Dave Allen(Gang Of Four): “Already joint favourite for the prize, I think, in all likelihood, Harvey will become the first two-time Mercury winner. Let England Shake is a masterpiece, a profound and serious meditation on mankind’s apparently endless appetite for self-destruction, filtered through the Dorset native’s complex feelings of love, pride and disappointment in her own country.”

The Edge: "We talked about "Let England Shake" PJ Harvey as one of the most important albums of the year showing that you can still make great albums, allowing the songs to go there and fight for his place in the culture. Finally, of course, is to have an album of songs that are so convincing that they not only fit in that people are enjoying it, but actually change what people are enjoying it - that's our ambition."

Ian Astbury: "I’d love to be part of an ensemble. Maybe a cast of various performers and singers and create an opera, a contemporary opera. I think it’d be really cool to have an ensemble of some incredible singers. The idea of working with someone like PJ Harvey and even Feist or even Lady Gaga and then working with people like Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and James Lavelle from UNKLE who I have worked with in the past."

Marina Diamandis: "PJ Harvey’s Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. It was the most “pop” she ever went. It’s just such a well written record."

Ian Astbury: "Then you’ve got PJ Harvey and Feist making amazing music, and these people should be at the epicentre of the culture, not on the fringes."

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Imogen Heap - played A Perfect Day Elise on rage last night.

Karen O - "My two biggest female influences are PJ Harvey and Nancy Sinatra"

Tom Morello on Twitter: "Oh and PJ Harvey-working for the man, prodigy-smack my beotch up, tricky, more clash natch"

Justin Trosper(Unwound): "“Let England Shake” PJ Harvey. PJ is the musician I have followed the most closely for the last ten years. I didn’t really listen to much of her stuff in the 90’s, but ever since “Stories from the City…” I’ve been hooked. I dislike the production on this record, but I think it is supposed to sound like early 4AD or Flying Nun or K. But, as usual, she freakin delivers the goods with her vocals. I like a good singer and there are not very many good singers; so I listen to PJ Harvey because she is a good singer."

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Are they friends?

Adrian Edmondson (or Ade! Vyvian from 'The Young Ones', of course. He is in a band that plays folk cover versions of punk songs!):

'P.J. Harvey's 'Let England Shake' is great. It sounds like it's half way between punk and folk and I admire anyone who plays an autoharp.'

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Wiggins is so superbly unassuming, he looks like he's about to say 'Pop the gold medal in the post, I'm nipping out for some biscuits'

Mark Steel

Billy Corgan: "I love P.J. Harvey, and I have complete admiration for her, but, c’mon, me behind P.J. Harvey on guitar? I mean, c’mon, that’s a fucking asshole, in a beard, in New York, who has to put me there to make some sort of statement.”

Andy Bell(Beady Eye, Erasure): "I plump for university in Southampton, but some four months before I start there I go to my first gig in the city, when Ben Rowlett, Dom Fry, Kieron Maguire (maybe) Andy Bell and myself go to see PJ Harvey at Southampton Guildhall (another city, another venue with the same name - seriously, though, never confuse Portsmouth and Southampton - people get angry)."

Sven Erik Kristiansen(Maniac)-(Mayhem, Skitliv): "I've seen Maniac watching P.J. Harvey play live and really getting into it after Mayhem finished playing at a festival where both artists (amongst many others) were performing."

Dave Navarro: "Also, when I think of PJ, I think about Dave Navarro (whom I had a huge crush on at the time) declaring that he was hell-bent on marrying her the first time that her met her."

Jeff Buckley: "Jeff: I want to see Belly, PJ Harvey and Morphine. - Interviewer: And R.E.M.? -Jeff: Can't stay that long, I have to go to Lyon. But i got to see Michael. Mister beautiful."(07/95)

Vernon Reid(Living Colour): "Writing this article I have been listening alternately back and forth to the new records from drummer Brian Blade and the singer-guitarist P. J. Harvey, two artists that give a damn about risk management, and are forging fearlessly ahead in their own respective searches for authentic pulsing, emotional experience. Harvey’s record Is This Desire? is HUNG UP. Obsessed. The women in her songs don’t care about who knows that they’re staring into the headlights of Doomed Love. She knows and doesn’t care. The sheer thrill of panic that comes from having your every thought ruled by another’s existence is the dangerous stuff that romance is made of and the fabric that binds Is This Desire? P. J. coos and howls and whines and whispers these songs in an untheatrical realness that disturbs. Who is she singing to? This Is Her Best Record Yet. Imagine Portishead as not just clever, but driven. Star-crossed and damned."

