A Little Jaded - Season 2, Episode 3

Jade: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to A Little Jaded. We're so excited to have you here for the November edition of an Artist Spotlight. Our Artist Spotlight is Harry Styles today. But first, I'm going to let Joanna introduce herself. 

Joanna: Hi, guys. I'm Joanna, your cohost and the Executive VP here at Jaded. And I could not be more excited to talk about this man right now. Anybody who knows me, Jade, just the entire Jaded team. We're just all big Harry stans, of course. And we know that a lot of our listeners are as well. If you're not into Harry Styles, what are you doing? You need to listen to him right now! And we're bringing you this episode in honor of the close of the iconic Love on Tour. A U.S. sensation of a tour. It's insane. So, yes, I am so excited. 

Jade: Yes, the U.S. closed for now, but we'll get into that. We're really excited to bring you this episode because as Joanna said, I feel like most people now are big Harry Styles fans. So, Joanna, do you want to kind of jump into your experience with being a Harry fan up until now?

Joanna: Yeah, of course. So I started off as a huge One Direction fan back in the day. I discovered them after they had already been on the X Factor. So around the time when they had released “What Makes You Beautiful”, “One Thing” was my personal favorite back in the day. And one of my first experiences of seeing a music video release was “Live While We’re Young” by One Direction, like the day it released, like, at ten in the morning or something. I watched it on my little, like, touch screen T-Mobile phone that was like a hand-me-down, and I was so excited about it. And Harry was always my favorite, from day one. Everyone was always like, “oh, I'm a Zayn girl”. And I was like, “Nope. It's all about Harry in my eyes”, chuckles

But, yeah, I was a big One Direction fan. And then obviously all the boys started going solo and everything after they went on their “so-called hiatus”. But they haven't come back yet or whatever, but yeah. So when he came back, obviously a “Sign of the Times”, “Sweet Creature”, everything was so iconic. And I was lucky enough to see him in 2018 when he went on tour for Live on Tour. Unfortunately, I never got to see One Direction when they were a band in concert. So that was just a really surreal experience for me because I had been a fan of his for almost ten years at this point, and I had never gone to see him actually sing live. And he sang a lot of One Direction songs, like, “What Makes You Beautiful”, “Stockholm Syndrome”, “If I Can Fly”, which is my personal favorite. And so it was just a really awesome full circle moment. And I remember before the show started, he had “Olivia” on the pre-show playlist, and everybody just started singing, and I felt so included. And I feel like coming to now with the Fine Line era and everything, I feel like one of the biggest reasons why I decided to go into the music industry is because I found a really big community within the Harry Styles fandom, and I found a lot of people who made me feel like I was a part of something. And I feel like he does that with a lot of people. So I think that's why I'm such a big fan. I will always be a fan of his. And by the time this has come out, I would have seen him on his tour, for Love on Tour. I haven't seen him just yet. But as of right now, when we're recording this, I'll be seeing him in ten days, and I could not be more excited.

Jade: Love it. I love it. I haven't had much of… I can't say it's been that long, because Joanna’s definitely been longer. I don't know. My For You page showed me a Harry Styles video one day, and I was like, “okay, cool”. Maybe I gave it a like, maybe I didn't, I don't know. Maybe I watched it twice. I have no idea. I forget, because all of a sudden they just started popping up more. And I was like, “What's happening?” It was early 2020. I'm pretty sure Quarantine had just started. So I was like, “Hmm… Okay, fine”. So then I listened to… Actually, no wait backtrack, because my best friend had just bought tickets with her friend to see Harry, and for Love on Tour, when the tickets originally went on sale, and I was like, “okay, that's cool. Have fun to you guys”. And she was like, “Just like, listen to the album, Jade”. And I was like, “Fine, give me one song to listen to, and I'll listen to it, I guess”, so then she was like, “Fine line. Listen to “Fine Line’”. And I was like, “Okay, fine… line. No pun intended”. chuckles But then I was like, “Okay, cool”. So I listened to it, and I was like, “No way, because this is going to be the ending song for the tour”. I was like, I literally texted her that day, and I said, “Hey, Lauren, I think this is going to be the ending song. Please let me know if I'm right when you go to the concert, because I really just want to know if he closes on that song”, because the trumpets, everything just makes it, like, perfect for it. And she was like, “All right, will do, will do. But do you like it?” And I was like, “Yes”. So then from there, I was just like, more videos popped up on my For You page, and I was like, so now I call myself a fan, but yeah, and as of right now, I saw him in Pittsburgh on the 14th of October, I want to say it was, maybe the 16th. No, I think it was the 14th, 14th of October. I saw him in Pittsburgh. It was great. Yeah. It was really great. I kind of blacked out. I can't really remember much, but it was great because, you know, that weird concert feeling. It's like there's literally nothing. You just black out in a way that your mind doesn't remember any of it, like, the lights come on. And, like, “Humble”’s playing. You're just like, “What?” chuckles But anyway, so I wanted to talk about this a little bit because our Artist Spotlights are usually going through the artist's career to where they are now, and were they successful then? Are they successful now? And, like, everything in between. So I want to ask you, Joanna, because I wasn't really paying attention when One Direction was around. Was Harry Styles the most popular?

