“There’s a disposable attitude to making music that’s prevalent these days”: Producer Danny L Harle says musicians must take time to reflect on their work – MusicTech

“That’s an undervalued thing,” says Harle.
Credit: Kieran Frost / Getty Images
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British producer Danny L Harle is shining a light on what he considers an “undervalued” skill among musicians today: taking the time to listen and reflect on one’s own music.
Harle, who co-produced Dua Lipa’s 2024 hit album Radical Optimism and worked with the likes of Charli XCX and Caroline Polachek, is currently lending his expertise to the Amex Unsigned initiative — a mentorship program offering six unsigned artists the chance to work with him at London’s iconic Metropolis Studios.
In a new interview with MusicRadar, the producer opens up about the creative mindset he hopes to pass on to young talents and why mentoring matters to him on a personal level.
“I’m very reluctant to get involved with these sorts of processes unless I feel like I can actually contribute something that’s of worth,” Harle explains, “but this exact form of mentoring is a process that I’ve personally benefited from in my past.”
“It’s so helpful to take the time to listen to your own work in a studio and reflect back on your entire project — that’s an undervalued thing,” he adds. “There’s a disposable attitude to making music that’s prevalent these days, whereas I think that for young people, there needs to be a sense of respect to one’s own development that should be projected by older people as well.”
According to Harle, artistic growth rarely happens in isolation. Creative breakthroughs don’t just come from long hours alone, he argues, but from sharing, dialogue, and accountability.
“It’s very hard to do that on your own, just to sit down and listen to everything you’ve done. You almost need the discipline of someone else in the room to properly do that. Listening in the room with someone else, you know what’s wrong with the music, if there’s something wrong. You know if it’s really good almost before you’ve played it.”
Sometimes, he says, it’s less about feedback and more about giving encouragement when it matters most.
“When you’re making your own thing, sometimes it’s quite a lonely process, and it can be really helpful for someone to just listen to what you’re making and be like, ‘this is really good’,” Harle says. “When someone’s making amazing stuff, it can be really valuable to just tell them: ‘Just keep doing that — you’re doing your thing, that’s all one can do.’”
Still, the producer acknowledges that honesty is just as crucial, particularly when it comes to keeping artists from becoming complacent.
“Sadly, it can be really useful to hear someone tell you that you can do better,” he says. “I wouldn’t just say that to anyone; I’d make sure that they’re somebody who’s in a position to take it, or somebody that knows me well enough. But that’s an important thing for some people to hear as well, because some people that achieve a certain level of success can start to rest on their laurels.”
“They need someone to come in the studio and say, ‘you could be pushing a bit harder here’. That’s what me and my friends are like, we push each other in a really good way.”
Learn more about the Amex Unsigned initiative at American Express.
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