Daniel Johns(Silverchair): "PJ Harvey, I Have not stopped listening to her latest album. I think it's fabulous." (03/99)

Jeff Ament(Pearl Jam): Lists 'Stories' as the number one album of the decade and 'the letter' as the 11th best song of the decade

Richard Hughes(Keane): " I love PJ Harvey. When we were first with Island Records, we were in the same building, in the basement. The director of the label brought us down to show us the studio, but I actually think that he was trying to show off PJ Harvey, who was there to do recordings. It worked! We signed with them after about a week."

Juliana Hatfield: "Before I went into make BWYA , I had been obsessively listening to PJ Harvey's first album Dry , which was new. I loved it, loved her unique approach, loved what she was doing. One of the fascinating things Harvey had done on the album was to utilize five/four time in a really compelling way. Dry was a cool, raw, sexy, slinky rock record and, like the rest of the album, the couple of songs in five/four time were cool, raw, sexy and slinky. They weren't prog-sounding or slick or music-school geeky, and neither did they come across as haughty or condescending; it wasn't an intellectual experience, listening to Dry. The songs in five - "Water" and "Hair" - were groovy and catchy, without the listener having to count along in order to get into the groove, and this was fascinating, and quite an achievement. With my "Spin the Bottle", I challenged myself to do what PJ Harvey had; to write a catchy, driving, danceable pop song ina weird, unpopular time signature. I wanted people to dance and sing along even though the song was in five. Moreover, I wanted my song to be relatable, with respect to the subject matter - more relatable than Harvey's Kind of tortured, goth damsel-in-distress lyrics(which I loved, and which, more than any female artist in a long time, spoke to and of my experience as a young woman).

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Glorious Laura-Mary Carter of Blood Red Shoes. In 'Front' magazine:



Just posted on twitter by Blood Red Shoes:

'Little piece in the latest FRONT magazine about picking your heroes...Laura chose PJ Harvey of course'

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Wiggins is so superbly unassuming, he looks like he's about to say 'Pop the gold medal in the post, I'm nipping out for some biscuits'

Mark Steel

^ Nice!

Yolandi Visser(Die Antwoord): "But also I was watching MTV, and I was like, Oh, this is why everyone thinks we’re a joke. Because everything is the same recipe, rehashed. I used to be into Björk and PJ Harvey, and they used to blow my mind. But there hasn’t been a pop star blowing anybody’s mind. Our music’s got flavor; it’s got skill. And we present it really well. And people were like, “What the fuck is this?” "

Emily Kokal(Warpaint): "I think PJ Harvey is another good example. She seems to play different characters, so she evolves. Like her last record was Let England Shake, and the record before was piano and singing higher than she ever had. It’s those kinda things that I really admire because it’s taking the risk that you might lose some fans who want you hear ‘your sound’. But it’s really more about your expression as an artist and the ability to discover all the different sides that want to express themselves. A lot of artists begin to believe their own image, and stick within those parameters, which makes the music sort of start to suck."

Stella Mozgawa(Warpaint): "I’ve been listening to this PJ Harvey album, Let England Shake, and on a very subtle level, she talks about military life, warfare, the nature of conflict, death, fear from soldier’s perspectives. It’s done in such a beautiful, romantic, true way and she was never really a political songwriter by any means but she obviously felt compelled to make this protest album in a poetic beautiful way. I like the way she’s done that."

Stella Mozgawa(Warpaint): "“PJ Harvey! I saw her in Paris on my birthday, and I love the new album [Let England Shake], as well as all her earlier stuff, so I’m excited to follow her – she’s such an artist!"