Joanna: Oof. This is always such a big topic, I feel like within the fandom. I don't want to say he was necessarily the most popular, at least within the fandom, I feel like it was very equal. There was a big amount of people who were like, Louis fans, Niall fans, Zayn fans, and everything in between. Everybody loved everybody and appreciated them all. But I feel like from an outside perspective and in the mainstream media, I think that Harry was definitely very pushed. And he was always like the front and center one. And I think even back in the day when they were nominated for awards, like on the Kids Choice Awards and stuff, I remember they would have a picture. They would say One Direction, and it would just be a picture of Harry, as if he's the main guy, when obviously they never established that there was, like, “a main.” They were all equals, there's five of them. And I just remember even now, when you think of One Direction, you think of, like, Harry Styles. He was just always so pushed. I feel like and I think that from the beginning, there were always people trying to pull scandals out of him. And he was definitely labeled as a “womanizer”. And everybody would always go to him with the first question on the interviews, and they would always ask about whatever. It's very interesting now. Looking back, I feel like back then, I didn't really care that much because, like I said, he was my favorite. And I was like a 13 year old girl. I was like, “Heck, yeah, he's getting all the attention”. But now looking back, especially from a music industry perspective, it's just like, kind of it was really unfair. And I feel like with boy bands in general, I feel like people always want to pinpoint one person. They always want to put all eyes on one person. And I definitely think that he was that person, whether it was because of looks, or voice, or personality. He was just always like that guy.

Jade: Definitely. I didn't pay much attention to One Direction. I was a big Justine Bieber fan. So I thought it was like an either-or type thing. And I was like, “I’m already a Justin Bieber fan, and I will ride this train until the wheels follow off”. both laugh So I was like, whatever. But I remember hearing Harry Styles more than anybody else's name, like from the band. My sister was a Zayn fan, though, so I heard a lot about Zayn too, but her friend was a big Harry Styles fan. So it was like, between Zayn and Harry, I didn't even know that there were other people in the band. I was just like, “It seems like there's only two guys, but I don't know”. So it's kind of crazy. So I'm pretty sure… how many songs did he write and which ones were they? I want to say that they were, at least from what I can remember. I know it was “Stockholm Syndrome”, right? “If I Could Fly”, right?

Joanna: Oh, yes.

Jade: That's where you lose me a little bit more.

Joanna: laughs Yeah, so definitely… Their first few songs, like the first few albums, was not a lot of them in general, like any of the guys did a lot of the writing, because they were set up to be this boy band. They were just handed a lot of their songs, which is super common when you look at all boy bands. That just happens all the time. And definitely, as they got older, they started writing a lot more. And a lot of the songs that are my personal favorites are a lot of songs that Harry did a lot of the writing on. I think now looking back at the songs that he wrote then and looking at how his songwriting has evolved now, I think it's really interesting and you can really see the similarities, but a lot of the songs, or some of the songs that he wrote was he did “Happily”, which is one of my personal favorites also. I don't think he was completely like the one writer on this, I think it was him while working with another professional writer. So I know he had “Stockholm Syndrome”, “If I Could Fly”… what else would he do? I feel like I have a list of these somewhere, but I don't remember, but yes, he definitely did write a lot of the songs, and I think a lot of them contributed a lot to a lot of the songwriting, especially Louis. He actually did a lot of songwriting, which is awesome.

Jade: Yeah. I was scrolling to the end of a lot of, if you're an Apple music listener, I scroll to the bottom of the lyrics to see who wrote the song. And it's kind of cool because you get to see who wrote together the most and who even wrote the song. And it's pretty cool because I feel like he wrote a good many of them, and a good many of them are very popular. I feel like his writing style now is definitely different, but also the songs that he wrote from One Direction are really unique in a sense that his writing style now probably evolved from the writing that he did in One Direction. If that makes sense. 

Joanna: Yeah, for sure. I definitely think that a lot of the songs that he wrote, he's just a very good storyteller. He's very good at making you feel your feelings, if that makes sense. Like when you think of “Happily”, I'm not in a relationship, I don't relate to that, but when I hear that song, I just want to scream it at the top of my lungs and cry. Same thing with “If I Could Fly”, I feel like he's just… something that's always made him stick out amongst them. At least I would say in my eyes. And I think that a lot of people would agree that he's always been great with showing his personality to other people. And I think that that's why the media would focus on him and why people really were drawn to him. It's just like something about his personality… It draws you in. He's such a charismatic person, and his songwriting is just so detailed. And I don't know, he really makes you feel like you know him in a way, he doesn't seem intimidating. And I think that that's why a lot of people want to be fans of him, because they genuinely like him.

Jade: As my One Direction expert, would you say that… both laugh

Joanna: I mean, I don't know if I am, but I'll take the title!

Jade: As my personal One Direction expert, because I've got some questions for you. You know what I mean? As not being able to witness it, I could go back and I could do my own research type thing, but it feels different when you're there and you catch little nuances that you wouldn't catch how many years from now, six years from now or wherever we're at. And so would you say that in a way, that the fandom, because I want to talk a little bit about the One Direction fandom. Do you think that most of them went off into their own lanes when the band split? Or would you say that most of them followed Harry? 

