Solo artist Originally from Durban South Africa Hayden has always enjoyed music, recorded and live, playing anything from wind to strings, piano and drums and DJ’ing for much of his teenage years. His love of music stems from a musical family which covers generations of very talented musicians, and an upbringing around the theatre and performing arts .
Now residing in Wigton, Carlisle North West England he has taken up music again completed his debut album ‘Long Time Coming’. He plays most of the instruments himself in a studio setting together with producer Paul Baggott. Hayden serves as musical director at the John Peel Theatre Wigton and also serves on the committee.
He runs and stages local open mic events to promote growth and development of young performers in music and spoken word performance. He accommodates up to 6 piece bands and offers a platform free of charge for people to experiment and develop their performance.
His favourite musical quote is “Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” -Cyril Connolly. (1903 – 1974)
Hayden is published and play listed on a number of Radio stations including the BBC, Zone Radio, Knysna FM, EGH and many more. He plans to continue placing his music into the industry in general as well as TV, film and media.
Hayden is currently in New Zealand investigating opportunities to further his music globally.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Hayden : I grew up in Durban South Africa. A lot of my youth was spent around performing arts and I always had a love of music. For one or another reason I went nearly half way through life without pursuing music. Maybe owing to the fact that the first electric guitar I bought was deliberately trashed by the seller who didn’t like the agreed sale price. But hey ho. My family was very musical so it wasn’t any lack of opportunity just never got around to it. It always seemed out of my reach until following a back operation at 37 I knuckled down and learned a few things. I got some books and a guitar and it went from there. Over the years I’ve done a great many things including being a high end chef, a commercial diver, a barman, a waiter, a DJ, a bouncer. You name it and I’ve probably given it a go. Music is a passion though. It’s not so much work but rather something I enjoy doing. I now live in the UK with my family and we’re looking at possibly moving to New Zealand to see what down under has to offer. My family are my support and inspiration, without them giving me the opportunity to follow the music this all would never had happened. Kudos to them.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Hayden: You’ll have to ask my mom that one. Ha ha ha. I have no stage name just my given name. it was good enough for my musical inspiration my mom, so it’s good enough for me.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Hayden: I think online sharing and streaming has certainly changed things. Maybe for the good. Certainly as far as exposure goes yeah definitely for the good. 20 years ago people like me remained bedroom singers and bedroom guitarists because there were no pathways to the world other than making a dodgy cassette tape in the garage with your mates tape recorder. It’s easier to get heard now in those terms but that brings with it another million and plenty people who are better and smarter than I to the ball game. The modern music industry model has taught me that. There is always someone infinitely better than you so A: don’t sweat it just do what you do and B: keep on keeping on, you can’t afford to do something well once and coast. In another respect its harder to get heard above the noise. There are so many crazy talented people out there it’s frightening and intimidating to say the least. So much good music to choose from one has to give music away. The old business model doesn’t apply any more. The money is in sync and streaming now. Although that won’t stop me from releasing an album in hard copy but the focus will be digital for sure.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Hayden: Knock on doors, walk the street and ask in person, play open mic’s, busk, be bold and have such a belief in yourself even if you do think you’re being arrogant. You have to be seen to believe in yourself before anyone else will. And don’t take the first 5000 no’s as final. There is a yes in there somewhere. Go find it. Art is subjective, someone somewhere will like what you do. Never ever turn down an opportunity that’s offered for free but in the same breath don’t be taken by someone who expects you to deliver for free while they reap the rewards. Know your own value.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Hayden: It varies with each song. Sometimes I have a specific subject I want to tell a story about other times it starts as a simple chord progression played a certain way. Songs begin as scraps of ideas that exists in the same space and they tend to find each other with little help from me. They sometimes take time to co-ales but if they want to be uncovered then they find a way to find me. I believe that once something exists it is accessible to all in some esoteric way. People can tap into creativity that simply exists. Songs are no different, It’s like they exist and just need to be uncovered and have the dirt moved aside. I have no hard and fast rule, I write short 4 line poems and phrases that appeal to me and then it kind of runs way with itself and grows. Sometimes very quickly to. Heroes and Wonderland for example ere written in 5 minutes. Runway Lights was written between taxi and take off from Newcastle Airport in the UK. It’s the refining that takes time. I can write to spec too, and in those instances it’s a more mechanical method involving lyrics around the subject matter and then making the key signature match the tone of the story. I prefer the first method though.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Hayden I use all the main ones. Reverbnation, Soundcloud, Youtube. But I will slowly migrate over to my own website which is now up and running www.haydendunstan.com My music will also be released soon on iTunes, Spotify, Shazam, Amazon and other online retailers. My debut album is now completed and has been submitted for release any day now.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Hayden I would probably move to New Zealand and set up a small studio there. I’ve produced an album on a shoe string. It’s the other stuff that costs.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Hayden Facebook is my better platform. I find Twitter largely a waste of time and a platform overwhelmed with spam, and those accounts that are real (precious few) are all just talking and no one is listening. Like going to a party where no one listens they are all just talking to the room. Twitters days are numbered. Unless you’re and ‘A’ lister, you have little chance of doing any good on twitter. I find people on Twitter use it to tell you about them rather than find out about you. I also use local radio to help with getting my name out there. They have a wider reach than most but the bottom line truth of it is its extremely difficult to do any proper promotion without the budget the labels and promoters provide.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Hayden: My debut album ‘Long Time Coming’ is coming out any day now I have submitted the compilation to the retailers and hard copies are in the works. It’s taken 5 years to complete on a very limited budget so it’s something I’m very proud of and a milestone to say the least. Work has already begun on my next project as well. I am writing an acoustic album hopefully to be recorded later in 2016. In the meantime I promote local bands in the North West of England and provide a platform free of charge to new and emerging acts. That keeps me busy.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Haydent: A real Job 😀
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Hayden: I’m very fortunate in that my partner in life supports my dreams as much as I do. Consequently I am full time in the music. It will pay off someday I’m sure. Without the financial and emotional support I get from Catherynn, who by the way, features on the debut album and is an accomplished vocalist herself, I wouldn’t be able to do this. I would be in a kitchen somewhere being piss miserable. Catherynn enables me, it’s as simple as that.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Hayden: Acoustic work. While I am traveling it’s harder to record with the small amount of gear I can carry and too expensive to pay full studio rates. As a rule I record all my own stems to save money so for now I want to focus on an acoustic album which I am excited about. No tricks, no studio magic fairy’s, just good ole guitar and vocals. It’s about half written at this stage so still a work in progress. But as always I look forward to releasing new material whenever it is available. I look forward to feedback both good and bad. It’s actually the bad feedback that’s with no doubt the most honest. It’s easy for someone to politely say ‘that’s great’ then you have to filter the truth from the polite answers but a bad comment is undoubtedly almost always true. In closing I’ll say what I always say. ‘Thank you for listening’. It makes it all worth it to have people just listen. Please do keep listening. Before money and numbers come into it. I value people who just take the time to listen. Thank you that’s why I do it.