INTERVIEW: WILL HYDE - INSPIRATION, ISOLATION, AND WHAT’S NEXT

Imagine the first time you hear a record of your own voice, or the silence right before someone clears their throat and tells you how they really feel. for will hyde, this uncharted territory has been years in the making. Evie had a chat with will about his recent releases, his process, time in isolation, personal experiences and inspirations, and what’s coming up for him in 2020!

(This is an email Q/A so we’ve left everything just as will wrote it - straight from the…Will’s…mouth'!)

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QUICK FIRE 

If you could go anywhere right now (pretend lockdown/ the pandemic isn’t a thing) where would you go?

i would love to go to the States!! i wanna go back to LA & NY soon.

If you could have 3 wishes what would they be?

great question.

1)   for everyone in the world to live in the present moment (that would take away anxiety, depression - living in the past/future like many of us do).

2)   for people to be happy. if we were happier, there wouldn’t be a need to bring negativity into the world.

3)   for equality in society. we’re all humans. sexuality/skin colour don’t need to seperate us. we all wanna be loved. we ain’t different, come on my people.

What is one thing you have put on your “bucket list”?

hmm. i actually haven’t thought about this or about a bucket list! i think i wanna spend some time in a silent retreat for a while at a temple in the future. i wanna meet Ekhart Tolle! 

Favourite song you are currently grooving to?

i love ‘not fair’ by kid laroi!! i always forget what i’m listening to i had to go to my artist spotify playlist haha (songs that remind me of u - quick plug).

Do you have any pets?

i do! i just got a puppy - his name is Bear. he is a labradoodle. when he yawns he makes a really cute teddy bear sound. i also have a few fish (they don’t get as much attention anymore which feels tough to say). 

Best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

hmmm. don’t wait for happiness. happiness will never come if u wait. success won’t change how u feel about urself. the only way u can start feeling better is to make peace with who u are NOW. :)

 And now for the serious stuff; 

How have you been coping in lockdown? Have you found any inspiration to get creative?

i have been finding it very good for me. i have been learning a lot about myself. i get lost in my head too much, i need to connect with the present moment more often. when i get lost in my head, life doesn’t feel as exciting or satisfying. i actually haven’t felt an effect of lockdown, purely because i got used to working from home when i first left school. routine is important. taking time for myself has been important. i’ve been reading! i’ve been writing a bit. i made two songs which feel super good to me. so it has been positive, yet i haven’t forced anything. i only really make music when i feel inspired!

You started off as one half of teenage electronic duo SŸDE, what led you to follow a solo career?

i like answering this question because it was a defining moment for me. i had a picture in my mind of who i wanted to be, what i wanted to stand for, the people i wanted to keep around in my circle. all of those things made my heart scream to follow my next chapter. we had a great run in SŸDE, a lot of moments i’m proud of, yet i had my darkest days during the period. i found it tough to be myself & the art i was creating while apart of the group just wasn’t me. i felt like i didn’t know how to be myself after leaving, i had to teach myself to be authentic to me. that was a really positive experience. the biggest catalyst was my depression/anxiety which forced a lot of internal change within me. i wanted to write about it, sing about it - the only way i could do that would be to go out on my own. very grateful for those times.

Can you please describe us what your creative process is like, how do you find inspiration for your music?

for sure! i like listening to a lot of music. especially during this period. just sitting back and taking in a bunch of different sounds has always been positive for me. honestly, the only music i listen to is stuff that makes me feel. when i feel something, that inspires me - because i have the opportunity to pass that on and give that to someone else. hopefully they feel some type of emotional connection to the songs i create. music is a gift that keeps on giving. from there, i generally just go about my day & melodies, track titles and production ideas flow thru my brain. when i think i have something great, i will work on it - take it to my notes and flesh it out. i mostly do this process by myself now. i like working with friends who are producers. i enjoy hearing how other people can interpret something i’ve made and make it better. collaboration is amazing like that. i always like to have a solid idea before entering any studio :).

