South Shields indie/power-pop artist Richard Ayton returns with his new single, ‘Hey, Yeah’. Lee Allcock caught up with Richard to discuss his home studio, indie labels and more.
You described ‘Hey, Yeah’ as your most ambitious release yet. Why is that?
This is my third single release over the last couple of years, and with each one I’ve tried to do something a little different and a little bigger. After a couple of rough experiences with indie labels, I decided that I was going to make “independent music” in the most literal sense. Everything from writing, recording, mixing, promotion and the release is done entirely by myself. The first release was a simple acoustic track. I was just testing the waters and I set myself a couple of goals. The first was to release something on the most limited budget possible, just to see what was possible. This included putting out a song I was happy with, but also getting radio play, reviews and promotional shows. Once I got a feel for that, I decided the next step was to build a home studio and hone my skills there. With the two subsequent releases, it’s been about building those tracks up, adding textures and sounds that really pushed me. With ‘Hey, Yeah’, I wanted a track that built and built from an acoustic track to a full, textured sound. So that jangly acoustic start would sound almost unrecognisable when it hits that crescendo, with the trumpets, the piano and the strings.
What or who inspired you?
I’ve taken my inspiration from a few places that may not seem immediately obvious. With my home recording style, I’m heavily influenced by the Elephant 6 bands like Neutral Milk Hotel and The Olivia Tremor Control. I took to experimenting with analogue recording as well as digital, with this track being a bit of a hybrid effort. Bon Iver’s recording techniques from his debut album were also a big influence, particularly when double-tracking vocals and guitars.
What did you learn during the writing and recording process?
The writing process was a really simple one as the song itself came to me fully formed. I picked a guitar up, played the chords, hummed the melody and then sang the lyrics. The song itself took about ten minutes to write and I could hear the arrangement in my head. The recording process was a little more difficult as I wanted this song of two halves with a very full, blown-up sound in the latter half. Working entirely from a home studio and with limited experience, I had to figure all of this stuff out. I was in a very bad place at the time of writing, so for such a positive song to just pour out of me was a surprise, but I knew I wanted this big sound with brass and strings. The decision to make it as long as it is made me rethink it a little, as I didn’t want it to build too soon and then get dull and repetitive, which is why it starts off quite simple, a little off-sounding and understated. It just hints at the brass and the piano that is to come after the middle eight. It was a couple of weeks of just trying the different instruments in different places, working out where to introduce them and how to texture that sound as much as possible.
And what else do you have in store for 2024?
2024 is hopefully going to see the completion of an album. I have a backlog of songs that I probably need to trim by about two-thirds for it and the goal for that is to maintain that independent ethos, use the skills I’ve been working on and add variety in both moods and textures throughout.
You can listen to ‘Hey, Yeah’ now on all major streaming platforms.
