Image Courtesy of Haywyre

Haywyre is the moniker of 23 year old Martin Vogt, currently based out of Vancouver. Martin started producing electronic music in 2008, when his family moved back to America after spending several years in Austria. Growing up in a country with such a rich musical history immersed young Martin in rigorous piano training which focused on classical and jazz.

Upon returning, he was introduced to electronic music by his cousin, which inspired him to refocus his musical endeavors. Haywyre brings together a love of jazz and improvisation with computer generated sounds, the result is unconfined by genre. His tracks transition seamlessly from 4×4 to breaks, tied together through his signature funky style and juicy piano riffs.

In 2014 Haywyre made a splash, with his full length “Two Fold Pt. 1” released on Monstercat. He gained even more attention with a re-interpretation of “Smooth Criminal” and accompanying video, which has brought about a handful of GoPro shot videos. Haywyre’s live performance videos give insight on what to expect from his performances.

In February 2016 Martin followed up with part 2 of his Two Fold series. We were lucky enough to chat about the new album, some of his inspirations, and what crossroads he’s faced in his own life!

Congratulations on completing your newest LP “Two Fold Part 2”. The Two Fold series was a study of duality (quiet vs loud, simple vs complex, classical vs electronic) and exploration of your personal philosophy. Did some of your own views evolve through the writing process?

By the time that I had finished part two, absolutely. The first part was focused on opposites as you mentioned, and the second part ended up concentrating on the unity in opposites. That evolution in thought happened naturally and unintentionally, and ended up wrapping up the project well.

It’s rare that an artist’s cohesiveness comes from their sound design instead of genre, what’s helped shape that distinction in your sound?

Especially in terms of music production my process is really intuitive and free-flowing. Considering the only things I’ve been taught academically are music theory and piano performance, I’ve always learned what I do in DAWs by ear.

Intense piano training while growing up in Austria guided your musical path and dedication as an artist, do you still have time to study classical and jazz when not focusing on Haywyre?

I have the time but since my schedule has been changing so often it’s hard to take lessons. I try to do my best to stay on top of learning more material in addition to everything else going on.

Lucidity’s theme this year is “Crossroads,” a representation of space where we face challenges and life offers us new paths. Can you talk a little about a crossroad experience in your own life?

The biggest crossroad I’ve had to face is transitioning into the lifestyle of a full time musician. Handling the pressure of expectation, meeting my standards and other mental obstacles are ones I’ve had to traverse, but additionally moving away from my family let alone to a new country to pursue my vision has also presented challenges. Obviously challenges can also teach you more about who you are; life often works like that. Even now, almost two years after being full time, I sense that I am just starting to wrap my mind around everything, but I feel more comfortable than ever with everything.

In another interview, you said the track “LD004″ is based on a dream you had, do you frequently use dreams as inspiration?

Nowadays, I don’t do it intentionally. Sometimes a vivid dream can inspire a specific theme or melody, but mostly they don’t play much of a role in my music.

Your compositions have a really cinematic and epic feel, have you ever thought about scoring a movie or video game?

I have! But I’ll probably save that for another stage of my life.

You’ve done a lot of traveling, both before and since your musical career has taken off, given the opportunity to spend a day anywhere doing anything, where would you go and what would you do?

I haven’t heard this one before; anywhere doing anything? I’d have to say working in a studio with my musical idols, jamming, talking, recording, composing… Location doesn’t matter much unless it can serve as inspiration!

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Catch Haywyre on the Crossroads stage at Lucidity 2016!

Follow Haywyre:

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