From Bedroom Folk to Indie Rock: Inside the World of Amelia Harvey

From the quiet corners of her bedroom in Exeter, 17-year-old Amelia Harvey is crafting a sound that’s anything but small. Blending the intimacy of folk with the grit of indie rock and the raw honesty of diary-like songwriting, Harvey is part of a new wave of DIY musicians redefining what it means to come of age in public. Influenced by the likes of Beabadoobee, Gracie Abrams and Pavement, she dropped her debut single You+me in July 2024—and with her first EP Missed Calls on the horizon, she’s just getting started. We caught up with the genre-defying songwriter to talk late-night demos, teenage feelings, and the art of making music from the inside out.

Your songs feel like diary entries—intimate, honest, and raw. What’s your writing process like, and how do you know when a song is “finished” enough to share with the world?

“For most of my songs, I come up with lyrics throughout the day—maybe a word or phrase comes to mind—and I build around the feeling it involves. I sit with my guitar, work out chords and melodies, and it grows from there. I also keep a diary, and a lot of my lyrics are taken directly from that, which adds to the confessional, honest feel—especially with the more romantic songs.

I usually start with the chorus or bridge and work backwards, but sometimes the intro comes first if it feels like the obvious starting point. It can take 15 minutes or a month to finish a song. Once I feel like I’ve finished writing, I’ll play it over and over—if nothing feels like it needs to change, then it’s done.”

You’ve mentioned influences like Beabadoobee, Gracie Abrams, and Pavement. How do those different sounds shape the music you're making now, especially as you move from folk into more indie rock territory?

“Beabadoobee really sparked my passion for making music. I discovered her through Coffee, and it inspired me to write You+me, the first proper song I made after teaching myself guitar. Her EPs like Loveworm and Fake It Flowers really influenced my writing style and the emotional warmth I try to bring into my own love songs—especially with a track like Your girl.

Gracie Abrams has also been a big influence. I love her raw vocals and how she captures emotion, especially on Good Riddance. The harmonies and feel of that record definitely inspired Shoreline. As I’ve shifted more into indie rock, I’ve drawn from Pavement and also from Beabadoobee’s heavier side, like Space Cadet. My song Space song was originally written to be more rock-oriented before I adapted it to acoustic. I’m also really into Pinegrove—their mix of honesty, folk, and alt-rock has definitely shaped where I’m heading next.”

Recording and producing in your bedroom gives your tracks a really personal feel. What have been some of the biggest challenges—or freedoms—of making music in that space?

“One of the biggest challenges has definitely been the technical side of production. I’m not super techy, so learning mixing and audio engineering has taken a lot of time and trial and error. But it’s also been incredibly rewarding. Everything I’ve made has come from hours spent alone in my room, just me and my music, and I think there’s something really special about that. You can definitely hear the growth when I listen back through older tracks compared to now, and I’ve learned so much just by experimenting.”

Your debut single “You+me” captured a moment of young love so vividly. How does your upcoming EP Missed Calls build on that—either thematically or sonically?

“This EP is a little different in that there aren’t really any straightforward love songs, but love still appears as a theme. Missed Calls is more about different emotions and experiences—some tracks are more like Shoreline, soft and reflective, while others lean into that indie/rock energy I’ve been exploring.

Even though the sound shifts a bit, every track is still personal and rooted in real moments from my life. Like You+me, they’re still capturing a feeling—but maybe with more variety in what those feelings are.”

At just 17, you’re already writing and producing your own work. Where do you see your music evolving next, and what kind of stories do you want to tell as you grow as an artist?

“I’d love to collaborate with other artists and keep learning—both technically and creatively. Right now, I have this really sweet, tight-knit online community around my music, and I’d love to grow that and help more people find comfort in what I’m making.

Live shows are a big next step for me. And genre-wise, I definitely want to keep experimenting—maybe blending folk and rock even more, or trying out entirely new sounds. I already have my next EP in the works after Missed Calls, and hopefully one day, a full studio album. I have so many stories I want to tell—it’s just about finding the right way to tell them.”