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Photo by Katie Sadie
By Sydney Gore
Ryan Hemsworth is a funny dude. He writes “i can only be your fantasy” in the About Me section of his Facebook page and “CANADIAN PRINCE aka MR. STEAL YOUR WIFI aka PRODUCER GAME OMAR BORKAN AL GALAAKA aka THE BAE WHISPERER” in his Twitter bio.
His openness and sense of humor has gotten him a lot of online attention, but what he’s chosen to do with the platform he’s created for himself is no joke. Back in May, the 23-year-old Canadian producer quietly launched Secret Songs, a new project that shares free tracks from lesser known artists on a bi-weekly basis via SoundCloud. Hemsworth is on a mission of musical discovery.
Not only that, he’s touring and working on his sophomore album, Alone For The First Time. We caught up with Hemsworth during some rare downtime to talk about his music, the Internet, and his new role as one of the internet’s best music curators.
So you just got back from Europe, right?
Yeah, I did Europe for two weeks and then Japan for a week and a half.
Did you record the video for “Snow In Newark” during that time?
No, I shot it pretty much a month ago. Basically, we had a budget, like a decent one, so we were like, “Alright, let’s go out to the other side of the world and do something that we wouldn’t be expected to shoot at all.” So yeah, went to Nepal just for that reason for a week straight and came back after that.
I saw you last November at U Hall with Cyril Hahn and I feel like you’ve been on the road ever since.
Yeah, it feels that way for me as well.
When you take time off, what do you usually do?
Today, I am just doing laundry [Laughs] and then working on music a little bit, but mostly catching up on the emails that I’ve ignored over the past couple of weeks. And then boring stuff. Also watching a lot of movies. Basically never leaving my apartment unless I need to. This is my happy place.
I totally understand. I just finished midterms so the only thing that I want to do right now is stay in my bed and be on Netflix.
[Laughs] Exactly. For me, going out at night to shows and stuff when I’m home is not all that appealing. I enjoy it, but also mostly because it becomes a bit of a routine and you know, I’m lazy. I’m a lazy person.
We’ve been following your Secret Songs project since you launched it. It’s really awesome. On your site, you said that Secret Songs is not a label or a blog, but more of a musical outlet. The first thing we wanted to know is why you started it and what exactly it is.
For me, I really enjoy discovering new music and that’s always been my favorite feeling. It’s kind of the tie between making my own music and finding other music that I enjoy. So I was trying to find a way to keep doing that in a way similar to my mixes, where I could put it on a set or a podcast but more.
I thought SoundCloud would be the easiest because that’s what everyone is using to find new music and it’s super convenient. So I started with that, and then the compilation, and I’m working on the next one now and starting to book some showcases and stuff like that. It is sort of building into something different than I was expecting initially, but I think all in a good way. I don’t really want to make it this huge enterprise or anything. I want it to always remain a cool thing and something that people can trust.
Do you find the music yourself on SoundCloud?
It’s case by case, but for the most part it’s just me on SoundCloud or talking to different musicians or fans or whoever, and just constantly having conversations to find out what people like, and who people think are really good even if they’re not huge artists or whatever. It’s more fun to find someone who has 20 plays on SoundCloud, but amazing music that sounds like it’s theirs.
For me, it’s just scouring SoundCloud mainly and then looking through who follows who, and who’s part of what crews, and if there’s someone who maybe is in the background a little bit more. And then kind of figuring out—whether it’s putting out a song of theirs or putting them on a compilation or whatever—which project they would work with, and making it a way that appeals to people in a different way than just them putting songs on their own SoundCloud.
So there’s SoundCloud, but what are some of the other ways that you usually discover new music or new artists?
Just talking to people, really. Whether it’s just friends on Facebook or Twitter or when I meet people in certain cities. Like when I went to Japan, I just went shopping for a day and whenever I was with people, kind of asking if they’d want to share music on USBs or share Dropboxes and stuff. I share like a million Dropboxes with people. So it’s all different ways and then gathering music from every kind of corner of the world. And as much as that’s possible, like obviously, there’s too much music now to really enjoy fully and grasp. It’s very overwhelming, but just trying to cut that down a little bit into one outlet that people can trust, or at least go to every week or two weeks when there’s a new song.
Initially I wanted it to be a weekly thing and it would be possible, but I thought it would be better for artists to make it bi-weekly because it gives people more time to really digest each song. Spacing it out a little more makes it feel a little more special. They each put their own artwork with each track and stuff, and it all kind of helps make it a little more personal and easy to hold on to.
I just want to keep putting out tracks that I think are weird, good, and don’t necessarily fit in with whatever is blowing up in your face. I want it to always attract the unexpected, and the fact that people can still get into that is really cool.
Now that Secret Songs exists, and it’s out in the world, and people are following it and giving these artists recognition, how does that make you feel?
I’ve been super happy with how it’s worked out so far. I mean, when it just started, I thought that each song might get a couple hundred plays or something, but it’s fully exceeding my expectations. So I’m just trying to delve into it in a natural way and figure out what it is while it’s happening, which is fun—a lot more fun than having this huge, massive plan to take over the world or whatever. I just want to keep putting out tracks that I think are weird, good, and don’t necessarily fit in with whatever is blowing up in your face. I want it to always attract the unexpected, and the fact that people can still get into that is really cool.
