Sydney based producer Hayden James released his debut single ‘ Permission To Love ‘ in June this year just after he signed with electronic record label Future Classics , which works with such artists as Classixx , Flight Facilities and Flume .
With over 390,000 plays on Soundcloud in just two months, Hayden James’ ’Permission To Love’ has gained serious attention.
I interrupted Hayden’s afternoon, while he was working on a remix of a song he couldn’t name, for a quick chat about his upcoming self titled EP, his early success with ‘permission to love’, and what brought him towards producing and his future plans and goals.
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(Blake Creighton) BC: You recently played Splendour In The Grass on the Red Bull Academy Stage, how was your splendour experience?
(Hayden James) HJ: Man awesome! I think that was my third one and I love it. Myself and a few mates get Winnebagos and camp on site which is always good, because we can literally roll bad into the Winnebago after a crazy day. So it was really good. It felt like it was catered to me, all the acts. I really enjoyed seeing everyone, dammit about Frank Ocean. Lorde was rad, I was happy to see her.
BC: Your debut EP is out August 30, run us through the production process of Hayden James.
HJ: So basically I don’t write a lot of tracks and just pick what will fit together. I write every song for a purpose. So the 5 tracks that are on the EP are a narrative to each other. So I pretty much start every track with piano (I play Piano and a few other instruments) so I usually start with a piano idea and a lyric in my head and go from there. Production wise it comes down to what I’m listening to at the time and what the song means to me. The music is not for clubs, it’s more songs, which I think is a lot more powerful.
BC: Was there a concept behind your latest EP?
HJ: Yeah so to me the biggest influence for me is Daft Punk and my favourite album I would say is Discovery and the video that goes with that is interstellar 555 . That played a big part in how I wrote this in terms of the story. So it’s actually a love story. I wrote a story and then wrote the music thinking what the soundtrack would be to it. So yeah, it’s pretty personal and it means a lot to me so i hope it comes out like that in the tracks.
BC: What did you make out of the response you received fter releasing ‘Permission to Love’? Because it was not only recognised Nationally but also internationally by webseites and radio stations such as acid stag and BB1 Radio.
HJ: It’s incredible. When I sent the EP to Future Classic, I didn’t know what would be a single and i was just going to release the EP as it is. Everyone really loved ‘permission’ so they ran with that first. It’s amazing it’s actually the first time I’ve sung as well and I was doing it as a demo as too how it might sound and everyone loved it. It’s great to be on a label like Future Classic because they have such reach overseas, you put anything on their Soundcloud and it just goes bang.
BC: How did the video clip for ‘Permission to Love’ come about?
HJ: I was talking with my manager one day and weren’t coming up with anything awesome, I’m not great music clip wise. The Future Classic guys have been working with a company called Intropico , they did Touch Senstive’s ‘ Pizza Guys ” film clip. So we got hooked up with them and they came up with the idea of making ‘Permission’ a little more gritty and not so lovey. I think they did a good job.
BC: You have mentioned that in your previous years you were apart of a few bands, what drew you towards producing?
HJ: I started playing music when I was young. I played piano and saxophone at school and then out of school I got into djing. I’ve got an older brother and he was into dance music, after Nirvana and all that. I started listening to dance music and started djing a bit, so it was a natural progression, and going “I want to make this kind of music”. So I started writing dance music, disco and house and then this is my first solo project. That’s when I first realised that I can do this all on my own and I enjoy it.
BC: What are your plans after your EP is released?
HJ: To record more music. I’m working on a live show at the moment as well, I’ve got a few dates before the end of the year so I’m excited about that. I’m still figuring out how to do it all because I don’t want to be laptop kind of live, I want to play and sing. So that is going to be a big part of the next few months. But I’m always writing, doing remixes and working with some other people too.
BC: It’s only early days for Hayden James but do you have any goals or ideas in which you wish to work towards?
HJ: Good question. I definitely want to in the next year, release an album. I want to work with as many people as I can. I suppose it would be to write and enjoy doing the live shows, at the moment it’s a bit daunting because I’ve never done it before or sung before, but I really can’t wait to do the live shows. Definitely to get an album out there in the next year, that would be a goal of mine.
BC: What vocalist or producers would you like to work with?
HJ: I have fallen in love with Lorde and that vibe. I’m a huge fan of simplicity. Every time someone sends me a track that I have to think about, I’d be like ‘what?’. So I’m a really big fan of keeping it really simple, good production and good melodies. So I think that Lorde would be an awesome person to work with (laughs). I would love to work with James Blake, I’m a big fan of James Blake . Jai Pau l as well, I think he is really unique and really different. (BC: yeah if he ever releases his album). Yeah so he didn’t release that album but a few months ago. (BC: Yeah it was a weird situation.) (laughs) yeah wasn’t it. I’ve got it and love it, but apparently it’s not finished. I don’t know. But it’s cool to listen to. (BC: I was convinced it was legit) I know (laughs). It was funny. Also I really love Disclosure as well.
BC: What songs/albums/artist have you been listening to lately?
HJ: I love the brand new Chet Faker track, I can’t remember the name. (BC: Yeah ‘ Melt ‘) Yeah thats it. I love the Jagwa Ma album (BC Yeah Howlin ) Thats really good. They have killed that!. I listened to the Kendrick Lamar album. I didn’t think that I would be into that kind of stuff, but it’s pretty chill, I like it. That’s about it, agh the Flume album, loved the Flume album (laughs). On the same tip Cashmere Cat . (BC: Yeah I was annoyed that I missed his Melbourne show) Yeah I missed him in Sydney, I just got introduced to his music and it was too late and I was like ah damn, next time.
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WORDS BY Blake Creighton
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