Mike Hayes, the established viral star and musician, has already amassed approximately 300,000 followers and 43 million views on the TikTok platform in a matter of just 10 months – and is now setting his sights on further solidifying his creative vision with his new ‘Who is HEYZ’ EP out now via Zeds Dead’s highly esteemed Deadbeats imprint. DMCWORLD check in for a world exclusive with the man himelf. Who is he??????
Hey Mike a huge welcome to DMCWORLD! Your new EP ‘Who Is HEYZ’, is out now on Deadbeats — what has your experience been like working with such a renowned imprint?
Deadbeats is the greatest label I have ever worked with for sure! They go well above just operating as a label, but more as a home to boost your entire career. I’ve had so many opportunities open because of them. I consider Harrison and Harley not just people I work with at the label, but true friends. They welcomed me with open arms and gave me tools and guidance to grow immediately. I honestly would not have had the boisterous growth this last year without them. I’m super grateful for Deadbeats and adore working with them.
What’s been the most rewarding part of your music career so far?
That’s a good questions! I think just seeing all the hard work I put into it pay off. I’m still a small artist but I’ve been able to accomplish some really dope stuff by myself like releasing on mau5trap, Bite This!, Circus, Deadbeats, Spinnin’, etc. I’m sitting here legitimately excited for what I have going on and super optimistic for the future and that’s from a culmination of hurtling past a lot of “no’s” and taking advantage of each “yes”. The journey is really fun, and now that I have a team with Harley, Harrison, my manager Sam and others it’s even more fun because I get to enjoy it with other people I care about. It really feels like I’m building something and I love that entrepreneurial aspect of it.
What does it feel like to have garnered 300,000 followers and 43 million views on TikTok in a matter of just ten months?
Super unexacting and very weird but dope at the same time. This was not planned AT ALL haha. I just started to put my personality out there and it resonated with people and now I have this whole additional side to the “HEYZ” project. I think the challenging part now is to mesh my Tiktok world with my music world more. I blew up on Tiktok from comedy, not my music, which is still amazing, but now I have these two separate worlds under the “HEYZ” brand. My new “Who Is HEYZ” EP is my first big project combining those worlds. I took the comedy and different Tiktok characters over into the EP branding and it has been really fun. I fully expect more shenanigans to go along with my music moving forward haha.
What was it like working with darkDARK and Taylor Ravenna on the EP?
Both darkDARK and Taylor are great to work with! I’ve worked with darkDARK in the past and they always nail my vision, even when it has been vastly different projects each time. This was the first time I ever met and worked with Taylor and we hit it off pretty quickly. We worked through a few variations of “Just Friends” until we were really happy with the results.
How did the hilarious idea come to be to have different characters for the EP’s tracks, like the punk, ‘90s raver, gimp, and cowboy?
Piggy backing off my response from a couple questions ago, the idea for the EP characters came directly from my Tiktok. The emo punk stems from my emo accent challenge and song cover videos that went super viral. The Cowboy’s name is Toby and he’s Heyz’s “cousin”, I’ve played him a few times on Tiktok. The 90s raver came from these awful shuffling videos I was doing haha. The gimp is the odd ball that isn’t directly related to Tiktok. Body Language just felt like it needed to have some weird sexual gimp character go along with it. My content does SO MUCH better when it’s me just dicking around being a goof so I thought I should definitely go that route for “Who Is HEYZ”. It has been the most fun music branding I’ve ever done.
How do you see your unique signature sound progressing over the next couple of years?
I can see it going down the road of bass music with mass appeal meaning heavy music with a huge emphasis on vocals and song writing. I want my music to go off at a festival or show but also be listenable on a daily basis. I’ll always put an emphasis on beautiful and euphoric moments and melodies meshing with big powerful drops, so I’ll continue with that.
If you could collaborate with any musician, who it would be and why?
I think I’d have to go with Skrillex because he’s such a master at what he does and such a big innovator in EDM. He also writes hit songs and has transitioned from Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites to working with Bieber while maintaining general admiration from EDM and pop fans alike. He’s just a very respectable dude who is humble, talented, and a huge icon.
If you could choose any event or festival to perform your new EP at live post-lockdown, where would it be?
EDC Vegas or Electric Forest!
What’s the best part to you about being able to connect with others while streaming via Twitch?
The best part about it is that once you have it all set up, you can pop in and stream a DJ set, Video Games, production or anything you want, anytime. Unlike a live show where you have to be at a physical location, you can entertain people from your studio and that level of audience access is really powerful.
What’s the funniest TikTok you’ve ever made?
I think my Tiktok audience would have to say my emo cover of Feliz Navidad which has 3.5 million views and 530k likes.