 ‘easy for u’ is very groovy with a deeper message; it seems to be a bit about the kind of push and pull struggle of a hopeless relationship. Was this song based off an experience you had, or can it relate more broadly all kinds of relationships?

well thank u! i’m glad u felt that. it is based on experience yet i also want to keep my songs applicable to every relationship. there’s love in friendships, ur relationship with ur parents & of course intimately. the hard thing about the struggles of relationships is that it can feel very personal. usually people are just acting in their best interest but it does feel like something could be wrong with me. that’s a maturing thing i’ve let go & can understand now. it takes a few sobering conversations to reach that perspective tho, for sure.

What inspired you to write ‘meant to be’?

i remember going in to the studio session with fergus & dylan thinking about the concept of fractures. how a relationship can be so broken & over but it feels like u could still make something of it. i find for me that getting over people takes time. even tho i make decisions about who i want in my life quickly, if there was a connection, it still is a human that i’ve had memories with, you know what i mean? so sometimes it feels like we really could make amends. the trouble is, humans don’t really change! as much as i can want them to! they don’t usually. that’s a tough reality. a good lesson i’ve learned tho! on & up.

What do you hope people will take away from your work?

i hope people take away that it’s honest & authentic. i don’t want to sugar coat things & i just wanna do me. i spent too long doing the opposite. i hope people see a maturity in it too! most importantly, i hope people can find peace or happiness thru the music. that would be so special! that’s what i do it for.

You have been very open about the topic of anxiety and the challenge of overcoming adversity. How has the challenges in life influenced your music?

thank u. that means a lot to me. i like to think so! in the biggest way possible. it has shaped everything i have done. because of what i have faced, i am the person i am today. i wouldn’t change anything for the world. it has taken me a lot of pain to find peace & start to find true happiness. all of the sobering conversations i have had with myself, when i would cry about shit that was happening in my life, it all has a purpose. that purpose could be as simple as saying this & then it helps one human out there. if it does that, maybe my purpose has been fulfilled. not sure, but either way that’s how i think of it!! i also feel a freedom now with everything i’m creating. i find expressing myself so much easier. because i know myself a lot better. now that i’ve taken a lot of my shadows out of the closet to face, i can be free-er. it feels great!

Who are your favourite Aussie artists? What music inspires you?

i like a lot of the pop underground stuff coming out of the states at the moment. chelsea cutler, jeremy zucker, lany, gracie abrams, sasha sloan. all so dope. from australia, my home, kid laroi is a star. he’s doing a lot for australia. i think ruel is a stud, matt corby is a musician that i was fortunate enough to collaborate with & he is just a truly talented person. probably one of the most gifted all around musicians i will meet in the world.

 What does 2020 have in store for you musically?

i have a lot of music coming out!! i’m excited to show different sides of me, i’m fortunate to be able to release music & so i’m just enjoying putting out layers. i have more acoustic performances that i’m recording for the new songs coming out. i have music video’s dropping. hope u love it <3.

Where can we find your music?

u can find me on social media!! ( below :) ). thank u for the interview - this was a lot of fun & i’m grateful for ur time.

FOLLOW WILL HYDE 

INSTAGRAM (pics of meh)

TWITTER (where i post a lot of how my brain works)

FACEBOOK (my mum checks me on this so u can too)

YOUTUBE (there’s good juice on here so try that 1 too).

INTERVIEW: NEON PATTERN SUNDIAL (FKA BEN ALPINE) IS TAKING IT ALL IN HIS STRIDE

Hey there Ben! First off, a huge congrats on your debut single 'All In Your Stride'! How has the single been received so far? Any favourite critiques?
Thank you! Yeah the reception has been really great and to be honest a little overwhelming! I’m not sure what I’d expected, but I don’t think I realised I’d be spending the entire release day responding to messages from friends and reading blog posts about the song. It was so cool though, definitely very very stoked and thankful.