Joanna: I definitely think that it was a really equal mix. I definitely think that, obviously when they were in One Direction, they were kind of following one certain sound. They definitely branched out and they added a lot of different types of elements, like rock and just a bunch of different things. But they had one specific sound. And when you think about it, five individuals all next to each other, even if they're all friends, they are not all going to listen to exactly the same music or want to create exactly the same music. So I definitely think that Harry and Niall's music, I think, is a little bit more on the pop side, and it's a lot easier to listen to for a lot of people. Whereas Louis is definitely a little bit more like the alternative-rock type of vibe. And then Zayn is definitely more R&B. Liam is a little bit more like a pop, hip-hop type of vibe. And so I think that, at least from what I've seen, a lot of fans were very good about equally supporting who they want to support.

But I definitely think that Harry has, I think outside of the One Direction fandom, I think that he has done really well at standing out as his own artist outside of One Direction and building a fandom of people who, like, you weren't not necessarily a fan of One Direction, but they are just a fan of his music. So I think that that's why he's so successful now is that he's really been able to establish himself outside of that. But I don't know, I definitely think there were people who were definitely more biased. That's just natural. Everybody has their biases. And everybody wants to support the person who was their favorite and everything. But I've even seen TikToks where people will say, “I have Haary Styles posters all over my room, and I spend “x” amount of money on his merch, and I do this, and I do this, and I have a tattoo inspired by him”, and they're like, “Oh, so he was your favorite in One Direction?”. Like, “No, it was this person” both laugh I don't know. I think that he's just done really well at just creating this career for himself outside of One Direction. And I think that that's really impressive.

Jade: Definitely, definitely. I think that it's different now because it's like One Direction was such a huge thing. And now everybody is veering off in their own lanes and becoming their own huge things within their own fans, whether or not they were there from the point of One Direction or from now, you know what I mean? And I think that that's also something that's very interesting, which reminds me, I want to bring that back up when we talk about Love on Tour, because it's kind of interesting that Harry said that at his show, at least at my show, I don't know about everybody else's shows, but he was like, “I don't know if you've been here for, like, one year, two years, five years, eleven years. But, like, thanks anyway”, type thing. And I was like, that's interesting because I never hear artists acknowledge, like, the fact that their fan base is growing and not everybody was there from the beginning. I feel like they're only just supportive sometimes of the people that were there from the beginning, which is like, cool and everything. But it's like, what about all the people that are here now and spending money now, you know what I mean?

Joanna: Yeah. And that's where the issue of, like, gatekeeping definitely comes into the conversation where people will say, like, “Well, you weren't here from the beginning, so you can't say this”. And I'll say it as a joke. And it's funny to say it, but at the end of the day, you have to be proud of this person that you're supporting, that they are able to bring in these new audiences. And it doesn't matter if you aren't a fan of One Direction's music, like a lot of people will say it's not really their taste, and that's fine. But maybe his solo music is their taste and that's perfectly fine. You didn't have to be a supporter back then to be a supporter now. And I think that it shows a lot about an artist when they're able to build their fandom no matter what stage of their career that they're in. Like, he's been around in the public eye for over ten years. And I feel like he's only really beginning with his actual career. He only started getting bigger within the last year as a solo artist, even though One Direction was arguably one of the biggest bands in the world, he still basically had to start from the bottom-up to get to where he is now. And so, yeah, I think that a lot of people want to gatekeep, and they want to acknowledge, or, like you said, only acknowledge the older fans. But I think that no matter when you started being a fan, it's still valid because you're a fan. It's doesn’t really matter! And I think that it's cool that he also acknowledges that, because a lot can happen within ten years. And even when you look at TikTok, there's 13 year olds now who are Harry Styles fans. And ten years ago, they were like, two years old, which is insane to think about!

Jade: both laugh Some might not have even been born! laughs It makes me feel old!

Joanna: Literally! both laugh

Jade: It’s just crazy!

Joanna: They're still allowed to like somebody if they're just finding out.

Jade: Yes. I think the gatekeeping is a really big issue within fandoms. And I think if you guys know, like, Stan Twitter in 2013, you were fighting for your life. You know what I mean? You were like fighting for your life. “Who do you like?” You know what I mean? And “if you like this person, you can't like this person, and I'm going to keep this person forever”. You know what I mean? I think that it's just like, I don't know, because then when you gatekeep someone, not only are you keeping them from success, but you're keeping, from the music industry perspective, you're keeping their team from success, you're keeping everybody behind them from success. You're keeping yourself, in a way, from seeing them grow more. You know what I mean? There's so many shows I feel like that are getting added to this tour, even. And to like, so many other artists tour, because as they grow, you know what I mean? And it's just like, you're going to get more shows, you guys, if you don't keep as much. But I don't know, it'll still happen. It'll always happen. But that's okay. Anyway… laughs HS1, I want to talk about it. I'm really interested in talking about it. So I know… which song does it start with? Do we know? Do I need to look this up or do you know it?

Joanna: From the top of the track list? It starts with “Meet Me in the Hallway”.

Jade: Does it?

Joanna: And that is one of my personal favorites.