Matt Maust(Cold War Kids): "Where do you really want to be right now?" - "Sipping some green tea with PJ Harvey in a museum café"

Bradford Cox(Deerhunter): "Cox is interviewed about one in particular -- seeing PJ Harvey on the cover during the '90s. "In the photo, she was in underwear and was so gaunt and almost looked sick, but still strong somehow," he says. "I remember taking that magazine over to my father and showing it to him. 'See, Dad, if she can do it, I can do it.' If somebody who looks like that can be a rock star, then I can look how I look and be accepted."

Bradford Cox(Deerhunter): "One of my favourite records when I was at high-school was PJ Harvey’s 4-Track Demos. I always thought that it was so cool that Island, this major label, released that. It was such a weird CD and lo-fi was the trend for a while when I was growing up, with Pavement a real influence on me and my aspirations to make lo-fi music. Fuck…"

Carole Pope(Rough Trade): "I would kill to work with Bjork, PJ Harvey or Trent Reznor but I’m open to anyone or anything new or innovative."

Carole Pope(Rough Trade): "On my music player now: PJ Harvey" (10/11)

Anna Calvi: "I don't think there's any similarity between us, musically. She's great but she's not someone I've learnt a lot as a songwriter from. It doesn't particularly speak to me in the way that some other artists have. That doesn't mean I think in any way that she's not a really talented artist, because she is."

Anna Calvi: "I get the sense that she throws herself into music with complete wild abandon, and I really respect that. I think she's a great artist. But comparing us ? it's like every single female artist gets compared to P.J. Harvey. So it doesn't really mean anything to me."

David Gedge(Wedding Present): "One of the most enjoyable HDIFs in months for me - a lovely atmosphere, David Gedge turned in a brilliant set (starring: "Sheela Na Gig" by PJ Harvey, "Into The Groove(y)" by Ciccone Youth, and "Feels Like I'm In Love" by Kelly Marie!"

Eos Chater(Bond): "Who are your musical heroes?" "David Bowie, PJ Harvey, Bijork, Bach, Ravel, Goldfrapp"

Leigh Watson(The Watson Twins): " The PJ Harvey song(Angelene) has such amazing lyrics and imagery. She is one female artist who we have always admired."

Don Letts: "And in music? "I dunno ... Bjork, to me, is punk. Beck is punk. Y'know, P.J. Harvey is punk. In fact, the things that are punk today probably don't sound anything like punk. That initial sort of angst-ridden loud-guitar thing was just a starting point."

Katie Stelmanis(Austra): "2. PJ Harvey – Let England Shake" (top 10 albums of 2011)

Dirty Harry: "There´s many bands that inspire you but out of all of them which 3 would you like to share a stage with?" "Rolling Stones, Nine Inch Nails & PJ Harvey."

Miss Guy - Guy Furrow(Toilet Boys): "I like Digitalism a lot. I love Cut Copy. Scissor Sisters. I love to listen to PJ Harvey. Smashing Pumpkins are one of my all time favourite bands."

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Polly Mackey(Deaf Club): "Polly has stated her adoration for PJ Harvey in several interviews, citing debut ‘Dry’ as her favourite album (“There’s just something about it, it’s so raw”). We go on to discuss ‘White Chalk’ and ‘Let England Shake’, the latter of which is an album that Mackey went to see performed in its entirety, in typically dark circumstances, at the Royal Albert Hall last Halloween. “It was one of the most mindblowing gigs ever. It really helped me make sense of the album.”

Rhydian Daffyd?(The Joy Formidable): "I’ve listened to a helluva lot of music this past week, but maybe over the past month it’s been PJ Harvey’s “Let England Shake,” a bit of Anna Calvi, and I’ve gone back to listen to some classical albums. I really like minimalism."

Eilera(Chrysalis): "If you could place 2 songs in a time capsule (to be opened in 100 years), what 2 songs would you choose and why?" "I think I would pick ‘Smells like Teen Spirit’ by Nirvana and ‘Perfect Day Elise’ by P.J.Harvey. To me these two songs represent our times very well."

