It's so great to meet a singer-songwriter whose company you instantly feel comfortable in. For the final day of Gemma Hayes Week on Rarities, I have a good 'ol chat with the lovely lady herself about her new album, Jedward, hard-core drugs and singing out of tune. Here is what the charming and hilarious Gemma Hayes had to say for herself...
Elaine: Thanks so much for agreeing to do this Gemma; I'm a big fan!
Gemma: Aw, thank you!
E: Congratulations on the new album- I really love it. Are you pleased with the reception it's gotten so far?
G: Absolutely over the moon about it. This is an album, for loads of reasons, that's really important to me, but also because I sort of took this on myself completely- no manager, no label, no anything. So, you know, it's just been such an upheaval to get it done. Even creatively I started the album and decided to change the direction sort of four songs in and then started again, so it's just the fact that it's out now and that it's been so well received by people blows my mind. It's fantastic.
E: Great. You began playing some of the songs on this album back in 2009 in your acoustic sets...
G: Yeah.
E: Are you sick of playing any of them yet?
G: Haha... No, do you know, it's funny because I sing songs from even ten years ago, songs that I wrote ten years ago that I'm still playing. Like I still play 'Back of My Hand' and songs like that that are really old. It's weird. I mean, if I was to sing them every night I'd get sick of it, but I don't gig every night. I gig on and off, I try to leave a space in between so I don't get jaded. Because if I don't feel it then the audience definitely won't feel it. So, I truly believe when I do a performance I want to be there 100%. I want to be in that song and feel what I was feeling when I wrote it. And when I can't do that, I just think that translates and people can pick up on it. I found in the past, like when I used to gig away a lot, I found myself not being able to tap into the song as much. So it's definitely something that's important to me and I'm certainly not jaded by songs I have been performing for two years. I've got a few more years to go with them before I start to get tired!
E: Have you any more plans to tour with a full band with this album?
G: I do. We're going to be doing a lot of the festivals this year. I played Cork and Dublin recently with the full band. There's the Sea Sessions festival in Donegal, Electric Picnic, Galway Arts Festival and the Kilkenny Arts festival- all of those will be with a full band. And some of the gigs will be stripped down, with just one other person or two people. I love playing theatres; it's something I've gotten into over the past year or two. It's such a fantastic but strange place to play. It sort of freaked me out a bit at the start but now I just love it. That I usually do with just a two-piece.
E: I was at your Dolan's gig in Limerick last Saturday night...
G: Ah, were you?
E: Yeah I was. You told a funny story about Louis Walsh...
G: Haha...yeah.
E: And about how he propositioned you [Walsh approached Gemma after a show and told her that in order for him to "sell her", she would have to date someone famous and let someone else write her songs]. Do you ever have moments of self-doubt where you think, "Jesus, should I change it up a bit so as to appeal to more people?" People like Louis Walsh. Do you ever just want to be like Jedward?
G: Haha! Funnily enough, I see it as a completely different job. It's like someone saying to me, would I ever like to be a golfer, you know? For me, it's a totally different thing and I have such respect for it. I mean, believe me, to be an out and out pop entertainer, it must be gruelling. So, I definitely have a lot of respect for it but personally, myself, I have no desire to do that. And I know that sometimes the worlds cross over, like obviously there are songs that I'll put out to radio to promote my album and they [pop acts] are all about getting songs to radio so there's points where they cross over, but to me it's still completely different worlds. I would love to reach as many people as somebody like, let's say, Jedward would reach, but for me the whole reason to get involved in the creative process and trying to get that creativity to people, that's what's important to me. It's about the creative product at the end of the day and I don't know if I'd get such a kick out of all this if I stopped writing, as Louis Walsh suggested I do. I wouldn't see the point; I'd be like, "Well what's the point now?" I think all the satisfaction would be gone. I mean, when I started out, when I was 18 or 19, I had huge offers from labels and from managers. They were saying, "Look, you need to sex yourself up a bit" and "Let's go down the pop route". But, again, it's like someone telling me to scrap all this and get into hairdressing. It was like asking me to do something completely different to what I wanted to do. But it is an interesting question and I do have self-doubt- absolutely. I'm human and I think everyone has self-doubts at some stage. But my self-doubts tend to come during the creative process, where I'm kind of sitting there and thinking, "Oh my God...is this any good?" I'll second guess myself. And sometimes you can get so close to it; it's like creating a painting. Sometimes your face is so close to the canvas that you actually almost forget what it is you're creating. So definitely- panic attack cental while creating. But once it's done... I mean, I don't know how I've managed to survive, to be honest, just financially. They key for me is, I don't put a lot of thought into it. I just focus on the creative thing. I release it and I give it my best when I go out there. And my music doesn't get much radio play. But it does tend to get used a lot in syncs for TV...
