Listening to Hayd’s discography is like reading a page from his journal. With each chord, Hayd exposes his innermost thoughts and provides comfort in the realization that none of us are alone in our feelings or struggles.
Following his viral track, “Changes,” a song about our worlds evolving faster than we are, his new single “Closure” addresses the relatable confusion that comes with heartbreak.
We chatted with the Michigan-based artist about “Closure,” his upcoming debut EP, and his next chapter!
Excerpt from the podcast:
You just released your new single “Closure.” Can you tell me a little bit about the inspiration for that song?
Oh, absolutely. It’s a crazy story. I’ll try to be pretty brief with it, but basically I wrote that song last summer in 2020. It’s funny because that was one of the first songs that really wasn’t – I didn’t really go through an experience like that, so everyone messaged me like, ‘Oh, are you okay?’It really is not relatable to me, what’s relatable is like the emotion behind it.
For a lot of things like my songwriting, I think what’s really important is like you said, being vulnerable, but also the emotion behind songs. And so obviously that song is sad, but I think on top of that, what I really wanted to try to write with that song was I wanted to try to tackle the confusion that goes on after a heartbreak. There’s so many songs out there that are sad and really, you know, get that emotion. But, there’s not a lot that talk about the confusion. I’ve gone through a heartbreak before, and obviously it’s really sad, but just as much it’s confusing. You have all these questions, like, could I have done better? Did I fall in love too soon? or was it too late? Things that the song kind of talks about.
While I didn;’t really go through something like that, but that emotion I have definitely felt before and I think a lot of people have. That was kind of the heart behind the song.
The journey from the song being written to coming out was just, oh, my word, I mean, it was just insane.
So basically, like I said, I wrote the song last summer. I sent it to my manager and label kind of in the fall and I was like, ‘Hey, what do you guys think of this?’And they’re like, ‘well, we really don’t like it.’ But I was like, ‘Oh, that’s stinks. I feel like it’s pretty good.’ And they’re like, ‘well, yes, it’s good. But it’s just like, we think you could tweak it a little bit or make it a little better.’ And so, almost in defiance, I posted a TikTok of it and that went viral almost to be like, I’m telling you people like the song.
As that video went viral, “Changes” was simultaneously going viral on TikToK, so we really kind of focused on “Changes” and put “Closure” to the side for a couple months. Then I brought it up again and I was like, ‘guys, I think this is the next song we should release,’ but it was the same thing of like, ‘well, we think you should rewrite this.’
And, and I don’t say that to put the label down, they’re amazing. My manager is the best. It’’s really great…
I feel like you learn through criticism and it ends up being something even greater, especially when you get that type of feedback.
Oh yeah, for sure. It’s just good to take advice from someone, especially like my manager and label. They know what they’re doing, you know, they wouldn’t be where they are if they didn’t. I owe a lot of credit to them cause we did rewrite some of the chorus and verse and I think the song turned out a lot better.
It was just funny because a couple months ago, I posted another TikTok of it again in defiance of like I’m telling you we need to release this and that video went viral more than “Changes” and more than any video I had. That was kind of the tipping point where like, okay, we just need to release this song. And so after months of writing and producing it out, we finally put it out.
Check out the rest of our interview with Hayd on our podcast!