We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hammond’s Folly. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hammond’s below.

Kyle Harrison, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I guess I was always a creative. I started playing music at age 12, and soon after started writing some pretty not-great lyrics and poetry.

After high school, I went to Baruch College, a small business school on 25th street in New York. I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, but I heard you could make a lot of money in investment banking, so I decided to pursue that. I networked and interviewed at a lot of the big banks in the city and, while I genuinely had an interest in economics and financial markets, I slowly learned I wouldn’t have been very good at the job.

Around the time of this realization, I started a couple small e-commerce companies with some friends from school. One of the companies imported and sold handmade, leather bags, the other partnered with a roaster and sold high-end coffee beans.

As we were building the companies, someone needed to handle the branding. I thought, “I’ve written music and poetry, how hard could a website be?” So I began writing copy for the site and, turns out, I wasn’t terrible at it. Someone told me one day, “You know, this is a job right? ” And I was like, “Cool, I’ll be a writer then.”

So I swapped out my blue suits and dress shoes for t-shirts and Vans and decided to become a creative.

Kyle Harrison, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m in a fortunate position where I earn my living as a creative, while still having the time and freedom to pursue my music and personal creative ventures.

Professionally, I’m a writer. More specifically: I get hired as a freelance writer at brands and ad agencies to think of big ideas (films, TV campaigns, PR stunts, and so on) then write scripts, headlines, branding, and so on. I’ve helped create films for brands like Facebook, Verizon, and Peloton, launched a Super Bowl campaign for Honda, and even created an Emmy-winning short film for the National Alliance on Mental Illness featuring Sarah Jessica Parker and Sufjan Stevens.

Outside of all that, I’m a folk singer and songwriter. It all started in New York, where I spent years playing traditional Irish music in pubs across the city. Since then, I’ve released multiple albums and singles under the artist name Hammond’s Folly. My songwriting pulls from a range of traditional music and melodies, with some of my major influences including Jean Ritchie, Bill Staines, the Clancy Brothers, Pete Seeger, and more. Once the pandemic hit and work went remote, I moved from southern California to Nashville with my now-fiance to pursue music even more.

Beyond that, I’m currently helping to produce a feature film, I’ve been a part of a few viral street art projects in New York, and I’m a landlocked surfer. Go figure.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

It’s fun.

I think so many people spend Sunday night dreading having to work the next day. Is thinking of dumb ideas and writing scripts better than doing nothing on a Sunday? No, but I rarely find myself dreading having to work.

I think that’s pretty rare and pretty cool.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When I moved to LA from New York in 2019, I really wanted to start writing music for pop artists. I thought it was the best chance I had at writing something that would gain notoriety.

I did it for a while, but eventually realized I didn’t even like the music I was writing. I was after trying to write a hit vs writing something I actually cared about.

So I decided then that music would always be for me. I was going to write what I liked, not what I thought other people would like.

Obviously, I still write plenty for other people in my job. But when it comes to music, it’s a nice feeling not worrying about how my music will be received, but rather how happy I am with it.

Contact Info:

• Website: kyledouglasharrison.com / hammondsfolly.com
• Instagram: @hammondsfolly
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyledouglasharrison/