Silver Line, the new EP from multi-instrumentalist and Los Angeles-based artist Hayden Everett is a transformative journey. Written in between backpacking through the Slovenian Alps, exploring the French Alps, and trekking through the Faroe islands, the EP’s five songs have an ethereal quality that stand out from the pack. Exploring a wide range of topics form personal relationships, how we treat the planet, and even religion, Silver Line reminds listeners just how little time we have on earth, and how we can effect those around us. Within just five songs, the powerful EP takes listeners on a journey that they won’t soon forget.
Hayden Everett’s music is all about evolution. The California singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer infuses cinematic soundscapes with pensive, poetic, and personal observations as if chronicling his growth in real-time over a soundtrack of indie and alternative laced with just the right amount of jazz. Silver Line is the latest in a stunning chapter of his life.
With Silver Line out now, we caught up with Hayden to discuss the new EP, his goals for his music and much more. Read the interview and listen to the EP now below.
Prelude Press: You are getting ready for an exciting new year of new music, with your EP, Silver Line out today! What are you looking forward to the most this year, musically or otherwise?
Hayden Everett: Hmm thanks for adding the otherwise! Really excited about putting these songs into the world, and even more excited to play them in rooms of breathing and crying and dancing people so they can feel em in real time 🙂 And then hatching plans to be working in Glacier National Park over the summer so quite antsy for countless backpacking trips alongside the big horned sheep up there.
You’ve spoken quite a bit about how you strive to create music that makes listeners feel more connected with nature and themselves, inspiring environmentalism, mental health awareness and social justice, and your new EP is no different. Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind these songs?
Yeah! These songs definitely reflect all of those things. While Kennecott and the self-titled EP were very outwardly focused on my perception of the natural world and religion, Silver Line is more of an exploration of my own mind and tendencies and heart, which makes this record feel a lot more raw. I was deeply inspired by the physical places I was in when writing, but also felt myself digging a bit deeper into my gut for this one. I discuss a wide range of topics, all with the theme and common thread of silver lining: how we treat the planet (neptune), religion and callousness with the time we have on earth (heaven on my own), my tendencies in relationships (silver line), the loss of a relationship (redwoods), and a light and chippy one about the modern evangelical church (terra).
The writing process of Silver Line was incredibly unique, as it found you traveling and backpacking through the Slovenian Alps, French Alps, and Faroe Islands. How do you feel these unique landscapes and experiences affected the EP? How did they inspire you?
It’s hard to have a narrow writing lens when you’re walking through jagged mountain peaks that shoot thousands of feet into the sky, lush green fields of hundreds of shaggy sheep with their newborn lambs, and skiing down Chamonix with a beloved friend. While this EP was focused largely on my internal processing, it’s infused with these external moments of bliss and wonder. Maybe that comes through more in the production, and maybe the beauty of those places just opened me up to be more honest, as beauty tends to disarm us that way.
What was the most exciting or rewarding part of working on the EP?
Finding the identity of each song is always a wrestling match. The moment when it clicks for each one is one of the most gratifying feelings I’ve yet to experience.
You’ve released a few songs from the EP so far, most recently “Heaven On My Own” featuring Jemima Coulter. How did that collaboration come about? What were they able to bring to the song?
Jemima and I have been buds from across the ocean for a couple years. I went out to London to record this project and knew I wanted to write and track these songs with them by my side. I’ve never seen a musical mind like theirs, truly think they are a once in a generation songwriter (and human). The songwriting journey for this one felt so natural and genuine. Jemima sings gibberish melody ideas with more soul than someone else would sing the most poetic sonet.
You also released a stunning live video for “Heaven On My Own”. What was the highlight of working on the video?
It was so sick to record both of the live videos right in my hometown backyard. We shot that at Gray Whale Cove, a beautiful spot on the Northern California coast and the “Redwoods” video in a forest just 10 minutes from the house I grew up in. Really felt like we were able to capture the sacredness of those places and let the music reflect the beauty of the trees and the water alike.
What do you hope listeners take away from the songs on Silver Line?
I hope listeners can sit with these songs and resonate with some of the humanness of them. I hope it breeds empathy and a desire to engage more fully with the risky business of feeling what it feels like to be alive.
Do you have any other big plans or goals for 2023? Could fans expect to see some live shows soon?
Already quite thrilled about this next batch of songs I’m working on and can’t wait to let those stories unfold. Also yes! Definitely can expect some shows happening, particularly on the West Coast 🙂
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Thanks so much for havin’ me, honored to get to chat about this project with ya!
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