Profilic Billy Harvey stations his songwriting in L.A.

Kevin Bronson on
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The songs of Billy Harvey often come off like lovingly fractured fairy tales, narratives and confessionals told with wry honesty and whimsical self-effacement. He can carry a pop tune too, as he’s displayed on five albums since 2003, and where his skills as a raconteur haven’t taken him, his work as a guitarist, producer and, now, actor has.

After 14 years in Austin, many as the producer/guitarist for Texas favorite Bob Schneider, Harvey last year relocated to Los Angeles, where his prolific ways show no sign of abatement. “I love it here, but I’m not sure how it’s affecting my songwriting,” says Harvey, who’s working on demos for the follow-up to his 2009 album “The Everlasting War.”

He laughs knowingly when asked if he’s making his “California record.” “I want it to be my California album, but I have a feeling the next one might actually turn out to be, once I’m finally me,” Harvey says. “I mean, I’ve been me all along but for some reason now I’m shedding more layers of bullshit, and getting closer to X marks the spot.”

Harvey started cultivating an underground following with albums “Toast” (2003) and “Pie” (2005), then earned an International Songwriters Award for the track “Frozen Through,” off his 2007 album “Bearsick.” (His award-winning website also got him some attention.) In 2008, he filmed a documentary titled “Everything Now” on his laptop – it chronicled a 7,000-mile tour in a car powered by vegetable oil.

Recently his movie exploits took another turn, as he landed roles in two independent films – including the forthcoming “Strings” [see trailer here], in which he plays the lead as a grieving man whose turn toward experimental therapy takes him very strange places.

“It’s about a guy who’s in a daze while all around him they’re blowing up cars and killing people,” Harvey says.

You mean, like real life?

“Kind of, yeah.”