Claude Hay Interview - Multi Instrumentalist & Singer

Deep fried musical mastery. If a job’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. And if you want something done right, then sometimes you have to do it yourself….all by yourself!

Just ask Claude Hay… singer, guitarist, bassist, drummer, sitar player and percussionist in his very own ‘one man band’. While this may sound like a stretch for any musician blessed only with the standard allocation of limbs, this interviewer can assure you that fans of live music enjoyed a real treat when Claude played his incredible show at the Manly Boatshed in May 2010.

Using his trusty loop machine to overlay blues-style riffs with grooving bass lines and stomping beats …a Claude Hay performance is a master class in rhythm, timing and outright cool.

Our Manly caught up with Claude as he takes a well-earned break at his Blue Mountains home before the release of the second single from his up-coming album, ‘Deep Fried Satisfied’.

OM: For those people who haven’t yet had the chance to hear your music, how would you describe your sound?

Claude Hay: It’s definitely a sort of rootsy, blues sound, but with a rock edge I suppose.

I do a thing called live looping, which is basically an electronic box, which I can plug instruments like my guitar into. You can then hit a button and it records you on the spot … and then you can play back what you just played.

I’ve actually got a twin neck guitar with a bass on the top and a guitar on the bottom, so I can easily switch between the two. So I’ll play a bass line and record it and then I’ll flick over to the guitar line and play a riff over the top. Then my right foot does like a kick and snare drum.

So’ I’ve got a full band sound and you can sort of muck around and experiment and I sort of write songs that way.

It’s a great way for a soloist really… just to write and experiment.… (laughs) and it saves hiring other musos!

OM: One thing that may surprise people who come to your shows is to discover that you play all of the instruments live! How much of a challenge is that for you when you’re performing?

Claude Hay: It’s definitely a hard thing. I’ll rehearse a song for about a month before I’ll play it live.

It’s one of those things that when you’re playing to a loop track, you’ll lay something down then you’ve got to play to it spot on. If you miss the loop or you stuff it up it really can sound bad. It takes a bit of head space to get around it so I’ll take maybe two months to practice before I go on stage.  Once I’ve got it going I feel pretty comfortable with it.

I generally play a couple of nights a week but if I stop for about two weeks then I’ve got to get back into it and practice for a couple of days to get it going again.

It’s a challenge… definitely a challenge, but I actually really enjoy it.

OM: You’ve just come off an East Coast tour… how did that go for you?

Claude Hay: Yeah, I absolutely loved it! It was just fantastic and the response was great.

I’ve toured up there other times with other bands but I did some extra gigs this time… and a lot more country towns like Yamba and stuff. And then I actually went down to Victoria. It was absolutely lovely and the people were great.

Sometimes when you do a lot of cities you forget about the country gigs. But they’re a lot of fun and the reception is always great.

OM: It’s clear from all of the instruments you play that you have a natural talent for music… I was just wondering where it all began?

Claude Hay: Well, I grew up listening to loud rock really. I played electric… sort of loud guitar with Marshall Stacks and all that sort of stuff. But then my blues influence came from a movie called ‘Crossroads’. As soon as I saw that I just turned another circle really and I just fell in love with that style of music… Robert Johnson and Ry Cooder.

Then I started working in music shops when I moved to Sydney and I started selling all types of instruments. So I would have to cross-sell. I would have to go to the drum department and keyboard department and guitar department… I’d have to do it all.

It was really good working in that store because it made me play all the other instruments. So I got a good grasp on bass and drums from working there for 5 or 6 years.

And then I started playing in bands but they would split up, so I tried to think what way I could go with all these instruments. Then I saw a loop peddle being used by guy who was a bit like Jeff Buckley and just thought ‘wow’. As soon as I heard that peddle I walked straight out and got one. I started off with just a guitar and now it’s grown to be this almost impossible thing to lug around… this crazy amount of instruments.

OM: So you’re self-taught?

Claude Hay: Umm, yeah… all self-taught. My sort of thing in life is that I always just do what I enjoy and if I get bored I’ll stop. I kind of wish I did take lessons in one respect, especially vocally, but I guess I’m just a self-taught kind of person. I’ll get into one sort of aspect…kind of hone in on one area I like and explore that.

