1 In Music meets music composer Sean Hayden, who writes music for recognized TV shows & adverts for a revealing interview.

1 In Music: Hi Sean and thank you for this interview. First things first, what is unique about your music?

My musical heritage is a bit of mishmash; I spent much of my youth listening to rock, heavy metal, pop, hip-hop whilst simultaneously learning to play jazz and concert music. Then somewhere along the way, I transformed from a ‘jazz’ guitarist into a media composer. Because of that,

my music has become a bit like a plate of Pad Thai: a lot of different ingredients genres thrown in together that seemingly make little sense on paper, but together make one cohesive dish.

1 In Music: What/who shaped your music and who supports you?

Musically speaking, Pat Metheny had the biggest influence on me. His group’s music was the first real calumniation of genres I had heard at the time, whilst also being incredibly complex but layered in an easily digestible way. Support wise, I’ve been extremely fortunate to have a lot of people who have helped and supported me over the years. My family, friends, mentors, musical colleagues, and more. I never take them and their support for granted.

1 In Music: When did you realise you were going to make music professionally?

When I was seven or eight years old, I just knew I wanted to make music for the rest of my life. I don’t know why, I don’t remember any particular moment inspiring me to have that thought. It’s just how I felt inside. From that point forward, I started playing and learning music and never stopped.

1 In Music: What type of music do you listen to?

This will sound like a bit of a cop-out answer, but I’ll listen to any and all music. One of the joys of being a composer is that I’m not restricted to one genre, and often, I look for inspiration wherever I can find it. Lately, I’ve been using a website called radiooooo.com. You can listen to random music from all over the world from over 100 years ago. I absolutely love it!

1 In Music: Wow, that sounds amazing! Any artist you’ve come across who you think is most undervalued?

That’s a great question. There are many music artists who are undervalued, but one that springs to mind is an artist named ‘Cody Fry‘. He’s someone I stumbled upon during a YouTube binge who I think has some exceptional pop writing skills. He has a really cool mix of pop, electronic, jazz, and orchestral music. I have a feeling he could cut through the crowd in the near future.

1 In Music: Let’s get back to you. How do you prepare for your performances?

I rarely perform live these days, but when I do, I usually just practice the tunes I’m gonna play as much as possible. I want to be as present on stage as I can be and not be worrying about remembering what the chord changes are, the musical cue points, etc. The other thing I like to do is arrive early. I like to see where I’m performing, take my time and get the right setup together.

1 In Music: So when you aren’t performing or creating music, what do you do that you are passionate about?

I like to listen to podcasts and read books; mostly non-fiction for both. About a year and a half ago, I started boxing and have really come to enjoy that. In general, I like to stay active as much as possible. You spend a lot of hours in the chair of your studio, so anytime you can get out and get moving is always welcome.

1 In Music: Success to you is…

… the mastery of oneself.

The better you get at managing your emotions and actions, the easier it is to achieve what you want to achieve. Mastering yourself also enables you to help others more often, which I feel is a massive and essential part of success.

1 In Music: What do you wish you were told when you started out and that you think would help anyone who starts out?

There is no substitute for hard work over time, but be prepared to put in a lot of time. As people, we’re pretty bad at judging what we can achieve in 10 days, but we greatly underestimate what we can achieve in 10 years. So play the long game and just keep at it.

1 In Music: Any upcoming projects?

I can’t speak about the specifics of what I’m working on at the moment, but I’ve been writing about a few different projects as of late. One of them involves a lot of music with outer space in mind. It’s been a lot of fun playing with different tones and textures that make you feel like you’re experiencing zero gravity, exploring another planet, or even traveling in a space craft.

1 In Music: That sounds otherwordly! Thank you! Lastly, where do we find more about these upcoming music projects?

My website seanhayden.net is a good place to start. You can also follow me on Twitter and / or Instagram at @seanhayden.