Jade: Same. Exactly. So what was the lead single off of HS1? I should have done more research, but I think it was “Sign of the Times”. chuckles

Joanna: It was definitely “Sign of the Times”, especially because it was his debut single. It was definitely like the biggest one. It was definitely the one that was the most played on the radio, which is interesting because it's not the type of song you would really hear on the radio… I don't know. I say that, but at the same time, when you look at artists like Adele, I feel like she was definitely somebody who also kind of pushed that barrier where she had, like, a lot of soulful songs, like “Someone Like You”, these big heartfelt ballads that you wouldn't want.... You would think you wouldn't want to listen to it on the radio because you don't want to listen to a sad song on the radio. But I think that yeah “Sign of the Times” was definitely the lead single, and it was his most successful single, definitely from that album. He only had three singles, I believe.

Jade: Yeah, I think one of them is “Kiwi”, which I heard was a flop in a lot of places, but I'm pretty sure it was shaking MSG like last week, so I don't think it’s much of a flop anymore.

Joanna: Yes. And that’s actually an interesting conversation about, like, from the outside perspective, outside of the fandom, a song might not be super successful, but within the fandom there's always those fan favorites.

Jade: Yeah! And I think that the way that he's grown too, the way that there's so many. It just feels like there's so many more fans now because I just know from personal experience being in Ticketmaster queues. I've never had such an issue being in a queue before and trying to get tickets before. I've never walked up to a queue and had the queue and had the entire arena be sold out by the time that I got into the Ticketmaster. It's just crazy, but… it's crazy. So I'm wondering now, you know what I mean? Because commercially and numbers wise, “Kiwi” quote, unquote “flopped”.

Joanna: It was the most successful of the three singles, which was “Kiwi” and “Sweet Creature”, but it was also his last single released, too. So I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but a lot of times like we were saying, not every type of music is going to be to your taste. Some people might really vibe with Fine Line, but they don't really vibe with HS1. Some people might vibe with one of the other members of One Direction’s music, but they didn't like Harry's and Harry's first album was definitely… back in the day it was not my favorite album. I still liked it, but I think that when it came out, I was 18 now I'm 21, so I definitely am so much more appreciative of it now. And like the musicality and the lyricism and just everything. I appreciate it so much more now. But back then I didn't dive into it as much. And I definitely didn't appreciate it as much. And I still saw him on tour and he was still amazing. And I was still singing along to the songs. But now HS1 and Fine Line like HS1 is getting up there as almost like my favorite. It's just such a good album. And yeah, I definitely think now because he's built his fandom like so much bigger than it was three years ago. It's coming back. And a lot of people are appreciating these songs, like “Kiwi” and “Only Angel”, which is my personal favorite. And back then it definitely, like, he was playing small general admission shows. And like you said, it wasn't like a battle to the death trying to get tickets at all. It was actually pretty easy from what I remember getting tickets to see him. And now you're literally in the queue for 20 minutes and you might get a nosebleed, which is insane.

Jade: Yeah. And then it's crazy because I can't fathom that somebody is that big. You know what I mean? Because think about it. I've been a Justin Bieber fan forever and his Purpose Tour, which was arguably, I mean I don't think he's torn since.

Joanna: No, he hasn't. He's going to.

Jade: Yeah, he hasn't. And so it was like the biggest tour of his career in a way, because then he started playing stadiums and it wasn't even that hard. And it was just crazy because there was no queue whatsoever. I didn't buy them. I was at school, so my parents bought them. But I can't recall there being a queue. So now, to go from you're lucky to get a ticket less than $300, and the box office line is about 5 hours long, if anyone’s wondering…

Joanna: laughs From personal experience!

Jade: From personal experience, box office it is about 5 hours long, and they will shut the doors and tell you that there's no tickets left. Hold out, guys, hold out. both laugh And it's just crazy because it's hard for me to wrap my head around. Like, how is somebody that big? That everybody in every city… it's just giant. And you know, like Harry Styles is in town. And here's why. Because everybody… is just- it’s a fashion show. It's crazy to go from, like you said, HS1 being like these smaller venues to Love on Tour, being like giant. He needs to add more shows! You know what I mean- because people will buy the tickets! It's crazy. Wow. I just can't believe it. But back to the lead single because I feel like we skimmed it and then we didn't even- But the “Sign of the Times”, you’re right. It was on the radio for a really long time. And it wasn't like an expected radio hit, which was weird. And maybe “Kiwi” was so underrated in a way, that “Sign of the Times”, everybody was expecting a “Sign of the Times”-type of song. And then they just, and then “Kiwi” came out? I don't know? We'll never know. But on “Sign of The Times”, I feel like it was huge. And I saw the music video actually, before I was a fan. I feel like that music video was big too. And I kind of want to talk about why it was so big.

