Q&A: Will Hyde delivers a treat of a debut track

Will Hyde has just casually dropped a track and a half in easy for u. that is a concoction of both smokey vocals and pulsating synths. It’s an incredibly fun and crisp song that leaves you wondering why’re we only hearing of him now. 

As a teenager, Will was in a duo project named SŸDE. At such a young age he found success to the tune of over 65 million streams and nearly 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone. He has now taken a side step to dictate his own pathway in music by debuting as a solo artist and we couldn’t be happier to hear this as his new track. Slay Mr. Hyde!!

The Aussie dug deep and gave us insight into the making of easy for u. and spoke of his own dealings with anxiety and depression. We’ve all encountered mental illness in one form or another so it’s great to see Will speak so openly about it. We love you! 

Did we mention his new track already has a lazy 105k plays on Spotify in just over a week? It’s pretty damn delicious if you ask us. 

We had a chat with Will about his new release, his love for strawberry drank and his address to the nation.

Heres a snippet of our chat:

Heya Will, tell us a little bit about yourself and your encounter with music so far?

Hello! Thanks for having me peeps. My name is Will Hyde, I sing, write and produce songs and I also love to meditate with my thoughts. My experience with music so far has been very positive, it has taught me a lot about myself, how I define success, the human I want to be and the people I want to keep in my company. I’ve had to face my depression and anxiety by doing music which has only helped me grow as a person. I couldn’t be lucky enough to have the people I do around me, helping me find myself more as an artist each day.

Why did you decide to break away from your previous hustle SYDE and decide to do your own thing?

That’s a great question - it was something I thought about for a while, rather than a split decision. I just reached a point where I was like, damn - I’ve felt so many changes in my life and I need to be able to express those through a change in music too. I really wanted to start singing and writing my own songs so it was sort of a musical decision. With that said, the relationship we shared in the group also started to shift and I think through trying to make music a full time thing, we lost the connection we used to have together. It felt like for my happiness and to be the person I wanted to be I needed to change my direction and start making choices for myself. I do look back on the times we had together though with much gratitude!

Let’s talk your debut single as a solo performer, how did you find creating ‘easy for u’?

It’s been fun making music for my solo project. I have limitless possibilities when it comes to looking at every side of it, which is super refreshing. easy for u. came naturally! I was in the studio with a couple of friends (msquared) and we started working on the idea. My favourite part of the process was making the drug reference because I think that is something we need to start talking about more openly. Our generation struggles with substance abuse, that’s just a reality. I’ve had people in my life go through their issues with abuse and I myself would’ve most likely turned to it if I didn’t get help for my anxiety and depression. It’s not about making a judgement towards people who take drugs, more so just opening it up for conversation. To be able to be like “Hey, if you’re struggling with things and want to run away from it, then let’s talk about it first,”. So that felt good to bring up and explore that particular ideation.

The lyrics to this song are SUPER relatable, did you draw on any particular experience when writing this song?

Thank you very much! That’s kind of u to say. I hope they are - I definitely channeled my personal experience for writing this song. I was writing from a place I used to be in where I would find myself in a relationship giving more than I was getting back. It’s sometimes gut wrenching to be honest with yourself and be like, “yep, that’s how it is.” but it feels good when you have that self-awareness. I’ve noticed perspective is a big thing for me with relationships. That doesn’t necessarily refer to lovers, that could be friends, family, all of the sides in life which include love. We face love with every relationship, not just intimately. I think having a few of those big realisations has matured me to see the people I want to have in my life.

If you were a dairy product what one would you be and why?

This is a riveting question. Hmmm, I had a strawberry milk drink yesterday and it was delicious and nutritious (I don’t know if it actually was nutritious but I wanted to make it rhyme ;) ). They’re so good and I feel like they can go with any meal really. Staple piece. Although if you have a dairy intolerance then proceed with caution bb!!

Red rooster is an underrated fast food chain, Y or N?

Yooo, I was just thinking about this yesterday. I love their chicken, sometimes my family would buy chicken from there for roasts. The thing with red rooster is their locations are in harder to find spots, so they make you work for it, that’s for sure. YES FROM ME!

If you could perform at any festival in AUS or NZ which one would it be and why?

Hmm, I went to Laneway one time and that looked dope!! They had awesome stages and I liked the variety of acts - so many talented ones, so i would have to say Laneway.

What was your dream job growing up?

I wanted to be Bob the Builder so bad. That’s not really an employable profession though haha. I would dress up as him all the time and it started to annoy my parents so much that they sent me to my grandparents, then my grandparents would send me back home. I fully took on his name and his vibe. Maybe I have a career in acting down the line or maybe i’m bipolar! I also wanted to be an NBA player but I was so small and everyone was getting really tall so I decided to try new sports which would be more beneficial for my height :(

If you could address the entire nation tomorrow on live TV what would you say?

I love this question so much. I would say, “what up beautiful humans, how are you feeling? I hope your happy. We are blessed with this quarantine period to be able to look inwards and find more love for ourselves, so try to sit with yourself and be a better friend to your soul. Be patient with yourself and tell people you love that you love them. Being cool is being kind. your beautiful, signing off now - I’m Ron Burgundy, stay safe San Diego”. Always wanted to do that end part. Love you Will Ferrell.

Can we expect any more fire tracks from you this year?

I have a lot of songs coming out this year and a fuller project on it’s way!! I believe in them a lot, just as much as “easy for u.”, that feels good to say. You’ll have to let me know if they are still just as fire ;)

Will has hit the ball out of the park with a this one and has generated a genuine track. He has quite a similar sound to Ruel and LAUV and we’re here for it.

Check out Will’s debut track below or head to our Vibes Vibes Vibes ✨playlist to hear more songs just like this one.

By Samuel Seedsman.