INTERVIEW: Hearteyes Proves The DIY Ethos Isn't Dead With 'BORN ANNOYING'
Hearteyes. Photo supplied.
Sydney producer hearteyes’ latest track BORN ANNOYING sounds engineered to create a dopamine rush. There are points on the song where he sounds like the singer in a boyband, and other points where he could be a member of 100 gecs. It’s rare you hear an artist say they move through different genres in their music, and actually mean it. Don’t expect any predictability from one release to the next - that’s exactly what he’s fighting against.
“People are always telling me I need to stick to one style and build a following over years then I can experiment, but I’m too impatient and that sounds super boring to me,” hearteyes says. “I always seek to challenge myself and my collaborators with productions that are a bit off-kilter to what we are used to doing ”
Hearteyes got his start playing in hardcore/punk bands. That energy translates into his productions. “I take a lot of inspiration from that era and put what I learnt and practiced into what I do today.“ Speaking about recording the vocals for BORN ANNOYING, hearteyes says, “I recorded the vocals to this song with apple headphones in my room and made the beat from 10 different samples.” Every aspect of his music has crafted by him, and it’s why he’s so protective of his sound and image.
I also spoke to hearteyes about why remaining DIY is so important to him. He says it comes from wanting to be able to exist outside of any restrictions. “DIY is super important to me because I've been conditioned from my exposure to left-field music scenes that you can do anything you want if you really try, and most importantly, no one is going to help you or give you a hand out so you need to accomplish your goals yourself. Whether that's making your own vinyl, merch, recording in a garage on $200 etc.
”I'm enjoying myself making this hybrid of rock, hip hop and electronic music, especially doing it all myself, but I don't think people get it yet, or specifically what hearteyes is, as I am constantly traversing so many different genres so frequently. I guess that comes from my love for so many different genres and reluctance to be accepted as a one-dimensional artist, but whatever I'm having fun.”
His hardcore/punk background is something that’s becoming more common amongst electronic musicians. Hearteyes has an explanation for why this is the case. “I actually always say to my friends that hardcores do it better (when it comes to making other styles of music). There’s just this earnest fervency amongst musicians who come from any “heavier” subgenre.
“We are taught to hit and play our instruments as hard and loud as possible; there’s an unbridled sense of urgency and aggressiveness because of that, albeit in lieu of technical ability most of the time. That being said I think most musicians from heavier backgrounds can get in front of any new instrument like a drum machine, synth, even a DAW and create quite unorthodox sounds in the best way possible. "
To truly understand hearteyes’ music, I feel like it’s important to understand his evolution from one song to the next. Take his last two releases, drunk on the roof and BORN ANNOYING. Drunk on the roof feels like a slow burn - the kind of song you’d listen to as the last dregs of a night out slip away. By contrast, BORN ANNOYING is adrenaline-inducing and euphoric. It’s perfect for a hedonistic night on the town. It could be ripped out of 2005, or could sound fresh in five years. Is this the type of music aliens are listening to? I wonder.
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I really like BORN ANNOYING. Everything about the track reflects the types of sounds someone creates after spending a lifetime on the Internet. Hearteyes, and by extension BORN ANNOYING, is what happens when someone has a lifetime of music at their fingertips, and the guts to try and create their vision with everything they’ve got. BORN ANNOYING swings for the fences, and it’s a bloody home run.