Ellie Goulding: "I love PJ Harvey, I haven’t got a chance to listen to her new record. I listened to some previews, very pleased. I’m very excited to hear the album, in its entirety."

Ellie Goulding: "Kazemi: PJ’s “Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea” from 2001 is incredible. "Ellie: It is amazing."

Bob Schmidt(Flogging Molly): "I would really love to see PJ Harvey, frankly. She’s on Sunday, so I’ll have to stick around the desert for a couple days if we get the chance."

Frances McKee(The Vaselines): "“At the moment I am listening to Julian Cope, PJ Harvey’s last album did it for me, but I also listen to music from smaller labels and am enjoying that.”

Alice Gold: "‘Is That All There Is?’ is a song that was written by American songwriting team Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, written for Peggy Lee. PJ Harvey covered it amazingly and I’ve always LOVED the dark and wonderful lyrics…it always makes me want to waltz the room."

Mark Stoermer(The Killers): "But I listen to a lot of music. I love Lanegan's solo album Bubble Gum, as well as his stuff with desert sessions and Queens Of The Stone Age, but I also like Coltrane, Black Sabbath, Fela Kuti, J.S. Bach, Cat Stevens, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Willie Nelson, PJ Harvey, to name a few..."

EMA: "I think PJ Harvey is great. So some of those comparisons are really nice, but I don't know how accurate they are when it comes to the actual sonics of what I do."

EMA: "Were there female musicians or other female artists whom you were exposed to growing up who made you think you could do rock music?" "Oh, totally: Babes in Toyland, Hole, Bikini Kill, Sleater Kinney, PJ Harvey, Cat Power. All five of the female rock musicians most people can name. [Laughs.]"

Kathryn Calder(New Pornograhpers): "PJ Harvey – Let England Shake
Aside from what an incredible voice PJ Harvey has, this is a really fascinating album for me. There are many songs about war and world problems, and they can easily fall into cliche and preaching, which I find hard to take sometimes. There is none of that on this album. Although the subject matter is quite grim and political, PJ Harvey pulls it off in a way that is entirely original. Not only are the words smart, they sound good put to music, AND the album has this gentle dissonance to it that I love. The music is not always completely in tune with itself, the instruments sometimes sound just a little bit off key, but it’s obvious that it’s intentional, and it so perfectly mirrors the crazy and dissonant world we are living in. An all around wonderful record, with great songs, and really neat arrangements. I love the men that sing underneath her. Very ‘The Pips’."

Laura Marling: "interviewer: anyone you came her tonight to see?
laura: PJ harvey, certainly.
interviewer: you digging her new album, then?
laura: yes, i like the title of it, especially... "

Nick Banks(Pulp): "It was good but at the same time it was a trouser-filling moment. We only knew a week beforehand that we were going to do it. We thought, We're going to get bottled off 'cos people have paid 60 quid to see the Stone Roses, and they've got us. On the day we were biting our fingernails. We watched PJ Harvey and Orbital, everybody was getting really into it. By this time we were all completely shitting it, basically, but we got on there and it was fantastic. It really was an amazing feeling, especially having everyone singing 'Common People'...”

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Juanita Stein(Howling Bells): "I think she (Siouxsie) is definitely someone that I admire. She is an incredible performer and an interesting songwriter. I respect her in the same way that I respect PJ Harvey but I don't want to especially sound like her, I guess no female singer does. There is such a small window of respected female performers you are always going to get compared to PJ Harvey, Chrissie Hynde, Deborah Harry or Siouxsie and that's just about all you have to draw from."

Perfume Genius: "P J Harvey, the lyrical content wasn’t specific to experiences but she was so scary. I was terrified with dark and devil stuff for a while and she would talk about the devil in her songs. She’d say she’d slept with the devil and that she’d hung out with him. I remember listening to that in my room and being so scared, yet it was really pretty."

Jason Newsted(Metallica, Voivod): "Who are some of the dream musicians that you'd like to play with that aren't as obvious as some of the ones we've mentioned?" "PJ Harvey, Thom Yorke (Radiohead) and Chris Slade, the drummer from AC/DC."