Joanna: Yeah. I definitely think that well, talking about all the singles, like from a music industry standpoint, you could definitely tell he was trying to show his versatility as an artist. When you look at all the different singles, “Sign of the Times”, which was like a heartfelt rock ballad. And then you look at “Sweet Creature”, which is like this super nice, almost acoustic type of vibe, like love song. And then there's “Kiwi”, which is just this hardcore rock, like blasting it in your car type of vibe. And it was a really smart move because especially for him trying to make a name for himself outside of One Direction, he had to show that he had more to bring to the table than just “What Makes You Beautiful”, which is what most people think of when they think of One Direction, which is a banger. And if you think of that… good, it's a good song. But he wanted to establish himself as his own artist and all the different things that he can do by himself, as his own person. And so I think that's why he chose “Sign of the Times”, because One Direction, within their deep discography, T=that a lot of people who aren't big fans don't know, they definitely had songs that were like big heartfelt ballads, but nothing really like “Sign of the Times”. And that entire album was definitely very like 70s rock vibes. And it was really great. And it's definitely very inspired by artists that he loves, like Fleetwood Mac and things like that. So I think that's honestly, it's a big debate, like why Fine Line has definitely grown his career and been more successful than HS1, because… is Fine Line a little bit more on the pop-y side? I would say yes than HS1. But I think that for people who have been fans for a long time, they will gravitate a little bit more towards HS1 because it was just like a very personal album to him. You could definitely see that. 

Jade: And I also think that, with that, I think that it takes a lot, as you said earlier, he was growing from the ground up in a way because it was no longer One Direction, and it was just like: Harry Styles. I feel like him and his team and everybody behind him was trying to feel out how much weight that name carries. You know, what I mean, how many people are going to come to these shows? Is this album going to be huge? Is it going to be not huge? Is it going to be somewhere in the middle? You know what I mean? Because there's no real stats to go on, because any statistics that came with him had the One Direction name attached. So you don't know how much weight his name is going to carry by itself, which is why I feel like that album wasn't that big musically, it's probably not big, but it's amazing. So it's like why, commercially, why was Fine Line more successful? And I feel like that's just because not only is it like really good music, obviously, it's a Fine Line, everybody knows it. But I feel like he's just growing. You know what I mean? It's just growth, and for him it's just exponential. It's crazy. I think that it's just normal growing. You know what I mean? Starting out a little bit like down here and then, well, I guess people can't see my hand, but like starting off a little bit here laughs and then just growing and shooting up, like natural growth. Nobody's first thing is going to be giant…

Joanna: Unless you're Olivia Rodrigo. chuckles

Jade: Yeah, exactly. But even think back to like, because this is what I can reference as Justin Bieber. Like, My World wasn't like giant “One Time” was on it, which was pretty big. But once the “Baby” came out on My World 2.0, it was over. You know what I mean? I feel like that's kind of how “Watermelon Sugar” was, like “Sign of the Times” was big, “Watermelon Sugar”: giant. laughs You know?

Joanna: Actually, Harry's first number one single, he didn't have any number one singles on HS1, which, if anybody's confused on why we're saying HS1, it's because his first album is a self-titled album, so it's just called Harry Styles by Harry Styles. And within the fandom, people either say “Self-Titles” or “HS1”, but it's more of a universal term within the fan to just say HS1, so that's what we mean. But yes, in HS1, he didn't have any number one singles, even though “Sign of the Times” was huge, like you said, just because it was his debut, doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a big pop off. And his first number one single was actually “Adore You”, which was not even his first single from Fine Line. It wasn't even his second single. It was his third single! “Watermelon Sugar” was his second single, and it still was not number one when it first dropped.

Jade: What's number one?

Joanna: The first single was “Lights Up”.

Jade: No… was it?

Joanna: Yeah! Are you kidding me?

Jade: Okay well, I believe it, I believe it! I wasn't witnessing it.

Joanna: No… I guess this is like a good segue-way into talking about the Fine Line era.

Jade: It is.

Joanna: But yes, “Lights Up” was the first. It was his first single since HS1. So by then, it had pretty much been, like a year since he had released music, because obviously, when he was on tour, he wasn't releasing any music. He was just touring the album that he already had out. And so “Lights Up”, there was no build up whatsoever. It was just “this being dropped tonight”. That was it. Nobody knew anything. And then everybody went insane because they were like, “what is this?” And of course, it was “Lights Up”, which was completely different from what we had heard before. And because of the big tagline was “do you know who you are?” And so everybody was just like, “wow”. And then he had the whole marketing thing with his website. And it was a huge thing. And so that was definitely like, I think it was the best way for him to enter this new era, because he was showing that, again, he is so versatile with his music, he's able to switch, he's able to grow. He's able to grow as a person. And that's the whole, like, “do you know who you are” thing. You're growing into the person that you're going to be. And within these past two years, he's grown so much. He has broken so many barriers within fashion, music, everything, he just keeps growing. And I think that that's why that was such an iconic moment for everybody. And then he goes into “Watermelon Sugar”, which this is completely different. And everyone is like, “wow, what is going on here?”

Jade: Yeah. No. Definitely. I think that the marketing campaign for “Lights Up”, and for Fine Line in general, was brilliant. You know what I mean, like with the posters, and I think there was a pop up shop, right?

Joanna: Yes. But I want to say that the pop up shop was not until the album was released. I want to say it was that same week that the Fine Line: “One Night Only” show was happening. I have friends who went, but it was in LA, so I didn't go. But that's why if you go on Hollywood Boulevard and you drive past the Live Nation building, it has the signs that say, “do you know who you are” and “treat people with kindness”. Those were put up because of the Fine Line campaign. And it's been almost two years! And they're still there.