Ben Madden wrote a review on the song which was so cool to read. I just feel like he took from the song exactly what I want people to, especially saying that “you’ll feel positive about your day by the end of it”. Otherwise it’s just been so cool to hear from friends. I had shown it to a few people that I’m close with as we were making it, but tried to keep it under wraps for the most part. So it was awesome to now have people really dig into it and ask about the details in the artwork and things like that, which is exactly what I want people to do.

Tell us about your creative processes; how did 'All In Your Stride' come to be?
I don’t really think I can say that I have a definitive creative process as that sort of thing always changes. it’s sort of split up into two parts….

Firstly, I’ll create the demo mostly by myself. I’ll just work on it whenever; in my bedroom, on trains, at uni, mostly with headphones. I’ll just record everything really rough and try to not get too caught up in lyrics or synthesis or getting the right take.

Then I’ll bring the demo to my friend and producer/mixer Marc Scollo, and we’ll go through and flesh things out, tidy up the arrangement and basically re-record everything at a much higher quality. Marc is basically like 49% of the project if you ask me. This is where we replace the sample drums with a live kit, and start arranging vocal harmonies and all that stuff. Usually the song changes a lot during this process. I definitely rewrote some of the lyrics right before recording them...

All In Your Stride was in it’s ‘demo’ stage for over a year before Marc and I started on what became the final production. And I started it at a time that I wasn’t very inspired so it sat dormant for months and months before I picked it up again. I rewrote a lot of the lyrics at the last minute which seems to be pretty standard for me at the moment. I don’t really consider myself that great of a lyricist and feel like I have a lot to learn.

My friend Bek Nafiz was pretty important in the process, we did a session mid-2018 that basically got the entire foundation of the song down. It was her idea for all those funky guitar lines. I should also mention Alex Siderov who played drums on the track.

I'm very intrigued by the single's cover art, it's quite beautiful. Tell us about the concept and the images you've used.
Yeah! The artwork seems to be getting a lot of attention which is so awesome. It was basically all Jack Mackinnon. I just gave him a bunch of photos I had taken that reflected the aesthetic of the song to me. Which were mostly these vast landscape images that gave off this optimistic feeling, to me at least. He picked those ones and put them together that way and I loved it immediately. He absolutely killed it I reckon.

The photos are either from my travels or places that I’ve spent a lot of time and are all important to me. I picked up photography about 2 years ago, and I wanted the aesthetic of this project to be very rooted in reality and that sort of dreamy representation of it, so using those photos was a no-brainer.

Some of your influences include Hippo Campus and The Japanese House, how do these artists inspire you and your music?
Like everyone I listen to a lot of different music, especially electronic music and a lot of pop, but I feel like those two artists reflect the more ‘indie’ guitar-driven side of my sound, especially on All In Your Stride. I was listening to Bambi by Hippo Campus and Good at Falling by The Japanese House a lot during making this so the input was definitely there, both of those albums are some of my favourites. The Japanese House’s tuned and harmonised vocal arrangements were 100% a huge thing for me.

COVID-19 has had an extreme effect on the music industry, and I’m sure you’re missing festivals and gigs as much as me. What was the last gig you went to? Any events you were looking forward to that were cancelled/postponed?
The last show I went to was my friend Earnest Jackson’s single launch for his song Sweaty, which is a massive tune and their performance really went off. Before that I saw Golden Features who is always amazing. And I was getting really really excited to see Bon Iver and Tame Impala before they both got postponed!

Give us your Top 10 songs that are getting you through lockdown.

In no particular order! A real mix here of random stuff I’ve picked up and had on repeat...

Phone Numbers by Dominic Fike & Kenny Beats

Ego Death by Ty Dolla $ign, Kanye West, FKA twigs & Skrillex

Firing Rifle by PNK FME

Day After Day by Goldwater

You by Tennyson

Nirvana by ELLIANA

Playing On My Mind by The 1975

Motion Sickness by Phoebe Bridgers

Strobing Light by Ishq

All The Way by Tom Cosm

Finally, what’s next for NEON PATTERN SUNDIAL?

