With a sound strongly influenced by 80's romantic new wave, 90's industrial grunge, and more contemporary dream-pop, London-based artist H A Z E has now returned to unveil her captivating new single 'Shadow'.
Lifted from her forthcoming debut EP, 'Shadow' showcases a wonderfully warm and vibrant aesthetic from start to finish. With its rich and soaring textures, euphoric atmosphere, and her own spellbinding voice layered throughout, she is certainly making a serious impact with this one.
So with the new single available now, we sat down with her to find out more about her background and what has inspired her most over the years.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Short answer: the piano (but I was forced by my parents).
Long answer: I always loved the violin but unfortunately never played. My mom had a custom made violin, a gift from a musician friend, I cried for days when she sold it when I was a kid…
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Rock. All kinds. From a very young age. My dad raised me with Bruce Springsteen and my mom with Bowie, Deep Purple and King Crimson. But I’m a bit ashamed to say, the first band I was obsessed with was U2. I was 8…
What was the first album you remember owning?
U2, Aschtung Baby, gift from my uncle.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
That’s a tough one! Probably « In your room » by Depeche Mode, just because I can never get tired of it.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Not really. I’m very lyric driven, random words and sentences pop into my head all day so I just enter them in my notes on my iPhone. They just sit there until I get to my computer, just hit a few notes on the keys and I just fiddle around with all of it until I like what I hear…
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
All time favourites on my regular rotation: Radiohead, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. Recently fell in love with Halsey’s latest album (produced by Trent Reznor so that’s a given), a lot of Billie Eilish for the beauty of production and French indie band HER.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Lady Gaga, because what a voice and he theatrics are just so cool, or Muse, because it’s a teenage dream of mine.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Hearing a song fully produced. There’s such a satisfaction from just hearing how the « jewel was polished », whether it’s different from what I had in mind of exactly how I imagined it. The whole process is fun too, especially the sound design, picking the instruments or even creating them. On my upcoming EP, Bob Matthews, my producer, and I played around recording my vocals and made a melotron out of it, for example.
And what is the most frustrating part?
The struggle. It’s cliché, I know, but being an independent artist is a lot of investment for very little results if you’re doing it all on your own, especially in the beginning. Things don’t always pick up as fast as you’d like and the industry is saturated with many talented newcomers, it’s hard to make your way through all of it if you don’t have the proper network. Very time consuming and it can easily mine your energy.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Again, cliché, but NEVER GIVE UP, BELIEVE IN YOURSELF, TRUST THE PROCESS. Efforts will always pay off, and success doesn’t have to be defined by your number of streams on Spotify. Also, don’t be scared of writing absolute crap: if it’s in your head it has to come out. If it’s shit don’t do anything with it, but get it out of the way to clear the path for better things and learn from it!
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H A Z E's new single 'Shadow' is available to stream now. Watch the new video for it in the player below.