Earlier this week, Halifax DJ/producer and Exclaim! cover star Ryan Hemsworth released his first full-length, Guilt Trips, through Last Gang Records. While a debut album is an important milestone for any artist, it's especially sweet for Hemsworth, for whom the path to success meant overcoming his own demons.
Insecurity, he tells Exclaim!, "has definitely been a quality in my life since I was born. It's definitely worked its way into my music. It's something that's becoming less of a thing that dominates the way I live and work, but even now with this album, I can feel it, thinking it sucks or that nobody's going to like it."
Of course, Guilt Trips is an achievement, and Hemsworth admits that insecurity played a positive role in its eventual creation.
"I think it's kind of motivating, in a way," he admits. "You're always trying to make something that doesn't feel like it sucks. Insecurity can push you more than any other quality."
So, he says, "when I listen to stuff [I made] more recently, I'm actually happy with it, I think 'This is actually cool, I want people to hear this.' If I listen to stuff prior to four or five years ago, I'm like 'Oh god, I want that deleted from the world.' The more I make things, the closer I feel I'm getting to the stuff I'm trying to make. If I just keep making things, I'll be happier."
For now, he's satisfied (most of the time) with Guilt Trips (and so are we). His plan moving forward is to focus on perfecting his sound.
"I want to do half the amount of shows I've done this year and then spend the rest of my time really focusing on producing and working with other producers and other singers and stuff like that. I just want to spend more time putting out stuff I've spent a lot of time on. The last year, it's been all remixes and stuff I've put out, and that's stuff I work on in a day. In a way, it doesn't feel like I've proven myself at all yet. I want to spend more time at home, focusing on my craft."
For more on Guilt Trips, read our cover story here. Watch the video for "Against a Wall" below.
Insecurity, he tells Exclaim!, "has definitely been a quality in my life since I was born. It's definitely worked its way into my music. It's something that's becoming less of a thing that dominates the way I live and work, but even now with this album, I can feel it, thinking it sucks or that nobody's going to like it."
Of course, Guilt Trips is an achievement, and Hemsworth admits that insecurity played a positive role in its eventual creation.
"I think it's kind of motivating, in a way," he admits. "You're always trying to make something that doesn't feel like it sucks. Insecurity can push you more than any other quality."
So, he says, "when I listen to stuff [I made] more recently, I'm actually happy with it, I think 'This is actually cool, I want people to hear this.' If I listen to stuff prior to four or five years ago, I'm like 'Oh god, I want that deleted from the world.' The more I make things, the closer I feel I'm getting to the stuff I'm trying to make. If I just keep making things, I'll be happier."
For now, he's satisfied (most of the time) with Guilt Trips (and so are we). His plan moving forward is to focus on perfecting his sound.
"I want to do half the amount of shows I've done this year and then spend the rest of my time really focusing on producing and working with other producers and other singers and stuff like that. I just want to spend more time putting out stuff I've spent a lot of time on. The last year, it's been all remixes and stuff I've put out, and that's stuff I work on in a day. In a way, it doesn't feel like I've proven myself at all yet. I want to spend more time at home, focusing on my craft."
For more on Guilt Trips, read our cover story here. Watch the video for "Against a Wall" below.
