There is Something About this on fire producer! What a year the young man is having
Interview by Dan Prince
Hayden, a huge welcome to DMCWORLD…where on planet earth are you today?
Hey Dan, thanks! I just flew into Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The first piece of music you heard this morning after rolling out of bed?
Sun Models by Odesza. It’s my alarm.
Well young man. What a f**king year you are having!! Labels scrambling for your signature, your music and remixes all over the airwaves, tours of the US and Europe. You taking all this in your stride?
This year has been absolutely unbelievable so far…it’s hard to comprehend really! I’ve been given an amazing opportunity to play around the world all from writing music in my bedroom. There’s lots of really exciting things in the works music and tour wise still to come this year.
As just mentioned, you have a mammoth European live tour coming up…I remember you saying in 2013 that you “still hadn’t figured out how to do the live show as I don’t want to be laptop kind of live”. So tell us about the live show in 2015…
Yeah the Live show is always changing and growing. I love building new elements into the show as I add new music to the set. The majority of the live show features unreleased songs I’m working on. At the moment I’m running Ableton Live with the Push, a Roland SPD drum pad, a Korg MS20 mini and a few other bits and pieces. The main thing for me is to have fun on stage and interact with the crowd.
You played piano and the sax at school and then got into DJing. Who were the producers and DJs back in the day that were some form of influence to you?
Daft Punk, Chemical Brothers, Phoenix to name a few. Funk melodies played with analogue synths and live instruments.. still influences to this day.
Your older brother was into dance music before you…what does he make of this incredible success you are having – does he come to your gigs?
He’s a proud big bro.. What a legend! Cam lives in San Francisco, so the first time he saw me play was recently on my USA tour at Audio SF and the Rickshaw Stop. He gave me a good review.
You have just experienced your first tour of America visiting places you had never been to before such as Miami and Denver. Quite a trip huh, what are the memories and the impact of that trip?
Crazy trip! Lots of travelling and lots of gigs all over the America and Canada. The crowds I got to play to were all awesome. That tour has opened up a lot of doors for me – I’m actually headed back to the USA for a few DJ sets in mid July! It’s pretty amazing to travel OS and people know your music / come to see you play…such a great experience.
You also made your Coachella debut…what did you make of that bad boy compared to your festivals in Australia?
Coachella is probably one of the best run festivals I’ve been to. Very easy to get around and watch everyone I wanted to check out. The crowd I played to at the Do Lab was incredible!! Such a great vibe there. That being said, it’s pretty hard to top an Aussie festival in the summer.
You are renowned for your meets and greets with your fans after your shows, you love to chat and find out what they love musically. Have you got to the stage yet where you are starting to see the same faces everywhere, have the tattoos started yet?!?!?
Tattoos would be wild.. non yet hah. There are a few people that i definitely recognise that have come to a few shows which is very cool. I love meeting people and chatting post show. It’s cool to get their feedback and chat music with them.
How did the whole stage invasions to ‘Something About You’ first happen?
It was the first show of my Australian tour in Melbourne this year. I play ‘Something About You’ at the end of my set and I guess everyone was into it. Once a few people came up on stage, everyone just followed suit and jumped up. I was pretty afraid for my gear hah, but it was an awesome experience. To me it was the ultimate ‘pat on the back’, like I’m doing something right.
The track now comes with a new Ben Pearce Remix – was it your idea to get the king of the deep on board and what did you think of his rework?
Yeah it was my idea to get Ben involved. I’ve been a big fan of his for a long time. He’s a great producer with a whole bunch of quality releases. Would be cool to do something together one day. Ben took this track into a different space for me…I love it.
What are the 5 big tunes in your box this weekend?
Heart Attack – Flight Facilities (Snakehips remix) – Really cool remix of a great tune. Love the Flight Facilities album.
Holding on – Disclosure – So bouncy. This is on repeat on my Spotify. Can’t wait for the album
I know there’s gonna be (Good times) – Jamie XX – I didn’t expect the vocals but it’s definitely growing on me. Great album.
Some Minds – Flume – Big fan of Miike Snow (Andrew Wyatt). Cool collaboration!
‘Something About You’ – Hayden James (Odesza remix) – Very excited to release this remix in the coming weeks. It’s a killer remix from the dudes!
3 bucket list adventures you wanna do in your lifetime…
Walk the Kokoda trail in Papua New Guinea
Go on a Virgin Galactic flight
Hike up to Machu Picchu
The European Tour crosses 9 countries and kicks off in August at the Austria Poolbar Festival. How many of these countries have you been to before and where are you REALLY looking forward to hitting?
This tour is crazy.. I only been to a few of the countries on the list so exploring these cities is something I’m really looking forward to. The majority of dates are festivals also. I cannot wait to kick this tour off in a month! I’m really looking forward to Reading and Leads festival!!!
And finally, what is coming out next from you studio wise?
I’m constantly writing, so there’s lots of new music to show you guys! I’m working on a remix at the moment which I’m very excited about. New stuff coming real soon.
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SOMETHING ABOUT
