Harlee Torres: Pursuing Music as an Extension of Self
Harlee Torres, a senior bass performance major with a minor in MBET, has always marveled at the idea of pursuing music. Her background is of Lithuanian-Jewish and Puerto Rican heritage, which she incorporates into her personal and creative life. She was given an acoustic guitar when she was nine years old and immediately fell in love. Her introduction to bass was much later in high school during her school's jazz band auditions. "I honestly hated playing bass until two years ago," she said. "I've had excellent teachers during my time in college that really showed me that I'm capable of being a good musician, and from there, bass has become an extension of myself."
Moving from Levittown, NY to Philadelphia for school was a bit disorienting for Harlee, especially since she had never been to Philadelphia before she auditioned for school. "The hardest part of moving here was getting used to truly being on my own and understanding how to carry myself as I gained independence," she said. But she soon grew to love the city's slower pace compared to New York City.
Harlee Torres
Since moving to Philadelphia, Harlee has had the opportunity to play for a variety of artists such as Julia Pratt, Brianna Knight, Cam the Artisan, and Makeout Grrl among many other wonderful musicians. "Philadelphia's music scene is so diverse and refreshing compared to a lot of other cities. It has truly inspired me to dive into all different genres in my own songwriting," she said. Harlee finds inspiration in the city's diverse and refreshing music scene.
Harlee just got off of her first national tour playing for Julia Pratt. "It was my first tour ever, and it was really nerve-racking to think about being alone on the road for a month. I'm so grateful to have had this experience, but it was a bit frightening to mentally prepare for," she said. However, she believes that all challenges are opportunities to gain knowledge and see a situation from a different perspective.
When asked to describe her artistic expression/exploration in three words, Harlee said "blurry, introspective and inspiring." She finds that exploring both sides of her background in her own time has allowed her to feel more comfortable in her skin. "I still struggle with figuring out where I belong, but ultimately there is no specific way to look, act, or know. It's just what I connect with the most in both of my cultures," she said.
As for her future plans, Harlee hopes to have the opportunity to be a touring musician full time. "In the near future, I'm looking forward to promoting my debut single, 'Call Me Again' which is available on all digital music platforms! It's a fun little disco track I wrote with my good friend/producer Satchel Schwartz. We've been working on it on and off for about six months now, and it feels so good to finally put it out!" she said.