The stunning warm progressive tracks and the more uplifting mainstage bangers have the signature of the upcoming talent Thomas Hayes from Australia. His tracks Neon and Golden on Enhanced recordings have been in the playlists of the most important DJs and producers and as it seems the future is bright for this very inventive artist who has ability to compose memorable melodies and infectious harmonies that mesmerise any audience in every part of the world. I'm super glad that Thomas Hayes has accepted to answer in my request for an interview and here you can read it exclusively! Thanks so much to Rory from Enhanced music for arranging it!
Interview is written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias, Music journalist and radio host at 1mix radio.
Dimitri: Let’s start with basics. I wonder why you choose to get into producing and djing electronic music. When and under which circumstances you took this decision and does that changed your whole life?
Thomas: Back when I was in high school I developed a love for electronic music, listening to it every day on the way to school on the bus with my friends. One summer holidays I was quite bored and decided to find out how to make it! To put it simple, the love just grew from there!
Dimitri: Are you 100% self-taught producer or you have attended music engineering courses?
Thomas: I am indeed 100% self-taught. Of course I've watched many tutorials online but have never been involved in any formal education relating to music production.
Dimitri: Do you think that you can distinguish between the tracks that are produced from self-taught producers with those ones produced by professional music engineers? If yes can you give us examples of both cases that you may be aware of?
Thomas: No I don’t think you can. Some of my favourite artists mix their own music from their own studios and it sounds amazing. In the modern age almost everything is in the box so anyone who wants to put in the hours practising can get some pretty amazing results.
Dimitri: Which track was your first ever release and on which label? How did you manage to attract the attention of the label and now that you listen this track again do you think sounds still great or it needs improvements?
Thomas: My first release was actually a remix. I contacted that label (TCD Recordings) with an original but they were too late to get back to me as the track had already been signed somewhere else. They decided to give me a remix instead. The track is certainly quite armature both mixing and production wise but I’m still happy with the melodies!
Dimitri: Can you describe the software and hardware you use to produce your tracks?
Thomas: Ableton Live, a midi keyboard (novation impulse 49), my amazing headphones (DT 990 PROs) and all the plugins you can expect to find in the box.
Dimitri: Are you 100% producer and dj or do you have another daytime job as well? What other jobs have you practised until now?
Thomas: I'm actually a lifeguard! I work casually in a couple of different places as something on the side of all my music stuff.
Dimitri: Your previous single Neon is considered to be one of the big anthems that moves in prog house and prog trance scenes. Did you expect the big success and do you think the success is because of the melody or the vocal?
Thomas: I really didn't, in the beginning I wasn't even sure if I wanted to send the track in!! Luckily Will Holland saw the potential. We got it to Joni and the rest was history. I think both components are really important but there’s no doubting Joni’s amazing vocals really took the track to another level!
Dimitri: Can you describe for us the step that you took to produce your latest release Golden with Kyler England on vocals? How long it took you to produce it? How did you manage to hook up with Kyler and have you actually met her?
Thomas: I actually received the vocal first through my label. It took me around a month and a half all up as we went through the process of getting it ready for release; I had to take in notes from people like Kyler to Dave from Tritonal. I haven’t met her but we had a great chat over skype!
Dimitri: The lyrics both on Neon and Golden are truly different from the usual ones. Do you actually search for lyrics that are not stating the obvious? Do you have any other lyrics from other songs that you admire?
Thomas: I like to work with fantastic song writers and lyricists. In both project I actually had no influence at all on the lyrics but as soon as I heard both the vocal from Neon and Golden I instantly fell in love.
Dimitri: Can you pick up for us the best track, artist, remixer and remix of 2015?
Thomas:
Best Track – Jason Ross & Wreschiski – Atlas
Best Artist – Above & Beyond
Best Remixer: Alex Klingle – He’s put out some fantastic mixes this year.. maybe he’ll do one for me one day! ;)
Dimitri: You have performed in the Enhanced tour in Australia along with Estiva, Juventa, LTN. Would you like you to share your experience of this tour? Any story that we may don’t know?
Thomas: I did! It was fantastic to finally meet some of the artists of the label. We danced like idiots backstage when a DJ who played after us was playing really crazy high tempo stuff! I guess that’s a cool story? haha
Dimitri: Latest DJ appearance at the Stereosonic festival. Did you enjoy playing there and what tracks that you played stand out during your set? Did you check other fellow DJs?
Thomas: Absolutely! Stereosonic is an amazing festival and being able to play on a fantastic stage as I did alongside some many great artists is truly an amazing thing. I had a very busy day talking to lots of different people and managing my Instagram takeover for enhanced. However, I caught Andrew Bayer’s set and it was incredible.
As for my set, hearing ‘Golden’ on the big sound system for the first time was certainly the highlight for me!
Dimitri: Your latest selection was broadcasted on radio station and in your facebook have commented that this was your dream. I wonder if it is still hard for electronic music to get plays in big radio stations in Australia and why you may think that this happens.
Thomas: It absolutely is very different, my music has been really well received in the US and Europe which I think is due to the DJs who support it. Australia isn't quite as accepting just yet but who knows what will happen if the future..
Dimitri: Also on your facebook you have a very nice blog entry about the difficulty to make a leaving as producer. Overall do you feel optimistic or pessimistic for your music career and are you determined to go against all odds to make it?
Thomas: I try not to think about it any more. I think that when you start putting all this pressure on yourself the music suffers. I want to focus on my music, do everything I can to be a great artist and whatever happens will happen! If it’s not about the love for music, it’s not worth doing.
Dimitri: You are very active in your social networks. How many hours do you spend on them and do you see this engagement to pay off and be worthwhile? Do you have some kind of proof for that?
Thomas: It’s tough to say really, as a producer who wants to get his music out there; you don’t really have a choice. Promotion (unfortunately) is a huge part of being successful so you've got to do it. I certainly get a lot of messages from fans who really appreciate my music, hearing this is definitely helpful for keeping me inspired and knowing I'm doing the right things with my music. Hours wise I'm really not sure, probably more than I should be!!
Dimitri: 2016 is coming very soon. Would you like to tell us about your future tracks and future plans? Are we going to see you performing soon in Europe?
Thomas: I can’t say anything yet about new music aside from that there may be a collaboration I'm really excited about in the work. I have been working hard and I think it will be a very exciting year! Touring wise, no plans as of yet but should the opportunity arise I’ll be sure to jump on it with open arms!!
Dimitri: Many thanks for your time, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2016
Thomas: You’re welcome, thank you for the questions. You as well!
Additional info:
https://www.facebook.com/thomashayesmusic
https://twitter.com/thomashayesdj
https://soundcloud.com/thomashayesmusic
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