Name: Shaina Hayes
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Nationality: Canadian
Current release: Shaina Hayes's “Sun and Time” is out via Bonsound. It is the second single taken off her new album Kindergarten Heart, scheduled for release 23rd of February 2024.
Recommendations: The Overstory - Richard Powers; "Unsingable" - Blake Mills

If you enjoyed this Shaina Hayes interview and would like to know more about her music, visit her on Instagram. 
 


Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

My impulse to create is usually as a means to play and escape, rather than to analyze and process my feelings. I often find myself creating my best work when I am simply killing time on the guitar after a long work day, or humming aimlessly in the car.

This said, once the initial musical ideas take form, they do generally give way to introspection and processing, but these are rarely the actual spark for the song. It is the space and freedom of play that usually invites in the initial inspiration.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

I don’t really need a perfect environment in order to create. The pressure of having to create rarely invites my best ideas.

That said, lately I have been making an effort to consume as much other music, art, and general beauty as I can leading up to any planned creative periods. I am steadily trying to expand my own perspectives, be it through art, life experiences or connections with other folks.

I believe that this offers a greater variety of emotions and sentiments to explore in my songwriting and deepens my ability to articulate myself in my texts.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

While I don’t have any specific rituals that I adhere to in order to create, I believe that being in good health, both physically and mentally, allows me to be a better songwriter (I’m not quite convinced that you need to be a tired, tormented rockstar in order to write meaningful music).

So, I guess it’s more about maintenance for me.

What do you start with? And, to quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I think that I am more of the ‘discovery’ camp.

Generally it's a portion of the melody that will come to me first. From there I add harmony and expand into additional sections of the song (verses, choruses, bridge - depending on what is needed) and start mapping out the form and mood.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

The lyrics are usually the last thing that I add, since I like to sit down and work them out separately - as more of a poetry exercise.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

I tend to be attracted to lyrics that are well-crafted and poetic, but also accessible. I also tend to like phrasing and techniques that make the words themselves seem to contribute to the rhythm. I do this often by way of alliteration.

One example is the song ‘Honey Friend’ from my previous album: the lyrics of the chorus read, “I am heavy hopeful, honey friend”.



The repeating h’s cause the words to dance in a way that amplifies what is already happening in the music.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

I have a handful of songs that I wrote with a very strict intention in mind. But for the most part, I would say that I just follow the song’s lead.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

Yeah, totally. I feel like that is songwriting for me. Just letting yourself be led in new directions.

Sometimes you’re taken nowhere, or sometimes you don’t end up using something that you’ve discovered in that particular song, but may come back to it later for a different purpose.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

I definitely do get into a state of ‘flow’ when I am songwriting. Often when I am deep in the creative state, I will look up to find that I have been exploring an idea for hours.

Whether or not I end up with a finished tune, the activity of songwriting itself centers me in a way that feels important.

When you're in the studio to record a piece, how important is the actual performance and the moment of performing the song still in an age where so much can be “done and fixed in post?“

This tends to depend on the song and also on the style. For my own music, we try to keep things (especially the vocals) relatively raw and intimate. So we try to leave space for imperfections, especially if they lend themselves to the emotion of the song.

That’s not to say that we don’t comp the heck out of a lot of the tracking, but technical perfection is rarely prioritized over feeling.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

On a production level, we work as a team of three co-producers: myself (on voice and guitar), Francis Ledoux (engineer and drummer) and David Marchand (guitarist and bassist). Being a team of three makes decision-making a lot easier - it’s always either unanimous or 2-1, and we respect each other’s taste and vision enough to be able to move forward pretty quickly on a 2-1 call.

This trust extends to knowing when a piece feels finished. It has only happened a handful of times during the recording process that we couldn’t quite get a song to a point we were happy with, and each time it is clear from fairly early on. In these cases, we tend to shelf the songs until it feels right to have another look at them.

This happened for one of the tracks on Kindergarten Heart (the upcoming album). The song is called “Sun and Time,” and was initially supposed to make it onto my first record. We couldn’t get the track to a point we were happy with the first time around, but dusted it off with a new perspective for Kindergarten Heart.

Not only has it made the cut this time, but is one of our current favorites.

Even recording a solo song is usually a collaborative process. Tell me about the importance of trust between the participants, personal relationships between musicians and engineers and the freedom to perform and try things – rather than gear, technique or “chops” - for creating a great song.

Francis, David and I have a very special working relationship. We have such an immense respect for each other's talents, skills and opinions, that we always make space to explore each other’s ideas in the studio. While our musical tastes are quite varied, we are all drawn to music that is heartfelt, honest and refined.

In addition to having a great sensibility for arranging and producing, Francis and David are also incredible players. They both approach the studio and the stage with such a loyalty to the songs that they are playing. They could show off, but they never do - they play for the songs, and the result is always tasteful and honest music.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?

I think it depends on the song, but there is room for creation and exploration in nearly every phase, and so I try to give each of them the time and attention they need.

Francis (co-producer and engineer) also tends to mix the music. With this being the case, he sort of mixes as he goes a lot of the time, and keeps the mixing in the forefront of his mind throughout the recording process.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I don’t usually feel this emptiness. I think this is partially due to the fact that I don’t really ever stop writing. I am always working on something new, regardless of where we’re at in the album cycle of my previous work.

This may also be due to the fact that I sort of feel like the ‘reveal’ for me comes when I first share the song with my team - when I first call it a song and share it at all. The arranging and recording beyond that point turn it into something else, something that makes it more than just mine, and so I feel less precious about the sharing after that point.

All that said, I obviously love to dress these little songs up with the lushest arrangements I can and share them with the world! The thrill there is undeniable.   

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I spent a big chunk of my life not making music at all. I was 27 before I really began to trust my songwriting abilities and share my music with others. Which is to say that I have ventured into my music-making with a very clear awareness of the role that it is playing in my life. And as much as it is bringing me joy and fulfillment, in truth, I think that even without it I have and will always be able to live a deeply creative life.

For many years I was a full-time vegetable farmer, and I feel like that lifestyle required an immense amount of creative thinking, and brought me a creative satisfaction very similar to what songwriting does now. I think so long as you can recognize the beauty around you and have a willingness to articulate it or use it to inform the creation of more beautiful things, you are living an artful, creative life. And I suspect that that, more than making music specifically, is the ultimate goal for me.

And indeed, I would venture to say that a great cup of coffee can rival some of the greatest music ever made.