HAZLETT

SSW: Let’s talk about your background. When did you first discover your passion for music? At what age did you write your very first song and what was it about?

HAZLETT: Well, one of the big catalyst moments was when I was a teenager and I snuck into a music festival to see Kings of Leon. They weren’t huge just yet, so it was early afternoon and I just stood there in awe, muttering to myself “Yes. I want to do that”. But the passion for music was always there while growing up. Mum and Dad’s collection was scattered across records and the CD stacker in the living room playing round the clock. Mum loved Crowded House and Fleetwood Mac, Dad loved The Doors and Dean Martin.

As for the very first song I wrote, it was about a girl I fancied in high school. The intro was a sample of Kat’s teary classroom poem from “10 Things I Hate About You”. I’ve tried to hide it from the internet as much as possible but it’s probably embarrassingly out there somewhere.

How did your sound and artistic vision change since you first started writing?

At first I just wanted to strum my guitar and sing acoustic ballads like a “real” songwriter. I felt like I’d be a sellout using synths or playing around with electronics. But I listen to so many different genres of music that it’s almost become necessary to use a those reference points and memories across a huge variety of elements to paint the pictures in my head properly. The artistic vision has always been focused on performing live though. From day one I’ve wanted to open with the sparse solo feel of the first EP and build the night into full band for the upcoming songs and beyond. So thats where I’m trying to continue taking things now.

Being originally from Brisbane, Australia, you ended up moving to Stockholm, Sweden. Tell us a little more about your journey.

Yeah, I’ve somehow ended up in possibly the furtherest place I could be from my hometown. I’ll try do a shortened version or some dot points; I’d tried music a couple times and failed, including getting fired from pubs for playing my own music. I met a girl who thought it would be best for me to get a real job, so I found an internship with an advertising agency and worked my way up the ranks over a couple years. I got a phone call one day from an old friend in publishing up in Stockholm. His wife had shown him a YouTube clip of me and he was angry I never told him I could sing (truth is I still don’t think I can). He said I had to come up and record some songs. I rejected him 3 times. It wasn’t until the girl I was dating broke up with me and my mum gave me a push to get back into music did I call him back. Next thing I know he connected me with my producer and best friend Freddy, now we work on everything together and it’s become my second home.

We’ve been following your work since we first heard “Suncats”, this song made us completely fall in love with what you do. Since then you have released 2 amazing tracks: “Monsters” and “Easy Now Tiger”. Any interesting stories behind those songs?

Monsters to be quite blunt is about catching yourself people watching, then realising we are all cut from the same cloth. It was sparked by a bar that opened up in my hometown, where I saw some pretty crazy things. But it made me realise we all have different ways of dealing with things, growing up, different pitfalls and paths, so who are we to judge someone else as long as we are all trying to do out best.

Easy Now Tiger is about long distance love and trying to keep it together. I wanted to write a song about missing someone back home without sounding like cliché. I think you can talk enough to reassure someone emotionally how you feel, but it’s harder to replace that physical connection from far away.

If you had to describe your sound in terms of feelings, how would you describe it?

Nostalgic. Honest. Hopeful.

What should we expect from you this year?

Well if the first 3 months of this year is anything to go by I don’t know what to expect anymore. But ideally I’m going to put out an EP next month called THUNDERING HOPES . Then, when it’s safe to do so, I want to get on the road to play to and meet as many people as I possibly can.

Who is on your top 3 list of artists you would want to collaborate with?

I’d love to work with Justin Vernon to see his process and creative ways. I’d love to work on a duet album with Maggie Rogers and create a kind of Rumours, Fleetwood Mac-style album together. The last I would’ve loved to work with before he passed away was Phillipe Zadar, he was absolute genius of our time.

When you were just starting out, what did you do to get your music out there? Any advice for aspiring songwriters/producers, regarding both the craft and business?

I’ve tried anything and everything be honest. I might be naive, but I think at the end of the day good music will always prevail. So my advice is just work on that, make it all about the music. Build a whole world and invite people in when you’re ready. As for the business side of things it’s an ugly but necessary part of music, so I’ve always tried to operate with my gut feeling. I’ve learnt to trust it more and more, so I’m lucky to have ended up working with people that aren’t just colleagues, but we’re all best friends.

Let’s talk about more of your personal journey. What is the hardest lesson you’ve learnt in life so far?

The hardest thing I think I’ve learnt is to stop trying to please people. It’s been for both personal life and music, which are one of the same to be fair. But I’ve kind of come to grips with the fact that you just have to be honest in everything you do, even if it’s a little weird, even if it’s not what people expect from you. People are either going to like you and what you do or they aren’t, and there’s nothing you can do about it. That was a weight off my shoulders.

Growing as a person, you will always encounter challenges that require leaving your comfort zone to try things that scare you. What scares you? Is there anything new and exciting you’d like to try?

It sounds really small and simple but I am so scared to ever perform live without my guitar around my neck. But a lot of the new music I’m working on is looking like I might have to take that leap to perform it best live. I’ve got trust issues with the creative process so taking my hands off the wheel is a scary challenge for me coming up.

How do you use your intuition in your creative process?

Me and Freddy pretty much work as a team with the creative process of everything. So intuition comes into play by listening to each other and noticing when someone feels passionately about something. It’s taken a while to build up the trust, but I’m willing to lay down my guns when I see he feels strongly about a chord change or a certain sound and vice versa. I mean I won’t lie, sometimes we’ll go home from the studio hating each other but intuition always makes it right the next day.

We got one last question for you! Thinking of yourself as a soul on Earth, what do you think your purpose is?

I don’t know how to say this without sounding a bit full of myself, but I honestly think I’m here to help people. Sometimes I think it might be a problem, that I’d rather solve someone else’s problems and ignore my own, but maybe that’s cause it’s easier to see other people clearer than yourself. I often open up an invite on social media inviting people unload any problems that they might have and see how I can help. I know I can’t help everyone and it can get a little overwhelming, but I’m sure as hell going to help as much as I can while I can.