I don’t know how much I want to say! I’ve got a bunch more songs ready so there will definitely be another single sooner or later. A lot more on the way.

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INTERVIEW: CHRISTOS ON ISOLATION, INFLUENCES, CATALOGUE-BUILDING, AND WORKING WITH HIGH-PROFILE PRODUCER JAMES ANGUS

New BackBeat team member Milli had a chat with up-and-comer Christos (Chris Kallis) about his latest release, his writing process, and building his creative catalogue.

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How does it feel to be releasing music through this weird time- were any of your methods changed or different?
It definitely is a weird time at the moment but I personally think its a good time to be releasing music. A lot of people are still stuck at home with not much to do so us artists have to use that to our advantage! I've just tried to be more interactive online as that's where a lot of the attention is during this time. 

I know you come up with songs based on your life experiences, what do you think is the best topic to write or sing about?
For me writing about relationships that I've been in is the best topic. Whether its being in love or being hurt, it's something a lot of people can relate to and I like to express these emotions and feelings through my music in hopes of connecting to my listeners.

 I noticed that Movin’ leans a bit more towards the ‘cloud rap’ type genre than the other songs you’ve put out and Calling is different still, would you say that your style differs depending on the song? 
For sure, I like all of my songs to sound different in their own way. At this early stage of my career I'm trying to build my catalogue to show my versatility as an artist. I love experimenting and I'm always trying new things with my music and style.

 How would you describe your sound? 
It's hard to limit my music to just a single genre, I would describe it as a mixture of a few genres. My sound is mainly Hip hop, R&B and even Pop while my style is melodic rap.

Who are your influences or musical idols?
A lot of the new gen artists like Juice, Trippie and X. I love how those guys have underlying messages that are usually quite sad, coming from their own struggles and experiences, similar to my music. Each of those artists still produce their stuff in an upbeat and vibey way. When I am creating music across genres, other influences would be Travis Scott and Don Toliver.  Funny, because I grew up listening to a lot of bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Violent Femmes and Red Hot Chilli Peppers. A lot of Michael Jackson, Andre 3000 and Chris brown too. It was just always something that was playing at home or on the radio.

 What were you thinking about when writing “Calling?”
I remember pulling the beat up, vibing to it for a bit and I instantly had a melody in my head that I wanted to use. From here I wanted to take my listeners on a personal journey of an up and down relationship. Each verse kinda builds on this, making it something people are able to relate to with their own experiences. You know when someone is trying to reach out to you but you know you shouldn't go back down that road with them? That was the motive for this track. 

How was it to work with James Angus?
Basically I was looking through his BeatStars and stumbled across this really cool beat but it was super short! Only like a minute long I think. I hit him up and sent him the demo I made and he liked it so he extended the beat for me, sent it over and I made it into a full song! It was really cool to work with him being the high profile producer he is. 

What do you do in your spare time, when you’re not creating?
When I'm not making music I'm working some part time jobs and spending time with my girl, friends and family but managing my own career as an artist definitely is the most time consuming!

 What are you working on right now?
I actually just finished filming a music video which I plan to drop a few weeks down the line so stay tuned for the 'Calling' visual! At the moment I have a bunch of unreleased music that I'm planning to release over the rest of the year.

 Last question- Ice cream or cake? 
That's a tough one because I enjoy eating them both together.... But it's gotta be ice cream. 

 Actual last question: top 3 current Aussie artists and why?
There are loads of talented Aussie artists breaking through at the moment but some of my favourites would have to be Oliver Amun, Vic August and Youngn Lipz. I feel like they are all making dope music and their melodic rap style is what I'm also doing with my own music. 

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SIR WINSTON’S POSITIVE BEATLES PLAYLIST

 In all of this iso hubbub, Sir Winston is pulling through with the classics. He’s created a playlist of his fave beatles tracks to help him through iso, and we have a feeling all you Beatles fans out there will love it too. 2 hours full of Beatles boogie goodness coming your way! ->

Listen on Spotify: Keep positive and feel good with this playlist of Amazing songs by The Greatest Band Of All Time!