E: That was my next question actually. I was just going to say that you're all over the telly! You've been on Irish TV shows like RAW and a few months back I heard a demo of 'Brittle Winter' in this American TV show Pretty Little Liars. You're on Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill, ER. I mean, what's that like when you're sitting down watching the telly and your music comes on over a particularly angsty scene in a teen's bedroom or over a dramatic scene in the Emergency Room?
G: Haha! It's brilliant! It's an amazing feeling because it sort of makes me feel like I'm doing okay, you know? Like my music is quite mellow overall. Obviously there are songs that are upbeat but overall it is quite laidback, it's a laidback affair. And i don't get played a lot on the radio, although I do get played by particular DJs who support me and stuff, but overall I've never had a huge radio hit. I love creating mellow, atmospheric music and the fact that someone somewhere gets it and chooses to use it in the background of these TV shows is just a wonderful feeling. Because I've always wanted to create a soundtrack. I've always wanted to be in the background and it's a wonderful feeling. And I love Grey's Anatomy...
E: Me too!
G: I remember sitting down the first time and watching it and my song came on in the background and I just freaked out! It's like two worlds coming together that should never come together. Like that world exists in my head- all these characters are real in my head and I enjoy watching them, and then all of a sudden I hear my voice coming from the locker room in Seattle Grace and I'm like, "fuck!". It's wrong, but it's so right!
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| From the video for 'Keep Running' |
G: Yeah, it can.
E: What are the influences behind your sound? Where does your music stem from?
G: Well, for me a lot of it is just instinctual. I just start writing a song and everything that I've listened to in my life...I mean, I don't set out thinking, "Oh I'm gonna go for a prog rock sound here", I just kind of start writing a song, and it just becomes kind of obvious, do you know what I mean? Everything I have ever listened to, both consciously and subconsciously, sort of songs on the radio, pop songs from the 80s, my teenage years listening to grunge, indie music...everything I've ever listened to gets stored in there somewhere and when I start a song I just hear things and I just think, "Aw, man, I think a New Order-style guitar riff would sound really cool there". I just go with what I feel is right and what seems right to put in the song. It is sort of like a pick n' mix bag of sweets, my music. One song might be quite folky and the next might be a pop sounding song and then the next could have a country sound. It's like you just put your hand in and you don't know what you're going to pull out. It's just how it comes out really.
E: Adele is getting a lot of publicity at the moment because she's quite honest in saying her new album is all about this relationship of hers that broke down, and her songs are really quite sad. Many people have commented that your songs are really emotional and even sometimes depressing, and they seem to be quite personal. Do you draw on personal experience for your songs? Are they written about things that have happened you?
G: Am...well, again, I don't have like a set formula. Sometimes when I do feel strongly about something that has happened me I do write about it. I tend to write about it long after it's over, you know, because when I'm going through something I can't see the wood for the trees and i can't sing about it. It's only when time has passed and I reflect on something, then I can write about it. But that's not even a rule of mine. Sometimes something can happen me and I'll write about it, other times I'll be inspired by something I watch in a movie. Something might stir me and I'll relate to something I see in a movie. Because we're all human and sometimes a good movie will deal with the human condition and will stir emotion in us. Like recently I watched Sling Blade with Billy Bob Thornton while I was writing for the new album and it just struck a chord with me. There was something about this movie that really stirred something in me and I found it really inspiring, but not directly inspiring. You know. I didn't sit down and say, "I shall write about this". There was a mood that it gave me that I carried with me and I started to write songs like 'Sorrow Be Gone', which is a little country-type track.
E: I love that song.
