Jay Hardway speaks to us about his first release of 2020 – Operation Unicorn, and shares his top tips for upcoming producers.
T.H.E – Hey Jay! Welcome to T.H.E Music Essentials. How has 2020 kicked off for you?
Jay Hardway – The start of 2020 has been very special for me as I travelled to Namibia for a 3 week holiday. It was an amazing experience and was great to switch off from the internet, social media etc. for a while. So it really was a break from touring and making music, which was nice for a change.
T.H.E – Love your new single – Operation Unicorn. How have fans responded to it?
Jay Hardway – Fans are really excited about the track and have been for the past few months, as I’ve been playing the track live for a while already. For me it’s cool to see so many good reactions as the track is not particularly “mainstream”. It’s quite experimental, so that’s always scary when the release date comes around. But I’m super happy with the response!
T.H.E – How long was the single in the works?
Jay Hardway – The melody is actually quite old, like 3 or 4 years I guess, but I never really used it because it’s quite unusual and experimental. But in 2019 it finally clicked in the studio and I had an idea on how I could implement this melody into a club/festival track. From there it probably took me a couple months to perfect it by finding out what works on the dance floor.
T.H.E – What is your aim for this year, from a production point of view?
Jay Hardway – I would love to finish more tracks. I have a lot of ideas just “laying around” on my computer, but it’s hard to finish them, because of touring and an overall busy lifestyle haha. I work alone mostly so that’s also why it takes more time to finish stuff. Another aim is to collaborate more this year with friends and artists that inspire me. It’s always cool to create something new that has two different styles combined.
T.H.E – What are your top tips for upcoming producers?
Jay Hardway – The most important thing is to enjoy the process of making music. If you enjoy it, you will make more music and thus you will get better. As you get better it gets more fun and that way your music making skills can grow exponentially. It is also important to make whatever you like, and to experiment a lot in the studio.