Check out the press release for Sir Winston’s own latest release ‘Hollywood Hills’ HERE!

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INTERVIEW: FUTURE STATIC - ALL ABOUT ‘FATALIST’

“Where the previous release 'Want' expressed a need for answers, 'Fatalist' - produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by Christopher Vernon (Belle Haven, Better Half) with help from Darcy Handley (Terra) - is fury and confusion. 'Fatalist' is the realisation that just because you want an answer, doesn’t mean you find one, and as Future Static emphasise, "If you can’t get even, just get mad."

The group released singles "Choke" and "Dead End" a few weeks ago and have had a massively positive response, beginning with a SOLD OUT "Choke" single launch show, plays on Triple M's Hard N Heavy, triple j Unearthed love, both added to rotation on The Faction, Spotify playlisting on Homegrown + Heavy and Rock Out., a number of shares across social media and national publications as well as worldwide with a spotlight from Kill The Music.”

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We chatted to Future Static about the response to and creation of Fatalist, their mission as a band, their biggest influences, what cats dream about, their top 5 isolation bangers, and whats up next!

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You’ve had a fantastic reception to Fatalist, was this something you expected? What has been the best/favourite word of praise?
As artists, you always want your work to be recognised and reviewed positively. We hoped that it would be received well, and we had a pretty good feeling about the whole process. But we had no idea that the record would resonate with people the way that it has, both in publications and in our general listeners. It really blew us away, and we’re so grateful for the warm welcome that the EP has received from so many people.

In terms of words of praise, our personal favourite has to be, “I struggled writing this up because I just wanted to listen and listen and listen, and that was it.“ 

Fatalist is a collection of emotional, rather angry (head)bangers - what was the songwriting process like, and given the angry, honest, emotional nature of the tunes, was it taken from personal experience?
Lyrically, the EP dives into some pretty heavy places, and whilst this sometimes meant emotions were running high, we were fortunately surrounded by great people through the whole process. Every day involved a lot of laughs and funny stories, which we definitely needed to get us through it.

The lyrics are definitely taken from personal experience and then expanded on. This is something we have always wanted to be a part of our music; we wanted it to be a cathartic experience for us as well as something our listeners could relate to and feel a part of.

Musically the record also comes from a dark, angry, nihilistic place. It was a definite experience of catharsis for us, every chord or note is played with a ferocity and anger that we’ve never really utilised until now.

Fatalist’s release day, April 3rd, was also National Chocolate Mousse Day, National Find a Rainbow Day, and World Party Day! Did any of you inadvertently celebrate any of these? We were partying because of the release of course.
Definitely sad we missed those! We had a little zoom party with some friends and drinks as it rolled out.

 Favourite track on the EP?
BM: My favourite track would have to be The Fatalist. Lyrically, it’s quite heavy and it’s a song that a lot of listeners have resonated with. It’s got this absolutely huge feel to it, and I feel like it’s the perfect ending for the record.

RQ: Defs “Never Miss” It’s just flat out riffs from start to finish, a challenge to play live, but one that I’d be happy to take on again and again.

JT: Dead-set, Dead End. It’s my absolute favourite track to perform live. I’m a hardcore kid at heart and Dead End scratches that itch with it’s dark and edgy sound

KN: For me it’s The Fatalist. After the huge journey the EP takes you through, to have this big, emotional epic finale to tie everything together is something I’m really proud of, and always hits me hardest when we play it.

JS: My personal favourite from Fatalist is Adaptive Manipulator. It’s succinct and undeniably aggressive, a thematic turning point and will leave a mark on anyone who hears it. 

What's something you'd like listeners to take away from your music/your message in general?
Our main mission in Future Static has always been to instil a sense of strength and unity in our audience. The main thing that we’d like listeners to take away from our music is the fact that you are not alone, and that with the help of the people around you, you have the power to get through whatever it may be you are struggling through.

