 |
Gemma Hayes Gemma Hayes is the kind of girl who breaks hearts. Be it with a glance or a song, this most talented glint in Ireland's emerald could stop a bullet train dead in its tracks. Effortlessly. The debut album's (almost) in the bag, but Gemma would rather share an intimate moment with Michael Gently and deliver a brand new song to camera. Tipperary-raised and Dublin-based, she speaks with a soft but sassy lilt but Gently won't buckle that easily, oh no. The song, however, may tip his scales.
Gemma's transition into our lives will be a gradual one – an aural drip of wrenching melodies, lo-fi ballsiness and refreshingly naive observations. High-profile tour supports are an everyday occurrence – just ask Turin Brakes, Zero 7 or Sparklehorse and, to date, she has released two starkly different EPs – 4:35am and Work To A Calm. The first displayed Gemma's intimate solo leanings, the latter, her band role. "It didn't start off as a conscious decision. There is the band side of what I do and there are the more intimate songs," explains Gemma. "I just thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself to the world of music just by saying 'hello' in a very quiet way; by putting out a few little acoustic things and then gradually letting people open up to everything else that I do." Acclaim for the debut EP was broad and set the platform for a real slap-in-the-face surprise when Gemma delivered the next piece of her game plan. The press's "new lady of folk" from Tipperary dumbfounded her critics and fans alike by revealing her band attitude with an EP of electric tracks. Gemma couldn't see what the fuss was about - to her it was all part of the same picture. "They're [the EPs] really part of the same thing. Some people thought the second EP was what I had progressed to," says Gemma puzzled. "Both types of music are just as valid. Sure, one's quieter and the other's more lively, but they both represent me today."
This girl knows what she wants and how to get it. Word has it that when asked for the artwork to her debut EP, Gemma submitted a photo of her feet. She's not denying this either. "I did send them a photo of my feet but it was along with other photos too. I was just trying to say that my feet are as valid a part of my body as my face is." For another taste of is single-minded vision, take a look at who's in the production seat for her debut long player. Getting Dave Fridmann [Sparlehorse, Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev] on board had shag-all to do with record company execs. "I am a big fan of his and he'd been on my mind for quite a while," muses Gemma. "I didn't even send the demo through the record label, I just sent it out of my house." Fridmann's work on Wheat's Hope And Adams album had a profound effect on him being Gemma's first choice producer. "I love the fact that Wheat's songs are really commercial but Dave didn't make it cheesy - he pulled it back and made it sound really raw and live."
Raw and live. Now there are a couple of words. Couldn't really pick two more applicable adjectives. Gemma gave Gently an ample serving of both by offering to sing 'Pieces Of Glass' to camera – the song had only been written two days before. Armed only with an electric guitar and an old mini amp, the track is an insight into Ms Hayes' intimate world of "small but important" moments. "My songs' themes aren't about changing the world," offers Gemma. "I get inspired by small moments like hanging out with friends. If you happen to meet someone who blows you away, I like to write about them. Change is a big one too – even practical or physical things like moving house." When describing her backlog of "ideas tapes", Gemma evidently likes to keep a catalogue of these small moments that people go through. "I write ideas a lot of the time but I'm really crap at going back and changing the ideas into songs. Sometimes I just can't get back into the headspace of when I was writing it but the ideas are still there. With me it's always a feast or a famine – I go through phases of writing songs on top of each other and then I could go for months and months without writing a thing."
If Gemma's recently suffered a famine period, you'd never notice. By refusing to include any of the ten already-released EP tracks on her forthcoming album, the tentatively titled Night On My Side, the record promises to be a fresh but equally mesmerising selection of cuts. "That working title kinda sums up a lot of the recording. Some of the album was made at home and I tend to kind of do that at four or five in the morning. The album has a sort of a nice twilight feel to it."
Juggling her different styles is all part of the Gemma Hayes appeal. The acoustic gems nestle comfortably in between bursts of feedback in pained tales of love and loss. Gemma's biggest concern is that, when juxtaposed, her styles still makes sense together. "It needs to have a flow," she says. "I do wanna put in a lot of acoustic tracks as well but I don't just want to through them in. I'm forever changing my mind about things though." In fact, most of the songs don't even have confirmed titles yet. "There's a song called 'Ran For Miles' and another called 'Let A Good Thing Go' and 'Flight Of The Peregrine Falcon' - other than that, everything keeps changing."
As with anything worthy of its rock salt, this album is impossible to pigeonhole. Growing up with "a brother listening to Dio and Iron Maiden" and a "sister playing Fleetwood Mac" is bound to fuck-up or mould your musical outlook. "I really just took certain things from everything I listened to," says Gemma. "I liked different things about different music."
"Music is free, so I don't want to be classed one way or the other." Many may have said it before, but did they have that accent or those feet…
|