OM: You’ve mentioned that your music has strong elements of blues and roots in there, but there’s also a funkier side. And with that ’Bootsy’ style guitar in your latest video…

… any particular musicians that have influenced you over time?

Claude Hay: Ahhh definitely! Bootsy Collins is one of my biggest influences. He was one of the people that got me into bass. Just listening to his stuff, it’s just phenomenal. And that’s where the bass playing side of things comes from - that sort of funk element.

So I do have a bit of a funk background as well. I listen to Prince and like Infectious Grooves… a lot of that stuff. I suppose it’s all originally driven from the blues but I definitely go for that sort of Bootsy Collins style, with the rootsy stuff coming from Ry Cooder.

Although I still love loud distorted guitars!

OM: I was also reading about your unique guitar (affectionately named ‘Betty’), which you built yourself. Can you tell us a little bit about how she came to be?

Claude Hay: Well basically I um…I was doing a lot of looping with all my other guitars, but I just kind of wanted to be able to doing something with a bass. But I didn’t want to have to put down a bass and then grab a guitar.

I looked for ages on the Internet but couldn’t find anything. Because I used to work in the music shop repairing guitars I did have a kind of a background and I thought: I’ll take up the challenge and make one!

So I built that out of a leftover kitchen bench… which I kind of regret now ‘cos it weighs a ton and I have to pay a lot more whenever I fly anywhere.

So the great thing about it is that I can just pull a lot of sounds out of it. I think that was the sort of goal - to just try and get as many sounds as I could and not have to pick up one guitar and put another one down. I kind like to get things going as fast possible, which is why I have to do that.  And if you’ve got to stop to pick up another guitar it just takes too long.

And then if you come up with an idea in the middle of something you can go straight to it…and it’s a lot of fun!

OM: Your last single ‘How can you live with yourself’’ deals with the issues of cheap printers and their inevitable fate of ending up in landfill…  your new album is titled ‘Deep Fried Satisfied’. Is that a comment on fast food nations and the apathetic nature of consumerism?

Claude Hay: Ha! That album title actually came from when I did a tour in America and I was on a small budget and it was just the case that you’re driving every day and you don’t really get to stop in towns or go out to eat. So I did consume a lot of junk food. You’re in quite a rush sometimes and there’s just fast food everywhere. So I wrote some of those songs when I was over there for the album… was sort of inspired by that.

I mean I try not to get too caught up in the angst side of things. I’m not really too political. That’s probably my most political song out of all of them. I just try to make it a bit more fun without getting too deep into it.

Definitely the Deep Fried Satisfied title, that’s from eating too many cheeseburger kind of meals.

Man…I think I put on about 3 kilos on that tour.

OM: Last year your single went to number ONE on the Triple J Unearthed chart… did you expect such a positive response from listeners?

Claude Hay: Not at all!

I was actually away for a lot of that time. As soon as we finished recording it I had to go away and my management thought we should put something out before we finished recording the album… just to keep things rolling.

I hadn’t even had time to get it mastered or radio ready. They actually played the demo.  So it was really cool that it did so well and to get that sort of thing going before we even had the album ready.

OM: You’ve played with some familiar names over time including Ash Grunwald and The Fumes; both of whom are recognised as being fiercely independent. Is it important to you to stay independent in today’s industry?

Claude Hay: I think it’s just the way things are going. I mean, I can make a living out of it and I think with being independent you can kind of choose where you want to go and what you want to do. You’ve actually got a lot more control.

Everyone out there now just really seems to be doing the independent thing, which I kind of guess is the way of the future.

I mean I got my CD pressed by Sony and I went out to their warehouse to get them. This is a warehouse the size of a Bunnings… and the place was completely empty. I couldn’t believe it. I asked the guy what was going on and he said they are finding it really hard to survive with everything going digital.

I mean you can get tied to a label and you can get dropped straight away. So I’m really happy just keeping it the way it is.

OM: What’s next for Claude Hay?

Claude Hay: So I’ve just finished the tour for the last single and I’ve got a new single coming out in June called ‘Get Me Some’. Then we’re releasing the album in September.

So we’ll be touring for the single and probably playing every week at some random gigs as well…and then the big launch in September.

It’s gonna be great!

www.claudehay.com.au

For more information contact:

Simon Forman – Perfect Pitch

9474 1066

simon@perfectpitch.com.au

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