‘TRYING TO CHILL’
Hemsworth doing it his way
What has probably worked best for me is being in control of everything that I do. I talk to my fans directly. I give them my songs directly.
Ryan Hemsworth, who won a Juno for his first album in 2014, is typical of a new generation of musicians who refuse to wait for record companies to carry their bags. He’s out there on his own, has founded his own record label and has no problem getting new music to his fans.
“What has probably worked best for me is being in control of everything that I do. I talk to my fans directly. I give them my songs directly. I just released a new mix tape and put it on a We Transfer link. It’s not being hosted anywhere. I’m just giving that to people by posting online,” says the Halifax native.
To make sure people know the music is there, he’s active on several social media channels.
“I think it’s awesome that we’ve reached the point where people can listen to my voice directly rather than have a PR person run my pages. The attraction to my music, I believe, is the fact that it’s just me straight up.”
That can be a demanding choice, however. And that’s one reason why he’s only doing 13 club dates this summer, including an appearance at Babylon this Friday with Tommy Kruise.
“I’m trying to chill. I want to be at home more, focus on the label and keep that growing.”
Hemsworth, a journalism school graduate who had hoped to become a music writer, is, obviously supremely comfortable with technology — unlike other, perhaps older, musicians who dislike and distrust the bits and bytes.
“I grew up, since I was seven, on computers. The tool that we use is just part of creating a final product. What I think about is the final product that you are giving people.
“They want to experience something that makes them feel something — happy, sad, whatever it is. That can be achieved through electronic sound these days. Everything I record is within my laptop. I’m trying to recreate sounds and combine them. For me, that’s a fun challenge ... trying to bring out emotion in all the electronic tools I use.”
That said, he still thinks it’s important to pick up a guitar and play the drums, instruments he started with as a teenager.
“I think it’s great for anyone to have some sort of basis on how they visualize the chords they’re playing. Even if they ’re now just playing a keyboard. I still visualize chords with a guitar in mind. It’s good to have some physical attachment to music.”
That 13-year-old kid was a fan of Radiohead and Blur.
“They were crossing a lot of genres. That’s so important to my generation. Today I listen half the time to stuff I cared about in high school. That’s why I got into music.”
His family wasn’t musical but he had a cousin playing in bands. He’d go over to his place and steal his albums. He was a mentor, Hemsworth says, who gave him his Kurt Cobain books and put him on the right path.
Today Hemsworth is often on the road, carrying his laptop and a change of underwear.
He does have friends whom he hooks up with, like Tommy Kruise, but it’s a solo show most of the time.
“I really only got a tour manager three months ago so I’m actually travelling with someone now. He does a great job, but (ironically) I’m paying for a companion on the road. At the same time, I’m really happy I don’t have to travel with a drum kit.”
He had some instant success with the Juno win for electronic album of the year and a second nomination on his second album released in 2015.
“I didn’t think that was something I could even could be considered for. It’s this crazy Canadian achievement. I feel like, finally, my parents have something they can brag about that other people their age could understand.” As for the future? Hemsworth believes that electronic music will become more and more accepted.
“I feel it’s now becoming a normal thing. There is always ‘You’re just showing up with a laptop, pressing play and not really doing anything.’ That’s the challenge now. You have to prove you’re bringing something to the table.”
He’s now recording with a guitar and live drums in a bid to bring more of a live element to his music.
“Think about David Bowie in the 1970s and all the different phases he went through. I’m trying to think of my next album. How I can enter into a different period instead of doing the same thing. What I strive for is making people a little uncomfortable and pushing them a little.”