Hayes is a multi-platinum selling recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Throughout his career, he has earned five Grammy nominations and he plays over 30 musical instruments.
He has amassed over two billion streams, and six gold and platinum-certified singles, which include his massive multi-platinum-selling hit single “Wanted.”
‘If You Change Your Mind’
Regarding his new single “If You Change Your Mind,” Hayes said, “It started on a bus where I was hearing this chord progression and I wanted to create something with that. I literally went into Logic and I dragged 95 samples into a session and I just hit play, all at the same time.”
“It sounded magical and mystical,” Hayed admitted. “I wanted to write a song about the back and forth of missing somebody [that you know you shouldn’t miss] for all the wrong reasons. You don’t remember any of the bad things, only the good things, and you miss those things. You just live in this Dreamland of what you think it was. I really wanted to highlight the dreamlikeness of that. Being stuck in your own picture of it felt very cinematic. It was really fun writing it and I loved the song ever since. I was excited to finally put it out.”
“If You Change Your Mind” has a mellow and groovy vibe to it, where he showcases his rich, crisp vocals, and it will resonate well with listeners and fans.
‘The One That Got Away’
On his previous single “The One That Got Away,” he said, “That came out of one of my first Zoom writes. I had a year of journaling on this one particular topic, but it was a shift in thinking. It was something I had manifested when this massive change happened in my life. It was a huge sigh of relief and I wanted the song to feel like breaking out of jail, and your first car ride after that.”
“The One That Got Away” is available on digital service providers by clicking here.
Both of these singles are tracks on his upcoming studio album, Red Sky (Part II), which will be out later this year.
From this new album, Hayes revealed that his favorite songs include “The One That Got Away,” “About a Boy,” as well as a new song called “Wallflower,” which is about reframing how you see certain aspects of your personality, and it’s a song that he wrote entirely by himself.
“‘Wallflower’ was actually one of the first songs that I wrote for the album, it feels very expressive and it gives me a chance to be artistic. I am excited for people to hear it since it’s a different style of writing for me. I love what it stands for: it glorifies the things that I am normally used to, and it allows them to have their own purpose to be celebrated,” he said.
‘The Masked Singer’
In 2020, Hayes reached for the stars as the astronaut in the hit reality singing competition The Masked Singer on Fox. “This show was brilliant timing because I was trying to undo filters on myself,” he said. “It was like a therapy sculpt seeing that happen in this visual way with song choices and vocal training. I got this amazing vocal coach that really changed my life and the way I understood my voice and changed my relationship with my voice.”
“It created a brilliant time and space for me to put into practice a lot of things that I wanted for myself at the time, and to expand and undo my own filters,” he said.
Digital age
On being an artist in the digital age, he said, “It’s wild.” “I am still learning it. I am definitely still getting used to it and understanding it. I love it for new releases,” he exclaimed. “It’s nice to know that I am making an album and it’s nice to know that I don’t need to release my music in a traditional way.”
“The digital age allows you to have a real-time conversation with the people that support you and the people that are always there to hear it, and that is really fun. It is very rewarding to hear from people how they connect with your song,” he said.
Regarding the title of the current chapter of his life, he said, “Red Sky.” “I am living ‘Red Sky,’ to be honest with you. I am manifesting it and it physically allowed me to see myself undoing certain walls, confinements, and filters that I put myself in the past. I don’t feel that here and the music shows that as well,” he said.
Hayes shared that although he didn’t develop any new skills during the quarantine, he stayed very productive writing more music. “I really leaned into producing,” he said. “I am really grateful that I got this time.”
His dream collaboration choices in music include Chris Martin of Coldplay and Alessia Cara. “I would really love to do something with Chris Martin. I love Coldplay, everybody does,” he said. “Also, I think Alessia is an amazing human and says brilliant things with her music, I am a massive fan.”
Hayes defined the word success as being able to be his authentic self, as well as for people to be inspired and encouraged to do the same thing.
For more information on global music star Hunter Hayes and his music, visit his official website, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram.
