Chameleon: "I’m more confident in the sound I’m making and the world I’m building"

Chameleon is an appropriate moniker for genre-defying Irishman Matthew Harris, a Dun Laoghaire native who skilfully mixes styles such as hip-hop, R&B and yacht rock. The young singer, musician and producer continues to attract national attention as he explores his eclectic range.

“I decided to put meaning into the name rather than needing the name to have a lot of meaning,” says Harris of his adopted moniker. “I was still in college studying English and film, and I saved this Shakespeare quote on my phone. It’s super pretentious and annoying, but it said, ‘I can add colours to the chameleon’, which I thought was cool. I thought it represented boldness and confidence.”

By 2021, Harris was ready to live up to the newly acquired stage name, slipping into his chameleon skin as he transitioned from the role of producer – working behind the scenes with artists like Malaki, Nealo, Jeorge II and Gemma Bradley – to acclaimed solo artist.

“Stepping into the artist realm certainly challenged me, in terms of having to think about how I was going to represent myself on a track or a project,” Harris explains. “I had to become more comfortable with putting myself in the public eye, and having opinions, a look and being on social media.”

In a matter of months, Harris found himself in the national spotlight, winning the widely coveted title of A New Local Hero during Irish Music Month 2021.

Hot Press' editor Niall Stokes presents Chameleon with the 2021 a New Local Hero award

“The award came at a really good time for me,” he notes, “because I was just starting to write as an artist rather than a producer. The opportunities that came with it were such a big springboard. I’m more confident in the sound I’m making and the world I’m building.”

Bolstered by the success of his Rubyworks-backed single ‘Show Me Where Your Heart Is’ from 2022, Chameleon recently returned to streaming with latest offering ‘The Ransom’. Having already garnered over 74,000 streams on Spotify, the track boasts a Radiohead-style abrasiveness, adding a new dimension to Harris’ output.

"‘The Ransom’ came from a trip I took to Donegal for five weeks to reset,” he recalls. “I felt quite creatively lost with the Chameleon stuff. When I came back from that trip, this was the first song that spilled out from the experience. I felt sure of the new sound I was moving towards, specifically in relation to vocals. Because as a producer, I have always – and probably will always – make a lot of different sounding stuff, and cross into a lot of different genres.

“One of the things I realised when I was away, was that I could link it all together through storytelling and voice, so I wanted to hone in on what kind of vocal sound I wanted. In ‘The Ransom’, you hear this creepy, almost jeering voice, which trying to bring more into the Chameleon character – in order to explore other aspects of myself that may be uglier.”

• ‘The Ransom’ is out now. 

Check out our interview with Chameleon, our festival feature and more in the latest issue of Hot Press: