Q-and-A: Ryan Hemsworth

Editor's note: Ryan Hemsworth  first drew acclaim for his nuanced remix of others work while living in Halifax. Two albums and a smattering of EP’s later, Hemsworth is now living in Toronto and in a good place career-wise. Hemsworth’s latest record, Alone For The First Time, has just been released via Last Gang Records and has drawn favourable reviews for its assertion of his signature sound. I caught up with Hemsworth on the phone before he embarked on tour.

ANDY: Congratulations on the new record, it’s fantastic. I’ve been listening to the press stream for the last few weeks, and I was really impressed to see how you and your label managed to keep it under wraps right until the release date. How did you keep it from leaking?

Hemsworth: Well, I’m the master of the internet and I have friends in all corners of the online world (laughs). I wasn’t really careful with the last album and a month and a half before it was set to release, I just sent an email with the download link to all of my friends and it leaked two days later. People were really mad at me, so this time I didn’t share it with anyone. Also, I finished it super last minute so I don’t think it was even possible for it to leak so soon.

Your internet following is huge. It must get exhausting to keep up with and your album seems to be a reaction against that anxiety; it’s very mellow, melancholic, and soothing. What inspired you to create the album and what compels you to try out so many diverse sounds from release to release?

 Musically, I come for a lot of different backgrounds and all those things tie together and become a part of whatever it is that I make. I’m really passionate about beautiful sounds, and ambient music and softer textures, but I also really like abrasiveness and weirder noises as well. Sound design has been really important to me lately with creating this project and just the way that a lot of artists like Sophie and my friend Lucas from Seattle [ed. note: part of the Secret Songs project] focus on the way everything sounds, but also are also able to capture melody and emotion which is an important combo to have.

You’ve been touring pretty much non-stop for the past year. What kind of emotional place were you in when making this record?

I was making it in between shows, and the ups and downs of touring was definitely what drove a lot of certain tracks to be made. Songs like “Walk Me Home” with Lontalius were really a specific effort to not make something that would work in a club. The whole project is a reaction to being stuck in a lot of EDM festivals where there are a lot of people only wanting to hear a certain type of music. I’m interested in that stuff too in a way, but also just trying to show the other stuff that is just as effective when you play it live and when you listen to it on the way home from your girlfriend’s.

I was at your Hoxton show in Toronto last December and it was a great mix of upbeat and chilled out tracks, with the only downside being that you didn't drop that “Citgo” remix. What vibe have you been going for on your current tour? 

(Laughs) I’ve never actually played that one, I don’t know if it would work or not. This tour’s going to be a lot more of my original stuff. Up to this point, I’ve jumped around and played a lot of my friends’ songs and whatever I’m feeling at the time but I’m really trying to make a point of staying within my own world, which is my own stuff and also the stuff I’m putting out through Secret Songs.

You’ve produced a bunch of really fire tracks for rappers lately, like “Benny Lava” for Swetshop Boys, and “Incandescent” for The Underachievers, both of which differed from the sound we see on your albums. Any more bangers like that to look forward to?

Yeah, I’ll probably work with Torey Lanez again, but other than that I’m kind of interested right now in working with songwriters. Not that rappers aren’t songwriters, but I think that different kinds of artists bring out different things in you and it’s fun to sit down and really mess with the structure and create something that’s just really deep emotionally. It’s kind of hard to do that when you’re just making a beat and sending it to someone and you don’t hear about it for a long time. I’ll probably be working in studios more after this tour.

Anyone in particular you’re looking to get in the studio with?

Bucket list would be Ben Gibbard or Conner Oberst. I definitely want to work more in that realm of singer/songwriters who are from bands and take them out of their element a little bit. Alice Glass would also be a dream collaboration.

Having risen up out of Halifax like a phoenix from the ashes, what’s your advice to other young producers trying to make a name for themselves? 

I really relied on sharing music and finding people online, whether it was through blogs, MySpace, Twitter, or Facebook. Twitter has been super important for me and I’ve slowly made a network in that community. After that, people start sharing your songs a little and promoters might notice that you have a bit of a following and book you for a show outside of your city. It’s also been really important for me to take the leap and move somewhere where I could tell it was going to do something for me.

Secret Songs, your soundcloud project, is great. Can you talk about that for a bit?

It started as something where I wanted to share a lot of friends’ music and grow some sort of musical family where every two weeks, regardless if they know the artist that is releasing a song, they’re going to like it. It’s surpassed what I’ve expected and reached a point where I’m going to release EP’s and do more showcases in certain cities in the New Year.

How did those Secret Songs Nike tech fleece pants come about?

(laughs) Oh shit, yeah. Literally, only three were made; one for me, and two for Tennyson who are on the tour. I have a guy I know at Nike so he made the full tech tops and bottoms for us, which is pretty great. I wish I could sell those. It’s nice to get a one-off and then flex on Instagram.

Speaking of Instagram, you were teasing something earlier today. Is that the video for “Walk Me Home”?

That was part of my visuals that we’re working on for the tour. I think “Too Long Here”, the track with Alex G, is probably going to be the second one to get the video treatment. Hopefully I’ll have something cool to show for that.

Are you working on another RYANPACK?

I think people like that because I keep getting requests. I think probably early New Year, as soon as I get off this tour. Those are the things I make when it’s 3 a.m. and I can’t sleep and I just want to make like a “Tattoo” remix in 15 minutes. There’ll definitely be another one.

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