity, kindness, love, and working really hard at it, something might just work out. My mum will be quite honest with me, if I’ve written a song that she thinks isn’t that great, she’ll just say ‘oh, you’ve done better’. But you need to hear that from someone too.
RL: Your brother, Roman Kemp, is younger than you but has also pursued a form of a musical lifestyle by becoming a radio host. You have also shown up together on the Celebrity Race Across The World. When growing up together, who had more musical influence over the other? Did you exchange music, favourite albums, did he copy your musical taste, did you copy his, or did you live in separate musical worlds?
HMK: When we were kids, it was a CD in the car. There was no Spotify, it was just a CD, but my brother has this amazing ability to memorise all the lyrics after listening to the song once. We used to listen to the Eminem album in the car, even though it’s so explicit (I don’t know why our mum let us listen to it), and he would be obsessed with learning the rap.
He’d do the voice, the impressions. We also had the Craig David album, making up dance routines together and we loved music. Our parents loved music, we just listened to it all the time.
We sometimes had a similar taste, going through young phases at like 12 or something, through an emo phase, listening to Sum 41 when it came out, or Linkin’ Park, and we both had the hoodies.
When Kanye’s first album came out, I took my brother to the concert since I was the older one that would be able to take him. We always shared our love for music, but never had the exact same taste.
RL: So, coming back to your music again, we have amazing artists in the country scene, especially in the USA. Chris Stapleton, Dolly Parton who continues to warm people’s hearts, Lainey Wilson, whom you’ve mentioned to listen to quite a lot. Who would be your dream future collaboration?
HMK: Honestly, Maren Morris. That album, I just sat in a room listening to it over and over again. I still think she’s dead cool. I’ve actually got a ticket to see her play for the first time next week. She’s so straight up and cool. I know she’s not super-country, and at the moment she’s gone a bit more pop, but I love her songwriting. We could be a similar age in our points or reference being the same. She’d be my number one girl.
RL: We’ve seen artists such as Chappell Roan, even Sabrina Carpenter – or Taylor Swift who famously made a shift from country to pop – experiment with genres. Would you ever consider venturing out into something different in the future? Or maybe you’ve tried it before?
HMK: I think so, because, sometimes I don’t know if I am country or not! I’m just writing songs that I like, then they just end up country. I like storytelling songs, but I could definitely see it swinging in a different way. I wrote a song called Fastforward which isn’t necessarily country, at the time I was just listening to a P!NK song, thinking how much I loved it, so it leant that way. I don’t think I’m glued to a particular thing, but country suits my sound. The country audience gets my songs. I listen to Absolute Country Radio all day, so there’s always an influence, too. I don’t know that I’m trying to write country, I’m just writing.
RL: What has been your favourite song that you’ve released so far? Maybe one you’re most excited to perform on your tour across the UK?
HMK: It’s always the latest song for some reason! When you listen back to older songs, you find things you’d like to change or do differently. I always really liked the song I wrote called She Looks Like Me. I’d like to potentially release another version, because it was only acoustic. I always liked that song, whether it was just because it was describing exactly what happened when I ran into an ex with someone new, and when I hear it, it still makes me feel that sick feeling, which I kind of like! It makes me a bit upset, so there’s something quite nice about listening to it. Obviously, my latest song, My Girls, I’m still enjoying and having fun.
RL: You have so much fun on stage with the audience, but you seem to have a great chemistry with your band too. What has been the most fun part of touring for you?
HMK: Honestly, it’s when you’re especially playing festivals, where people might not know your songs, you’re there for the first time, somewhere new. It’s the moment when you turn the crowd, and feel them smiling, laughing, dancing, clapping – that’s my best bit. My Girls, for example, I played at a festival last weekend. You know, it’s a new song, I’m still up and coming, people haven’t heard it, so I told them the story of what it’s about. By the second chorus, all the girls who were in a group with their friends came to the front, and started dancing. I just thought that ‘Yeah! That’s what I feel too, when I hear this song!’. At the end they were like, ‘These are my best friends!’ and I was like, perfect, this song is for you as well!
It’s quite terrifying, honestly, to play a show where you don’t know if anyone knows your songs, and you think that you have to entertain them for the next 45 minutes, hoping they like it, and everyone just stands still taking it in for the first time. But it’s that moment of turning a crowd, when you know you’ve got them and that they understand the song, they understand you and the joy you’re trying to bring.
RL: Where do you see your career in the next 10 years? What goals would you like to achieve?
HMK: It’s a tough one, because I’m not a massive goal-setter. I’m aware that the journey is the best bit, it’s doing those first-time things that is always going to be the best. I hope it continues to grow and build, but really, I’m looking forward to this as a journey.
I have learnt so much in the few years that, and it might sound lame, success is not a destination. You can set so many goals, have things checked off, but enjoying it is also a different thing. Getting there and doing the ideas, exploring where the possibilities are, it’s the best bit! I hope I can keep playing shows all the time, maybe have a little ranch in Nashville with a bunch of dogs and horses.
RL: Looking back on your life, what advice would you give to a younger Harleymoon?
HMK: I did have a lot of fun, it’s the truth, but I would’ve said to be more confident about putting my own songs out. I don’t really have any regrets in anything, and I’ve always found a way to make my life fun, so I don’t know if any different advice would’ve been useful! Probably, I just would’ve said to try singing my own songs.
Afterword
Wrapping up the interview, Harleymoon has expressed: “It’s a rodeo!”. Laying out what she’s envisioned for her tour, she says: “That’s the main thing I want at my shows: I don’t take myself seriously, I just want a fun life and that’s all I have as my motto! I want others around me to have fun, too, and it’s not just my show, it’s everyone’s show.”
Make sure to grab your tickets to see Harleymoon perform on her headline tour, before they disappear! She is set to appear in Glasgow’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on the 4th of December, at the Birmingham O2 Institute on the 5th of December, at the Manchester’s Deaf Institute on the 6th, then London’s Neon 194 on the 7th of December.
Bring your best friends, wear those cowboy hats, rock your boots, accent the outfits with bandanas, and get ready to join the Harleymoon Kemp’s Bad Dates and Heartbreaks musical rodeo. (I hope to see you there in Manchester!). The tour is a guaranteed good time to laugh with and celebrate your most cherished relationships, as well as rejoice in the country scene.
Big thank you to Harleymoon Kemp for having this wonderful conversation with me, and the insight into her work. With her intentions to release music on vinyl one day, make sure to keep up with Harleymoon’s work by following her social media, to never miss a show, analogue music releases or new music announcements.
Harleymoon Kemp Tickets | Friday 05 December 2025 at 18:00
Harleymoon Kemp Tickets | Saturday 06 December 2025 at 19:00
AXS GB – Harleymoon Kemp – London – Neon 194 – Sun, 7 Dec 2025, 00:00
Tickets for Harleymoon Kemp | TicketWeb – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow , GB
Harleymoon Kemp (@harleymoonkemp) • Instagram photos and videos
Photograph provided by Ashleigh J. Reeves.
Sources for UK vs USA country listeners statistics:
Country music more than doubles its share of UK singles market – Music Ally
Research & Insights – CMA World – CMA Country Music Association
Article by Rozalia Lewandowska
