With the upcoming release of his new EP, Waste, Jordan Hunter Hyland has spent the last few years undergoing a transformative journey, rediscovering lost passions alongside a new creative voice.
As someone who dreamed of being a musician as a child, later being pulled towards a different path with the study of medicine, the first indication that Jordan had lost something wasn’t at work. It was at home, where the guitar stayed untouched, and the silence became preferable. “When I stopped playing music, I realised I wasn’t actually living. I was just sort of getting through each day, and then I noticed I would prefer silence over putting the radio on, or I stopped picking up my guitar for months. I just kind of forced myself to get back into it, but that was a sign to me that I wasn’t enjoying life, I think.” Over time, those close to him noticed that Jordan was no longer doing those things which he used to do. Music was an escape, and it wasn’t too long before playing other people’s songs became writing his own, the writing became recording, and the recording eventually became Waste.
The younger Jordan had always assumed that music would be his future, before teenage anxiety crept in and started him down a different path; one of structured study and discipline. The love of music may have taken a backseat for a while, however it was never too far from the surface. “It was always my passion. There’s something a bit chaotic about it, and that sort of release from the structured regimen of working in the hospital, and you know, studies and that sort of thing. I think it’s really important to have that outlet to express yourself, because I can’t express myself in that way with my career. Everything has to be ‘by the books’, you have to tow a very fine line of professionalism which is not in keeping with a lot of musicians. I think my career has allowed me a bit of stability to actually have this sort of, you know.” While that stability has allowed Jordan to take more creative risks, it’s the balance between the structure and the chaos which has taught Jordan things about himself. “As a doctor, everything’s guaranteed in a way, you’re on the conveyor belt of this really nice career. And part of that made me a bit uncomfortable. It’s like, am I just playing it safe? So I had to do something that sort of put me out of my comfort zone, and I think that’s where I operate best.”
After navigating early adulthood, university, and building a career, something changed for Jordan as he approached 30. “I don’t think I had the courage when I was younger to put it all into music. And that was something that as I got older, I didn’t want to regret that. Going into my 30s, I didn’t want to think, well, what if I had actually done what I really wanted to do? Even if 100 people like my music, I would just keep doing that every day. It’s more fulfilling to me than any other career, or anything else I’ve done before.” The release of Waste is less about launching a new career path, and more about eliminating regret.
Regret for many of us, is the things which have been left unsaid, often because we don’t know the words. In Jordan’s case, he finds that writing songs allow him to communicate in a way where he otherwise would struggle; songs can be written in the third person, personal experiences can become stories, and reality can be exaggerated, disguised, or misshapen. “It’s about conveying an emotion, rather than the words in particular. And I think when you have chords and musical notes behind the words, that gives it more meaning. I think what I’m trying to say is that where I’m at now, and how I’m feeling, is equally represented in the way the song is arranged, and not just the words.”
Waste, the title track from the upcoming EP, Jordan describes as less of a breakup song, and more about guilt and becoming exhausted by the ongoing internal argument about fault. The track isn’t necessarily asking for forgiveness from others, but moreso about accepting that forgiveness from other people may never come. “There was a time when I think a lot of my stress, and a lot of my issues, I was taking out on other people around me. I started to feel sorry for myself, a little bit, and I guess as a way to cope with having hurt people int he past, I would shift the blame. The song was kind of just about being exausted of that inner conflict. You have to forgive yourself, because people may not forgive you. It’s more just about sort of moving on.”
The creation of the EP has been a journey of its own, with Jordan writing roughly 50 songs over an 18 month period, prior to selecting the final four for the EP. The selection process was more of a natural evolution of Jordan’s songwriting, and learning the art of writing. “A lot of the earliest stuff I wrote was just me learning, learning the process of writing. But the words have always been the same. A lot of the songs have similar themes, it’s just more about the style, and finding my voice with it.” After more than 18 months, the final four tracks reflect the point at which the craft of the song has finally caught up with the intention.
The final sound of the EP is a very deliberate choice, and part of the intention – the roughness, the ‘DIY’ qualities, “it’s never been about trying to make it listenable, it’s more about trying to find the right people that listen to it.” The rough edges, the raw sound, and the punk influence coming together to reveal an artist who would rather narrow the audience than take a more conventional route towards a polished, radio-friendly song. “There’s just certain things that I don’t compromise on. I had one producer that sort of made it really nice to listen to, and I didn’t like how it sounded. So I said screw it, I would just learn how to do it myself.”
Musically, Jordan’s influences range from Elliott Smith to Oasis and Black Sabbath, the diversity helping to prevent imitation. “I think it’s really important to have different influences because you can get stuck in a box, and you kind of stop being yourself if you’re really obsessed with one vein of music. You can’t really predict what people are going to like, you just do what sounds good to you.”
Perhaps the warmest moment on Waste features a special guest, in the form of Jordan’s own daughter on the piano. “It’s such a gift to see your child pick up music, and being able to share that is very different to any other experience. She’s pretty good at writing songs as well, and I wanted to somehow get her on a song so she could look back on it in 10 years, and that sort of gives her the seed to keep going with music. The best we could do was a simple piano chorus, anything else was too difficult, but I think the simplicity of it adds to the overall effectiveness of the song personally.”
Many artists dream of musical success, and Jordan isn’t exempt from this. In previous interviews, he has spoken about potentially going ‘all in’ on music, but it’s not failure which scares him – it’s that success might change his relation ship with music. “I think one of the things is music becoming stale, music becoming like a business. I really don’t want that to happen. I want it to stay something really precious to me, and not take over as ‘you’ve got to write this song, you’ve got to post this, you’ve got to do all these interviews’. There will be days where nothing comes to mind, you know, like all sort of artistic careers. It no longer becomes a hobby, in a way, especially if you depend on it for income or something like that.”
When asked what success would mean when looking back on Waste years from now, Jordan doesn’t mention stream counts, tours, awards, or changing careers. Instead – Jordan wants to be able to look back on Waste and think that he can do better. “I hopefully can look back at my music, and think it’s shit, because I’ve written so much better music, you know?” For right now, Waste matters, as this is the point where Jordan stopped making excuses and has released something into the world – but if all goes according to plan, it’s won’t remain his best work for long.