Jade: That's awesome. He was just brilliant. You know what I mean? And then from “Lights Up” to “Watermelon Sugar”, and the “Watermelon Sugar” music video was huge.

Joanna: Oh yeah, and it’s a Grammy award winning song! 

Jade: Yes. Exactly. And then going into “Adore You”, I think I might have been around to witness the “Adore You” release? Not sure. But I just remember everybody was like, “Eroda… what is Eroda?” Because he dropped, for those people that don't know, he dropped just like “Eroda”. And everybody was really confused. And it ended up being like a made up island or something. And people eventually, actually, the fans cracked the code really quickly, and flipped around and realized that it spelled “Adore”. And then the music video came out and it was like a fish and island? And everybody's like, “Wait, what?” You know what I mean. But it was on an island- like Eroda, which is also brilliant. You know what I mean? Like, make up an island for yourself, because why not? Because you can, because you’re Harry Styles. And I think that the fans ate it up in a way. And everybody was trying to figure it out. And they definitely cracked fan engagement on that one, because it was huge. Everybody was engaged. You know what I mean? Everybody was like, “what is this?” Like trying to figure it out, which was really cool to go back and look at everybody kind of like, freaking out, trying to figure out what it was about.

Joanna: Yeah. And also for anybody who wasn't there when everything was going on. For each single, they revamped his website and they had this really cute little generator in it where you would put your name into it and then it would say, like, for me, it would say, like, “Joanna, you are strawberries on a summer evening”. It's just really cute little quotes from his songs. And when it was “Watermelon Sugar”, the entire thing was like watermelon themed. And when it was “Lights Up”, it was just black and white. It was, “do you know who you are?” And then when it was “Adore You”, it was different. And then he did the same thing with “Treat People With Kindness” and with “Golden”. It would say, like, “Jade, you are so golden”. Like, things like that. And it just made it so personable. And I think that even him and his team knew that they were going to go into this era full force running and that this was going to be his era where people would start paying more attention to him. Because like we said, even though everyone knows who Harry Styles is, that itself doesn't give you a successful music career. People can know who you are and not really listen to your music or not really vibe with your music. But he came in with all these marketing tactics, and he came in saying, like, “You're going to pay attention to me, and here's why”. And he released all these different songs, and every song was a hit. Every song stuck with somebody. And, yeah, it was genius. It was honestly, so good. And, like I said before, while the HS1 era was happening, I wasn't, like, a major stan, like, I am now. I always supported him. But once the Fine Line era started happening, I was so engaged. I was just like, “wow, what is all this going on?” And then from then, when the pandemic happened and everybody was on TikTok, I was super into the Harry Styles side of TikTok and everything. And it was just like, a big, massive growth in his community of fans. And it was insane to see, it’s insane to see how it's still growing even now.

Jade: Definitely. I think his marketing was absolutely genius. You know what I mean? And I think that the fact that they created so many of these “Easter egg” type things where it was like people had to crack the code, because then that would create tweets about it. And then that would create Instagram stories about it, Instagram posts about it, and then that would create, eventually, TikToks about it. You know what I mean? And then word would slowly be spread. You know what I mean, about Harry Styles and about Fine Line and about “go listen to the album guys”. And just, I feel like a lot more like it was a perfect storm in a way, because it was good music. He has a great personality. You know what I mean? He's super open. He makes people feel good about themselves, no matter who they are. It was just like a bunch of things swirling around to literally create the perfect storm of, like, “this guy's going to be huge”. You know what I mean? It is completely crazy.

Joanna: It was almost like a rebrand of himself, which is interesting, because even now going into, like, Love on Tour, looking at the outfits that he wears now, compared to the outfits that he would wear back then when he was doing the Live on Tour, fashion has always been a big thing with him, and he's always really stepped out with his fashion. But I think that he's really good at tailoring his outfits to that era, like HS1, it was all the suits. And then now with Fine Line, it's the trousers with the suspenders. That's just that vibe. And I think that his whole team is just really smart about that. Obviously, within the fandom, everybody wants a little bit of a switch up with his outfits and everything because they just want to see him wear cool outfits and everything. But I get it. It's like a branding of this era. And who knows what the next era's brand is going to be? And I think that that's why fans are so engaged, even now, if you're a fan and there's a concert going on that day, everybody, the second it turns. for me it's 06:00 p.m. PST or 09:00 p.m. EST, everyone is like “what's he wearing today”. It's a big thing. It's a whole conversation starter.

Jade: Yeah, exactly. And I think that's the perfect segue-way into Love on Tour, because it's crazy because thinking about, like you said, he wore the suits on Live on Tour, and now he's wearing the suspenders and the trousers, pants, whatever you call them on Love on Tour. You know what I mean? Because I feel like most people detect the artist's era by what they were wearing, or what they look like at that time.

Joanna: A specific image.

Jade; Exactly. There's a certain image in your head of, like, “okay, we know that's the Fine Line era. We understand that's HS1 era. We understand that that's the One Direction era”. 