Jason Newsted(Metallica, Voivod): "That kind of thing, being able to actually play what you play. The records on the charts, those people can't play nearly as well as they sound on the record. There are some cats who're the exception: Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper, P.J. Harvey, or people like Radiohead, guys who'll do it right there in your face. I'm down with that. But when you try to get too serious about it and take out all the organic feel, the human feel of the music, you can see that it's all cold and shit. "

Chelsea Wolfe: "PJ Harvey is definitely an influence"

Bob Nastanovich(Pavement): "Do you guys particularly love any female bands or bands with female members?" "I love The Raincoats, PJ Harvey, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Eux Autres, Belle and Sebastian, Heart, Zeitgeist, Bratmobile, Unwound, En Vogue, Antietam, The Delgados, Salt-N-Pepa. That’s all I could think of in 3 minutes."

Sharon Topper(God Is My Co-Pilot): "I love Laika and PJ Harvey and Dawson."

Casey Chaos(Amen): "Oh yeah. The common thing is that they're all real. They don't create music for money. It comes from their heart, like Iggy, Tom Waits, PJ Harvey, etc. I think it's largely a male-dominated business, but when a woman can do it well, she does ten times better than men, like PJ Harvey and Patti Smith."

Neneh Cherry: "“Where we are right now, in 2012 we are coming out of a slightly turgid, over-sexualised era for women,” she tells me with a sadness in her voice. “There needs to be more female producers, more programmers and more bands with women playing instruments in them. Someone like Santigold is great and the other woman I really love at the moment is Azealia Banks – she’s cool. I also like the fact that there is a place for timeless music like Patti Smith and PJ Harvey - women who are an inspiration to all of us and still so vital.”

Dave Allen(Gang Of Four): "When I declaim here about the state of rock music I need to remind myself that there are many diamonds in the rough and of course one of the brightest (and darkest) is Polly Jean Harvey. I haven’t had chance to hear the whole album ‘White Chalk’ yet but the UK’s Observer is one of many places it is getting rave reviews: “It’s bleak, lacks guitars and is sung in an odd voice. So what makes this piano-driven set an unlikely triumph, asks Paul Mardles”. Never one to follow others PJ Harvey marches to the beat of her own drum. "

Jesse Quin(Keane): "Can we have favourite ALBUMS? Um, LOADS. The Vaccines, The Harrow & The Harvest by Gillian Welch, Helplessness Blues by Fleet Foxes, Let England Shake by PJ Harvey, A Creature I Don't Know by Laura Marling etc etc."

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Katie Stelmanis(Austra): "We listen to a lot of PJ Harvey, even though half my band actually kind of hates it, we've been listening to 'Let England Shake' a lot."

Nathan Hudson(Faker): "PJ Harvey- The Words That Maketh Murder
"I believe the times we live in can be pretty unsettling, maybe PJ Harvey does too... It feels important to challenge the nature of these times through art and help them move a bit differently. Music and art may not be about answering questions, but they’re definitely wonderful tools for drawing attention to what might need looking at. PJ Harvey uses these tools with grace, style and dignity."

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Zola Jesus played "Down By The Water" on rage last week

Blood Red Shoes: -"Speaking of Punk - what do these four letters mean to you?
Which person represents the absolute Punk in your opinion?"

LMC - "Its all about constant feeling and reflecting of liberty and independency.
And i think we both agree that PJ Harvey is Punk in person."

SA - "Indeed! She is an inflexible and unpredictable musician who always did her own thing and didnt give a fuck about what others said about her art. Each of her albums is different - some are more experimental, others straight and stringent. Bravo PJ Harvey!"

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Geoff Rickly(Thursday): "My favorite records of the year are Fucked Up, PJ Harvey, Touché Amoré, and they’re all on that list too, but to be number three is a nice surprise."(07/11)

John Doe: "John Doe: I don't know if they're new records, I really liked Gillian Welch's last record, Gillian Welch and David Rollins, Laura Veirs, I like her a lot. We got P.J. Harvey's last record. I haven't really made sense of that one yet, that was strange!"