G: Thank you! And that's not really speaking about anything really, that's just hinting at a love that's gone, hinting at somebody not being able to achieve the things they want to achieve and feeling like that over the next mountain will be all the answers. It's hinting at a sense of something. So sometimes I do just make it up but it's never false. It's still created by a true feeling but it's just that the contents might be a made up story. And actually, that 'Brittle Winter' song is about being stuck down a revine with somebody in freezing cold water. Now, that never actually happened, but it's the sentiment behind it that is true. That sense of, "Oh, shit- what have we done? How come we've ended up here?". So it all just depends really but I just try to make sure that the feeling and sentiment behind it is real.
E: You mentioned that you made and released this album independently. After The Roads Don't Love You you parted ways with your record company. What are the major benefits, for you, in going it alone?
G: Well, I'll tell you, there's a for and against. I feel really lucky to have had a label because that sort of pushes you up that few steps in terms of getting your music heard. Because they have a big machine. And with that machine they can push you out of oblivion and put you on the map. I'm actually really appreciative of all that time I had with the label because I can't imagine how hard it is to start out on your own D.I.Y. from the get-go. I really can't imagine how hard it is because there's just millions and millions of people doing this. So for me, now, doing this independently is just great. I never signed a deal where my creative input was never limited. The first label I ever signed with, Source, I got on really well with them. They understood is was never going to be bubblegum, money-making music but they liked it. And that was great. But when they dissolved, because they're now a subsidiary of Virgin, I found myself signed to this huge major label. And I didn't sign with Virgin, I signed with Source. But when they dissolved, all the artists that were signed with Source automatically became Virgin artists. And then all of a sudden it was a different ball game. All of a sudden there were a lot of suits coming into the studio for the second album, wanting to know what I was doing and where I was spending their money. And that was hell; that was hell on earth. So when I think back to that, I think that to be free of all that is such a plus. But saying that there are some great labels out there who do support artists so...sorry I'm rambling here now! To answer your question, basically, it is great to not have to push against something. For me to be independent now is just a huge plus. Not to have to explain yourself to suits and not to have to fight for a budget and not to have to fight for a release date. Because it's not just the creative stuff. A lot of times I was left to my own devices in that sense, bar that one album, but trying to get them to commit to releasing your album and making it a priority. It really is exhausting. So now all of that is gone. I mean, it's amazing- I finished my album, mastered it and went and manufactured it. And it's wonderful that I could do this. A lot of the labels go to these manufacturing places, go to do these distribution places where artists can now just go themselves. It's so liberating and the fact that there's no middle man taking a HUGE percentage is great because it allows me to, you know, survive and put that money back into making another album! That was a long old answer, wasn't it?!
E: Haha, no it's great to know this stuff because it really shows the thing that I love most about you, which is that you're not willing to conform. It's just all about the music for you.
G: Aw...thank you!
E: Gemma, you're home now right? You're back living in Ireland?
G: I am- I'm back living in Dublin. But I am going back to L.A. in September.
E: Oh, okay- because I wanted to ask you about L.A. What do you make of the lifestyle over there and where do you prefer to be?
G: There's just such a different beat over there. I guess Ireland, for anyone that's Irish, will always be home. I very much feel like when I visit L.A. that I'm just visiting L.A. But when I come home to Ireland it's like, "Ugh, I'm home". So, in that sense L.A. will always be outside of what I call home I think. But to visit and to live there for a while is brilliant! It's a crazy place. It's full of creative people, it's full of mad people! It's full of people who go to that city...some of them don't have talent between their ears at all, but they have a drive and an ambition and they just think they should be famous- they want to be famous. They think that being famous will sometimes fix all their problems. And then right beside them walking down the street will be someone who is just dripping in talent, but has no ambition to succeed, you know? And you have those people who have a great balance of both ambition and talent. It's amazing to watch this amazing melting pot of people. Everyone goes to that city- I just find it fascinating. I find that city fascinating. I will always visit there but I don't think I'll ever live there for four years again.
E: And having been out of Ireland for four years and just coming back last year, what do you make of the Irish music scene now, in its current state?
G: I am loving what's out there at the moment. A few years ago in Ireland it seemed to be that there were movements of certain types of music. For example, you had the Hothouse Flowers and The Frames, like a particular movement in a sound. But now I look around and it's really individual. Everybody is doing something different, doing their own thing and it's not just a movement of one particular sound. And it's so wonderful. There are so many great acts out there, even like Villagers, James Vincent McMorrow and, what's her name, is it Katie Kim?
E: Yeah, Katie Kim.