Joanna: Yeah. Well, even thinking about artists like Ariana Grande, like the Sweetener/Thank U, Next you think of pink, like the big, poofy pink outfits that she wore, when you think of Dangerous Women, you think of the ears and black, like you think of very specific brands. And I think that that's a really smart way for people to really pay attention.

Jade: Exactly like when you think of Justin Bieber, My World 2.0, you think of the hair flip.

Joanna: Of course.

Jade: When you think of the Believe album, you think of, like,

Joanna: The hair!

Jade: The quiff, or whatever this was, whatever was going on with this hair. And Purpose, you think of, at least I think of, the buzz cut, you know what I mean? So it's like you define the artist's era that you were paying attention to by what they looked like in a way, like what they were defining themselves as, which is really cool again, from the marketing perspective, because they know what they're doing. These people are very skilled and they know what they're doing when they put him in suspenders and trousers every night. They know they're doing it. They know the drama that it is going to cause within the fandom every night, because everybody like you said, is like, “oh, my gosh, what's going on tonight?” You know what I mean! And it's cool, because again, it's like a sense of community within the fans. And being like, this was “my show” in quotes. It was “my show”, because you witnessed it and you were there for it, which makes it really cool. And I think that it differs greatly from Live on Tour in a way that it's huge. It's just huge.

Joanna: Yeah. Even the whole “To Be So Lonely” debate. If you're not in the fandom and you don't know, he has a song called “To Be So Lonely”. And it's such a great song. If you haven't heard it, you have to go listen to it. But for whatever reason, it's not on the main setlist, and immediately everybody was livid. They were like, “Why would you not put this on in the set list? Like, it's on the album that you're supposed to be touring. What is he doing?” It's such a fan favorite. He knows that, too, that fans love it. And for, like, the first, I want to say, like, five or six shows. He just didn't perform it at all. And everybody, it became a thing within the community. They would bring signs that would say, like, “justice for it “To Be So Lonely’”, “sing To Be So Lonely”, “why won't you sing To Be So Lonely?'“ chuckles And he would read them and he would give them, like, these good reactions. But he still wouldn't perform it. And it became a thing where everyone would say, like, “I'm going to go to the next show, or however amount of shows that I need to go to for him to sing it, because I need to see that song live”. And finally he started doing it. And it's still like, you might get it at the show, you might not get it at this show like, you don't really know. And it's honestly kind of an amazing move for his team, because the amount of fans, there's still like, the amount of fans who go to almost every show anyway, just because concerts haven't happened in two years, they want to have a good time and they love him. But people will go because they're like, “he didn't play it today on my show. Looks like I have to go to the next one so that I can see it”, which is frustrating when you're a fan. But if you think about it, it's really smart, because it's the same thing, like, everyone immediately they go on, Stan Twitter or TikTok, like, “Did he play To Be So Lonely? Is he playing to be so lonely?” Or people will talk about it instantly. And there's videos and tweets and everything.

Jade: You know, what's funny is that I was walking out of the Pittsburgh show and I heard somebody say, they were mad “To Be So Lonely” wasn’t on the set list, it didn't get played. And they're like, “ okay, where's he going tomorrow?” both laugh And I think I want to say it was back to MSG, and everybody was like, “okay, how do I get there? What’s the next plane out?” And I was like, okay, I was like, “oh, my gosh”, you really get to see, which was cool again about going to the concerts and just living in that world for a day is like, you get to see the hardcore commitment of all of these fans, because then it really emphasizes, at least for me, the amount of success that you hope that, for me as an artist manager, you hope that your artist has and just to see the impact of something like that. You dedicate your life to figuring out, to studying this, like, how can we make our artist the biggest possible thing and just going there and being like, “wow, he is the biggest possible thing right now. What is he doing to make these girls walk out of the show and say, “I need to go to another one ASAP?”’ It’s crazy! The culture of Love on Tour is crazy, especially with the fashion. I want to touch on this.

Joanna: I was going to say… speaking of community and fans really like rising up on social media and things like, there are Instagram accounts and TikTok accounts that are completely dedicated to showcasing outfits that people are wearing. There's one that I think is like, HSLOT, which is for anybody who doesn't know, HSLOT is short for Harry Styles Love on Tour, people will just say HSLOT. It says, like, HSLOT, like fashion or something like that. And it has over 14,000 followers on Instagram.

Jade: Shout out to them!

Joanna: Yeah! It’s insane. It's for them, and it's just them posting pictures of fans like what they're wearing to the shows. And it's insane how Harry has such an impact on people's fashion also. Like if you have seen the amount of people wearing pearls, or wearing sweater vests, or wearing trousers, or wearing rings, and necklaces, a big reason is because of Harry, and obviously you can't give him all the credit. It's just become a big trend. But a really big part of his style was the pearls. Even with that one cardigan with the different patchworks, the amount of people who paid to make it or paid to buy hundreds of dollars to buy that same cardigan just because they want the same one he has. He has such an impact on his fans, like, for whatever reason, whether it's personality or the music or whatever, he has so much of a draw within these communities. And I think that that's what's so special about the fashion at, like, these shows are people… sure they want to dress up just to dress up, but like, when I used to go to concerts, I would never put that much effort. I would never wear heels, I would never wear a suit, like, there's no way.