Moonshake: "We do listen to quite a bit of new music – we just don’t seem to end up liking much of it! Current bands that we like would be PJ Harvey, MC 900ft Jesus, Radiohead (especially their new stuff), Beastie Boys, Tricky, My Bloody Valentine (hard to call them a ‘current’ band mind you)."

Annie Hardy(Giant Drag): "Yeah. The first quotes that were ever printed up about us, and were put into our bio – by whoever made that – most people have just copied that. But, at the same time, I like PJ Harvey and My Bloody Valentine, so they’re not embarrassing comparisons. I hear the My Bloody Valentine, but I’m not sure about the Polly Jean."

Annie Hardy(Giant Drag): "Well, you’re a girl with a guitar: it’s either gonna be Polly or Courtney…" "Hardy: Oh Polly, definitely!"

Vaginal Davis: "Looking forward to seeing Miss Harvey"

Justin Chancellor(Tool): "What is your favorite 90's band?" "Is P.J Harvey considered a band?"

Shaun Beavan(8mm): "We’re talking about doing an EP where we’re mixing elements of Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced? with PJ Harvey’s Dry. That might be really fun. We do a cover live of PJ Harvey’s Long Snake Moan, and it’s so fun to do. And John, our drummer and I just really get off on playing that kind of bluesy heaviness. So I think it would be fun to explore that. It wasn’t where I originally envisioned things going, but it’s definitely fun to pull something like Liar out in a set and then go all the way to that. "

Juliette Beavan(8mm): "Look at a record like PJ Harvey’s To Bring You My Love. It’s scary, it’s aggressive, and it’s cool. It’s dark stuff, but she plays like a ninety year-old black man. It’s a little grit, and a little vulnerability, and a lot of sex."

Gazelle Amber Valentine(Jucifer): "When I finally listened to that record(4-Track Demos) years later I was like “Holy shit, this was nothing like what I was doing!” Except for the fact that it was… strong? Like a female being aggressive and assertive rather then singing all pretty and cute about butterflies."

Marcellus Hall(Railroad Jerk): "I do like P.J. Harvey, what she's doing. I wouldn't say we're doing the same thing."

Patterson Hood(Drive-By Truckers): "I had an arrangement of PJ Harvey’s “Is This Desire?” that would’ve been a good rocker for the record. Maybe someday."

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Shirley Manson http://www.theskinny.co.uk/music/featur ... ley_manson

Well then, after a few years of being introduced to music by different forces, I started religiously buying NME, Melody Maker and Sounds – I was obsessed by music papers. It’s all I ever read, I poured over them and I discovered the incomparable PJ Harvey through those three music papers. She was my first discovery on my own, so to speak. I just have immense respect for her; she was somehow incredibly sexual at the same time as being untouchable and impenetrable. I loved the fact that she embodied a sort of threatening, powerful sexuality that I’d never seen before, and had this incredible voice and was this great guitar player. She was the whole thing. I was incredibly jealous of her and still am. I think she’s a genius. I'd just started touring America at the point To Bring You My Love came out and had it on continual play, so I associate this album with getting out into the world and making music. She and Flood – his production style and her talent, her voice and all the instrumentation on that record – they managed to paint something almost like a Cormac McCarthy novel, that’s what it felt like to me. I don’t think you can really fail with any of her records. I don’t think she’s made a bad one – ever.

Amy Winehouse (2004): when asked "Which female guitarists do you admire?" she answered PJ Harvey, you can check out her whole answer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9bG6Q5rPJY (07:15)

^ Thanks for that bruise. I might be wrong, but at least image-wise, I always guessed Polly would have been an inspiration to Amy.

Missy Higgins: ""I've never played the Big Day Out, but I've had couple of life-changing, musical epiphanies while crammed into the middle of a sweaty moshpit, shaky beer in hand. I remember seeing both Peaches and PJ Harvey years ago when I was just starting out performing. I was blown away by the fierceness of these larger-than-life women, rocking it out on stage wearing next-to-nothing yet still remaining so empowered and in control. I was inspired."

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