G: Yeah. And even like Cathy Davey or Jape- it's all so unique and individual and everyone's doing their own thing. And that I find really exciting and really inspiring. I just think it's all thriving at the moment, and I don't know why. Maybe it's because there's sort of a natural dip or a natural wave that kind of brings it back up. I just think it's a brilliant place to be musically and I find it really inspiring.
E: On the new album there's a few faces, like Ann Scott, who was at the Dolan's gig with you, and Paul Noonan, who you've worked with before for The Cake Sale and Ceol. Is he like your BFF?!
G: Haha!
E: My friend Laina adores him and I guess I'm just curious for her. What's he like to work with?
G: You know, it's weird now because I've known Paul for about 11 years. I remember being 18 or 19 and going to the singer-songwriter nights and him and Damien Rice would be there and their old band Juniper. And they asked me if, you know, I'd like to support them and I remember being terrified! To be at those Juniper shows and having to sing before them; I was just shaking in my boots. It's just so amazing to think that they broke up and then Paul became my drummer! And then I ended up supporting Bell X1. So he's definitely someone I care a lot about but he's not somebody I would hang out with, like we wouldn't really hang out with each other. But he is someone I have a lot of respect for and I think he is incredibly talented. So it's cool. He was kind of recording a few acoustic tracks recently and he had me sing on some stuff and I had him sing on the album. So it's all very relaxed. But he's great.
E: L.A. has an incredible music scene...
G: Yeah, it does.
E: Have you been to any gigs over there that completely blew you away?
G: Oh...wow...I've been to a few alright. I mean, I'm drawing blanks now... I've been to big gigs, like i saw the Beastie Boys there, who were amazing. I saw Daniel Lanois, who's quite big over there. He's worked with Dylan and U2 and that was amazing. God, I'm just trying to think. There are some local L.A. bands...feckin' hell...they've fallen out of my mind. Yeah, local L.A. bands are great, some of them have cool vibes and have lots going on. Foster the People...Warpaint... A lot of these are just local bands that play locally, you know, play in venues throughout L.A. and you just hear about them. There's definitely a cool vibe over there. CocoRosie...I've seen them and they're brilliant. There's a guy called Chris Seefried and I've been to a lot his shows. And another guy called Tom Rousseau. I remember seeing him at this little café and he just blew my mind, so I went to all his shows. I mean, it's just the same as Dublin- every now and then you catch a great show by a great local band.
E: You've been surrounded by music from a very early age, but can you name one particular album that really made you feel deeply about music? Or is there any particular music that holds any special memories for you growing up?
G: Oh my goodness... I remember Fleetwood Mac Rumours. A lot of my older sisters listened to that album and it was played constantly in my house. So that would pretty much be the soundtrack to my childhood and to have that soaking in was brilliant. Even like Phil Collins as well! But what I do remember as a child was Michael Jackson...
E: Me too!
G: Yeah, right? I remember 'Man in the Mirror'. That song and how he sang it. And the emotion. It would just give me chills- like I would get spine tingles! And he had this song called 'One Day in Your Life' and that really takes me back to happy times when I was a kid, in the summer. Michael Jackson- I know his sound is different- but he was a big, big inspiration for me as a kid. And I used to even try do the moonwalk and dance like him. So yeah, Michael Jackson!
E: Nice. So, Gemma, are you like a massive celebrity now in Ballyporeen? When you go home is it like Obama is visiting? People lining the streets...
G: Ah, haha!! Definitely not! I think they're all more like, "Ah, jaysus- yer one is home again". I think the younger generation, I guess, who see people like Jedward on the newspaper and then they see me on the newspaper. They don't really see that there's a whole world of difference. They're sort of eight, nine and ten. I think they think I'm really, really famous because they've seen me on the same newspaper. But I get a real kick out of that. I mean, they'll grow up and realise Jedward and me are totally different, but I do get a kick out of it. I have a nephew that said to me recently- because I was on the newspaper promoting my album- do I have a limousine! And I thought that was really sweet. I was like, "No, I don't have a limousine..."
E: "I've a bike!"
G: Haha! Yeah, I've a car that doesn't really work well all of the time. It breaks down regularly! So I get a kick out of the younger generation, the kids that love the idea of someone being well known. But other than that, no- they don't really give a shit! They're just getting on with their lives!
E: Gemma, you're so lovely and such a lady...
G: Oh my God...I've never been described as that before- I love that!
