INTERVIEW: Aya Yves On What It Really Takes To Be A Full-Time Musician

Aya Yves. Photo by Steph Jewell.

Canberra artist Aya Yves has just released her fourth single, Brave, and it sees her singing about chasing her dreams, and making the jump to becoming a full-time musician. The song saw her achieve some significant Spotify milestones - a first for her music. She’s got a debut EP on the way, and Brave is a strong launching pad for what will be the first project under the Aya Yves banner.

I spoke to Aya about what it truly means to be a full-time musician, as well as the ins and outs of launching a new single. If you’re a musician preparing to release your first track, or just looking to hone your release strategies, then Aya has some serious words of wisdom that you’ll want to take on board.

Ben Madden: Firstly, can you introduce yourself and your music?

Aya Yves: Sure thing! I’m Aya, and I pride myself on writing songs with feeling that live in a dark-pop-kinda world. I’m inspired by the songwriting of Joni Mitchell and the badassery of BANKS (can you tell I’m a Libra? Haha).

You recently released Brave, and the track has seen Spotify support, as well as hit home with a lot of fans. Can you tell me the story behind the track?

Yeah oh my gosh it’s been surreal! This is the first time I’ve had playlisting support on a release so I’m very grateful for it. It’s been beautiful seeing everyone’s responses to the track too. To be honest, when we (myself, Bri Clark, Jordi White and Josh Lovegrove) wrote it I didn’t have an exact definition for what it was about. I’d just quit my day job, moved cities in pursuit of a music career full time and everything was new, different and scary.

It was the last track we wrote for my upcoming EP so it felt like it had to be everything and nothing all summed up. I just know the energy in the room that day was magic. There are times as creatives where we tap into some kind of divine inspiration - (you can call it the universe, God, fate, magic) where it feels like you’re in flow and what you’re creating was inevitable. That’s how Brave felt. It was like the song was waiting to be written, it was always going to be written- and it would feel like coming home.

Since then, it’s taken on so many different meanings for me. I recently was selected to showcase for the APRA AMCOS & Mardi Gras Queer Discovery Showcase- and to be honest I was absolutely terrified. I’d had a few friends send me the link for the application process encouraging me to apply, but I hadn’t come out as bi in a public way yet so I was hesitant. I did the application and left it sitting there with no intention of submitting it. The day before applications closed, I got another email nudging me to apply so I did. When it came to performing for the showcase, I thought Brave was a perfect fit as it really resonated with me putting myself out there as a queer artist. To be honest, I’m just really stoked that people are connecting in a way that resonates with them.

You mentioned to me that last year saw you quit your job to chase music full time. I wanted to ask about that experience, as well as your mindset when making that decision?

It had been a long time coming. I’d worked ‘full time’ as a musician once previously - in the sense that my income was only from gigs. That being said they were all covers gigs and I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting anywhere. I had a lot to learn about the industry (and still do to be honest!). I’d been spending all this time and energy working for other people helping them achieve their dreams (I was the lab manager for a natural cosmetics company) and I figured I would never get where I wanted if I didn’t dive in. So over the course of a year, I started dropping back my hours at my day job and transitioning into full-time music, finding work through covers gigs, session work as a vocalist and teaching singing here and there.

I think the trick as a freelancer is having multiple streams of income to try and have as much security as possible. Something I dare say the whole arts industry is trying to pivot to after these last 12 months. Unfortunately, it was bad timing for me- I quit my job in October 2019 and then March 2020 came and- we all know the rest of that story.

When it comes to being a musician full-time, what do you think are some expectations people have, and what do the realities actually look like?

I think people have this perception of being a rockstar and getting to spend your time playing shows/writing songs/making music videos. Those are definitely my personal favourite parts- but they, unfortunately, take up the least time.

In reality, there’re a lot of emails, grant applications, invoices to pay, late nights, learning yet another program (hello adobe illustrator & premiere I’m looking at you) and mental breakdowns (we try to avoid getting to this point but things can get stressful as an indie, self managed artist). Putting on a show means liaising rehearsals organising gear, promoting the show, marketing plans- there’s a lot that goes into every aspect of being an artist. Don’t get into music if you’re not willing to work hard!

I’d love for you to talk me through the release plan for Brave, and how you’ve executed that plan. Is there anything you’d change about the roll-out, and what’s surprised you most?

It had the least effort of all the singles, it was never planned to be one actually. I pushed my EP release back last year after some really heavy family stuff went down, so we (my power thruple over at The Annex) decided to release Brave as a single to help get Spotify algorithms going before the EP release. That being said we still had a publicity campaign planned with The PR Files, shot a music video and pitched the track way ahead of time in Spotify For Artists.

I don’t think there’s anything I’d really change with this one, because it let me breathe a little. I’m usually messaging people with pre-save links weeks in advance to rally the troops- but for this one I just let it happen how it was going to. It was better for my mental health. The biggest surprise has been the playlisting - I wasn’t expecting it AT ALL. For all my other releases I’d be checking playlists as soon as it ticked over midnight into release day. This one I didn’t even look - I had a friend message me congratulating me on the playlist in the morning.

I wanted to hone in specifically on the Spotify support. It’s something a lot of artists chase – but what do you think people should know about getting support from Spotify, and how should people set their expectations when releasing a track?

It’s a long game. Slow and steady wins the race. If you don’t get playlisting, it doesn’t mean your song isn’t goo d- plus there are HEAPS of independent Spotify curators. Hit them up on SubmitHub/Groover and see what happens.

In the past, if you’ve had releases go differently to how you might have imagined, what things do you do to cope with those unexpected changes/developments?

To be honest, I talk about it to my therapist. I have unrelenting standards so I’m trying to learn to slow down and celebrate wins when they happen. Release days can be heartbreaking when you have expectations - so the best thing is to hope for the best but not expect anything.

For artists that might not have released music before, how would you suggest they prepare for a release campaign, both in terms of the work they put in, as well as ensuring they stay in a great headspace?

Research, research, research. If you have friends who are doing what you want to- ask them how they’re doing it. Read How To Make It In The New Music Business. Give yourself way more time than you think you need. You should have all of your assets (press pics, bio, artwork, audio) ready 8 weeks before release. In terms of headspace, remember nothing happens overnight. Slow and steady wins the race.

If things don’t go as you’d like them to, give yourself a dedicated amount of time to move through your feelings, talk to a friend/therapist about it, shake yourself off and remember art is good regardless of external validation.

I hear there’s a video for Brave coming very soon. When it comes to releasing music videos, where do they sit in your release strategy, and how do you make sure you get the maximum benefit from releasing a video?

There is! I’m excited. We put a piano in a canola field. A real piano. In a real canola field. I try to spread them out from song release day to stretch out content, and make sure I have snippets I can post on socials as well as doing an ad spend. I see music videos as a way of telling the story of who you are as an artist, and where you want to sit. Like a big fancy business card. I think it helps turn listeners into fans.

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Finally, what are the next few steps for you, both personally and music-wise?

This year I want to spend more time enjoying being in my body. Food. Dancing. Nature. I spend a lot (too much) time in my head anxious about the future so I’m focusing on finding joy in simple pleasures. I think in turn this makes better art. Now that the EP is done and almost out - music-wise I’m keen to get experimental, figure out what the next chapter is sonically for Aya Yves. Get in as many sessions as I can, line up some collabs, plan some more over the top music videos. You know, the usual.

You can follow Aya Yves on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.