You had a sold-out show for the single launch of ‘Choke’. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it, but we hear it was awesome - how was that for you guys?
Ridiculously good. We pulled together an incredible line-up with Stand Tall, Furious George and Excuse for an Exit, had an amazing audience of familiar faces and new supporters, and it honestly felt like our strongest show yet. Not knowing how serious the lock down would be at that point, we’re incredibly lucky to have that show be such a high point, and selling it out was the cherry on top of what’s turned out to be an awesome release cycle. 

Biggest influences - personal and/or professional/musical?
KN: It definitely helped that we wrote and recorded this record with Christopher Vernon, but Belle Haven are a huge influence for me. From how they interact with each other and their ability to have fun with each other while being able to write such high quality music with a huge spectrum of sounds, they’re definitely people and musicians I look up to. 

BM: Yungblud is someone I look up to on a personal and professional level, probably because those two worlds seem to overlap seamlessly for him. His energy onstage is nothing short of electric and his shows are so much fun, but he also speaks out about real issues and uses his platform to inspire real change.

RQ: Definitely Lee Malia from Bring Me The Horizon, he’s an incredibly versatile guitar player with a great knack for playing to suit the song. He’s also a great riff writer, something I aspire to be.

What 5 songs would you put into a Top 5 Isolation Bangers playlist to perk up your day?
Want you in my Room- Carly Rae Jepsen

Hard Times - Paramore

Sell Out - Reel Big Fish

Allergic To The World - Sleep Talk

If I Fall - The Story So Far 

What are your plans once we’re allowed out of isolation? What have you been missing most during this time?
BM: I miss just going outside. I’m someone who lives life spontaneously, so not having the freedom to just go out and see what the day brings is kind of excruciating. I can’t wait till I can hang out with my friends at gigs again, sometimes I feel like it’s the only time I feel alive.

JT: I miss my friends, hanging out at shows and being up on stage performing our music together. My fondest memories were created in and around shows; either the ones we produced or the ones we go to. I miss the atmosphere at live venues.

KN: Definitely friends and shows too. We were so lucky to have our last pre-isolation show be our incredible single show, and it’s definitely a memory I’ll treasure until we can get back out there again. There are a lot of people getting a lot of hugs when it’s safe to give them!

JS: Saturdays with the boys; what else are Saturdays for? 

RQ: Being able to kiss the homies goodnight

What do you think cats dream about?
RQ: Electric Sheep.

KN: Electric Mice.

Seriously though, final question; what now / what’s next?
More music, exploration of new and exciting sounds. We’re not a band that likes doing things twice in a row, comfort is complacency, and we’d rather be pushing ourselves outside our comfort zones in terms of our capabilities in a live or a studio setting.

Thanks so much to the guys and gals from Future Static for their time, and don’t forget to check out the new EP if you haven’t already - and check out our own review of the EP HERE!

The 'Fatalist' EP is available now to stream and purchase at all good online outlets and streaming platforms!

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GRETA STANLEY’S ULTIMATE ISOLATION PLAYLIST

We’ve been in chats with Greta in talks about her most recent release ‘Soak Into This’, and she’s also given us her top 10 tracks for her ‘Ultimate Isolation Playlist’.

Check out the press release for ‘Soak Into This’ HERE and check out the playlist below!

“These are just a bunch of songs I love, that I never get sick of. Some make me sad, some make me happy, some make me think of the people I love, some just make me think!  A few of them are by some of my incredibly wonderful friends, so they're a bit extra special.”

Daggyman - What You Desire

Pasta - Angie Mcmahon

Garden Song - Phoebe Bridgers

Rosemary Mushrooms - Jack Davies and The Bush Chooks

Sunday News - Colie

Rare Hearts - The Growlers 

Easy Easy - King Krule

With The Fire - Tayla Young

Exactly How You Are - Ball Park Music

Good For You - Alana Wilkinson 

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