E: Have you ever done anything really rock and roll? Or do you ever get up to anything a bit off the wall?
G: Oh my goodness...wow... Do you know...I mean I've had some kind of crazy nights partying, like anybody would. I'm trying to think of something now- I'm really coming across as a bore! I've gotten plastered at festivals and that. Oooh, karaoke. For me, when I drink, I cannot sing whatsoever. I get tipsy really easily and it seems to affect my pitch. Friends of mine that know me well know I love karaoke, but they always get a good laugh off me getting up and trying to sing after a few drinks. I just lose all ability to pitch. Even Dave Odlum, who engineered this album, he's amazed at how good my pitching is, keeping in tune and stuff when I'm recording. And he's fascinated how it goes completely out the window when I drink. I literally cannot hold a tune. Something happens my ears and I cannot pitch, and I just sing completely sing out of tune. So, for me, the mad thing I do really is intentionally get up at karaoke knowing that I will not be able to stay in tune and it horrifies people! It's not very rock and roll but I get such a kick out of it because it doesn't matter how hard I try I will not be able to sing in tune. I remember once there was this girl in our group and she didn't really know me and I was introduced as this songwriter and this singer. And we started drinking and when it was my turn she was really looking forward to hearing me. But when I came down she said to me, "If you're a singer, if you're a well known singer, then I can bloody do this!". I sang so badly! I don't shoot heroin, I don't take cocaine...
E: Good for you!
G: ...even though I was dying to say that from the stage in Limerick. Myself and Ann [Scott], I said to her beforehand, "I'm going to get up on stage and tell everyone you shoot heroin!". But then she said if I said that she'd say I did worse so I was too scared! I decided not to test her!
E: I'll finish up now and let you get back out in the sun, but before I do, can you tell me if there's anything in the pipeline for you this year besides touring and playing the festivals? Can you let me in on any little secrets?
G: There's a few little things swimming around, which is great. I've been sort of approaced by one definite and maybe possibly two movies that are being made over in the US. One of them is eager to have me pitch a score. But when they say "pitch" they mean they'll ask a whole feast of people and pick who they want. But I won't know if I get it for a while. The other one, and this is really exciting, I pitched for the score of another movie. They asked me to and said they'd love me to do it, and they sent me three clips from it and when I saw it I thought it would be really cool to have my music in the background of it. And afterwards I didn't hear from there for a long time and I thought I didn't get it, but literally last week they called me and said that I have the job.
E: Brilliant! That's amazing.
G: Yeah, but I'm quite reluctant to talk about it because I haven't signed a contract. I'm always nervous when I haven't signed anything, I get superstitious, like if I talk about it it's not going to happen. But definitely, I want to do more scores- I just love it. But other than that, I'm going to release another single in the summer and I'm going over to L.A. in July to shoot a video for the next single. So just a few little bits and bobs really.
E: Lastly, have you any words of wisdom for my blog's readers? You know, besides don't do heroin?
G: Haha! Am...oh my goodness...well...for me, I have this awareness of the fact that we really are only here for a few years and out of those few years there's only a certain amount of years that we have that energy and youthful vitality to just get out there and enjoy life and explore it. For some people it can last a long time and they can keep it right up until they're 90, but for other people it leaves. Sometimes I can go down rabbit holes and I can take things too seriously, but when I pull my head out of the sand I tell myself to enjoy life and enjoy people. Having just finished my album and pulled my head out the sand, I'm really enjoying things now. I mean, if you caught me when I was PMSing I'd probably tell you to tell everyone that life is shit! But I'm not PMSing and today the sun is out! If I was to give any words of wisdom it would be to figure out what's important and to really enjoy it. We don't know what happens after we die so we may as well give it 100% while we're here.
E: Well said. Gemma, thank you so so much for speaking with me- I'm delighted to have you on the blog for Gemma Hayes Week!
G: Aw, that's so nice that you're doing that! Thank you, Elaine, and thank you for all your interesting questions! I do apprecaite all the support and it is lovely to talk to someone who cares.
E: Well I absolutely love your music so thanks a million for doing this and the best of luck with everything!
G: Thanks a million, Elaine!
All images used throughout this post have been taken from www.gemmahayes.com
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i love her music, thanks from Indonesia!
ReplyDeleteFantastic interview! Loving your blog :)
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