Jade: It’s a T shirt for me.

Joanna: Literally! For me, shorts, a T shirt, comfy shoes. That means I'm going to be dancing, I want to be comfortable, but it's literally become a fashion show. And I think that it's just because Harry is such a fashion icon now… people want to, I've seen people who are like, “I want to show him up at his own show. I want to look better than him at his show”, but also, it's just a sense of community, a sense of, like, everybody wanting to dress up as much as he dresses up, and wanting to just put on a show as much as he puts on the show. And I think that that's something that's really special because I feel like that's kind of setting a standard now for a lot of different things. Like, I'm a big 5 Seconds of Summer fan, and a lot of people have been like, “I see what you guys are wearing to LOT, what are we wearing to the “No Shame” tour, and everybody is starting to do that, they're starting to put more thought into the outfits for other things and starting to dress to the certain aesthetics of the artist. And I think that that's really special. And I really love that he's really doing that.

Jade: Yeah. And I feel like that's never really happened before.

Joanna: Not to this level.

Jade: Exactly! It's so big that I was nervous. I was like, “I don't really know what I'm going to wear.” You know what I mean? I was like, “a lot of people are probably going to be showing me up at this concert”. It's a lot of pressure because there's just so many gorgeous people there…

Joanna: You’re gorgeous. We're all gorgeous! Love ourselves. Harry Styles would want us to love ourselves!

Jade: There's just like, so many gorgeous people there, you know what I mean? And it's just like, “wow, where did this come from?” You know what I mean? I feel like it's just crazy, because it was like, who started this where it was like, “we're all going to dress up. But it's going to be like a fashion show concert type thing,” because I remember, like, walking around the venue and just everybody, and even with that, coupled with the fact that everybody's like that the whole fandom is like “Treat People with Kindness” just mixes into, like, a great atmosphere because it's just like, you're walking by people and they're like, “you look really cute”. And you;re like, “you too”. You know what I mean?

Joanna: That’s what’s so cool about it!

Jade: Such a great welcoming atmosphere.

Joanna: Yeah! It's literally just a big sense of community. And I feel like a lot of people, even those who are a part of multiple fandoms, feel like they've never had that sense of community within the fandom as much as it is now. And even before, like, I've been to Ariana Grande concerts, and I would see maybe one or two people who would come dressed all out and everything, but it would never be the entire arena. I even told my brother, who is also a Harry Styles fan, and he hears a lot about this stuff because of me because, obviously, I love talking about it. And I told him, “be prepared. It's going to be a fashion show. So just be warned, like this is not normal concert”. And I think part of it has to do with COVID. I think part of it has to do with the fact that there was so much anticipation building that everybody was just like, “this is not going to be a normal tour. This is going to be the tour. This is an event”. And I think that they were successful because now the outfits are insane. They're amazing. People create their own custom outfits. And I think that it's so special and it's so specific. The attire is so specific to his aesthetic. And I think that that's what's really cool, too.

Jade: No, it's really wonderful to see a whole sense of community come out of it and just be like… it's just great. It's a great atmosphere.

Joanna: It really is.

Jade: And it's just everybody is just doing what they want to do and just like being who they want to be for, like, 90 minutes. And it's really great. It's great. But if you didn't get to see him this time, just go next time. It's okay. Don't be too sad because it's probably going to be even more iconic for HS3. You know what I mean?

Joanna: Completely. Like I said, I feel like this is really only the beginning for him as an artist, which is insane, because I feel like, in our eyes, it's like he's so massive already. But if you think about it, he's only released two albums. That's not a lot. Look at Justin Bieber, look at Ariana Grande. They have, like, five.

Jade: Yeah, I think Justin Bieber is on like 8?

Joanna: Yeah. Look at Taylor Swift! Taylor Swift has, like, ten. Yeah, which is insane. This is really only his beginning. So it's insane to think about, like, if he's at this level now, what's he going to be like when he releases his next album? It's crazy.

Jade: It's crazy. It's really crazy to think about. And it's sad that it's now over, because there's no more “what's up? What’s going to be tonight”. But that's okay, because stay tuned for HS3, because we might have another spotlight on it. But, Joanna, this was so much fun to talk about, and I'm really happy about it.

Joanna: This has been my favorite, if you can't tell, we obviously were big fans of him, but it's just really interesting also looking at it from a non-biased perspective. Like looking at all the different things and like, why he's so successful. And this was my favorite Artist Spotlight by far. It was so great. I will gladly talk about Harry Styles for an hour, longer, however. laughs

Jade: Definitely, and if anybody knows what those bunnies mean on the shirt…

Joanna: Please tell me! Please.

Jade: We’ll figure it out eventually. But somebody like, if you know, because it's like, bothering me. I bought it. But it's bothering me because I'm like, “what does that even mean?” So if you know what it means, hit us up. laughs

Joanna: I would love to know, there's no correlation. Nothing to do with bunnies in any of his albums. Why? I don't know, Harry, if you're listening, let me know what's going on? both laughs

Jade: Yeah!

Joanna: That’d be great.

Jade: So that's awesome! This has been great. And this has been another episode of A Little Jaded.

Transcribed By: Mai Vo

Edited By: Joanna Serrano