When did you first think about doing it?
I mean, it was pretty spur of the moment. Probably only a few weeks before I put up the first track, the Tennyson track. I just started following him, and I realized that there are a lot of producers and artists who have this fully formed sound. I think he was kind of the catalyst for me to get it in motion. I was talking with a few friends like this DJ from Australia who had been doing a radio show out there for a long time, and he kind of pushed me to do that. We both appreciate music a lot, and he was like, “Why don’t you just make this a public thing? People will be into it.” It kind of just worked that way.
You have a strong presence on the Internet. In some past interviews, you’ve said that you’re very self-conscious, but you own being weird, which is cool. I was wondering if you would you say that the internet has helped you become more comfortable with sharing your own music, performing in front of crowds and being yourself?
Yeah, I think so. I think it’s pretty much helped me build the status of who I am and without it, I would probably still be in Hailfax, in my hometown working some shitty job. It’s just kind of a way to go beyond the connections that you are naturally given in the world. I can go on Twitter or Facebook or whatever and make all these friends that are around the world, and connected in some way whether it makes sense or not. I think it’s been good, but it’s just been a part of it all. What’s also helped is actually touring and playing shows, and getting more comfortable in those elements as well, which was probably my least comfortable place when I started out.
You and a lot of the other producers that are changing the game in electronic music right now are kind of like a little pack. Jacques Greene, Cashmere Cat, Evian Christ, Cyril Hahn, etc. Is that something that naturally happens as you’re touring making and playing at the same festivals and makings similar music or is it because you all just get along?
Definitely a bit of both. Definitely the touring part. I think about when the bands I liked when I was growing up were all kind of friends like Blink-182 and Green Day, and all of those people. The only difference is that back in the day, they didn’t have Twitter to interact, but I think it’s all pretty much the same. We all get thrown into this world of non-stop traveling and playing shows, and so we always run into each other. When you’re actually touring with people, you’re spending the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep together. So you bond and become friends. And I think when we all come from a background of making music on computers and sitting on our computers and stuff, we definitely share some personality traits as well.
I also wanted to mention your collaborations with singers like Tinashe and rappers like Trim and other producers. Is it a similar thing where you’re going around and talking to people, or is it set up through a mutual friend/third party?
For me, I like to make the first point of contact so whether I’m collaborating with a producer or a singer, I try to reach out to them first and show them love, and let them know that what they’re doing is really good and if they want to work together… You know, it’s what a lot of people do, and eight times out of ten, people don’t reply and nothing comes from it, but sometimes people say the same to you and want to work on a song.
When I work with singers, I’m thinking more about projects. So with my album coming out next month, two instrumentals and then five vocal features are with the people that I have known for a while or have been a fan of for a long time. I just reached out to them and thought their voice would fit perfectly for a specific song. It’s not really like, “Oh, this person’s really hot right now.”
You confirmed the title of your next album, Alone For the First Time, set the release date (November 3), and dropped the first single (“Snow In Newark” with Dawn Golden), so it seems like you’re right on track with everything.
Thank you!
Could you tell me more about the theme of the album and the tracks? I know that you said a lot of it has to due with the personal reactions that you’ve had with the current state of electronic and rock music.
Yeah, it kind of started as an EP, and then I kept making more songs for it, and having more ideas for certain points and songs and stuff, so just kind of piecing that together for the past year. It’s all basically produced and mixed and everything on the road. So at times, I’m trying to make that all make sense while being in hotel rooms or airports and stuff, which I think might add to the feeling of solitude which is the major theme of the whole project and why I reached out to the singers. I did it because they are all really good singers, but also they have a bit of that emotion in their voice.
I don’t know, I’m excited about it. For me, over the past couple of years, like you said, I’ve been touring a lot, and at a lot of EDM festivals, and I’ve been in a lot of different situations where I’m trying to figure out what I like and what I don’t like. And I think all of these songs are exactly what I want to do and sound exactly how I want to sound so there are moments like the track with Alex G. (“Too Long Here”) that I have where it’s kind of almost poking fun at EDM for some of the sounds and the stuff that I use in it. And a lot more guitar, and back drums, and playing special rock songs, and kind of going back to where I began with music I guess. Remembering what I really like.
Aside from that, what can we expect to see next from you?
I’m excited to get this out and I’ll be touring around the release over the next month and a half until mid-December. And then from there, just kind of trying to focus a bit more on Secret Songs and making that a bigger thing. I’m really excited to start doing more showcases and presenting artists in a live way, which is something I haven’t really taken advantage of up to this point. So trying to evolve that project would be most exciting for me. I’m definitely going to be collaborating a lot more on my solo stuff as well. I’m finding that I get a lot of fun out of music when it’s with producers and singers.
Is there anything else you want the Internet to know about Ryan Hemsworth that we can’t already Google?
[Laughs] No, I don’t think I want the Internet to know any more about me than it already knows.
