an interview with ha vay

San Francisco based artist Ha Vay aka Maddy Toy is back with her second EP ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE, this project is a multi-genre and will have you wanting more. Previously releasing we fell in love at the party, Ha Vay proves that any genre can be mastered in ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE. In our interview Maddy and I talk about the writing/creative process, what it was like recording the new ep, and so much more!

ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE is out now, you can listen to it here

Hi Maddy! Thanks so much for letting me interview you again! How have you been?

Thank you for having me! I’ve been super busy, but doing really well.

You’ve just released your second EP, ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE. Can you tell us what was the main inspiration behind it?

I wanted to capture various emotions in quick succession, with a lot of back and forth. Some of these are surface-level, ego-driven emotional states and others are deeper and more reflective. The overarching theme is the constant shifting of emotion, which is why the project covers so many genres. The production of each song was developed as the most effective vehicle for each feeling.

There’s so many different genre’s in this EP ranging from punk, bedroom pop, hyper pop, to trip hop. Is there a genre you haven’t dabbled in yet that you would love to work with?

Definitely, there are many! I’m always open to trying new processes in making music. The overall messaging is more important to me than sticking to one sound. I think the thread through my music is the themes and lyrics, rather than the genre. I don’t like to limit my creativity.

You wrote this EP through the lens of emotional dysregulation and ADHD, from so many different emotions. Can you touch on this a little bit more?

Yes! It’s an element of ADHD that (in my opinion) is under acknowledged, but is a huge part of my experience. I tend to react really strongly to stimuli; my moods are constantly shifting very strongly. As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to understand how most of these feelings are fleeting. With this project I wanted to represent that part of myself more truthfully in the music, so each song is a response to a specific stimuli–whether that’s getting catcalled, running into an ex, or falling in love with 5 people all at once.

The EP opens with “the prettier the girl” in which you also sing in French! What was the inspiration behind this track? What made you want sing in French and English for this one?

I was thinking about my time in Paris as a teen staying out all night and getting into trouble. Part of my experience during that time was living with a brain that was constantly processing everything half in French and half in English–especially whenever I was drunk haha.

Was the writing and creative process for ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE different from we fell in love at the party?

It was very different! With we fell in love at the party I started with a specific concept and genre in mind. With half the songs I also played them live with my band for months before recording them, which had a big impact on how they ended up sounding. With this project Elliott Jacobs (who produced the whole project) and I focused on one song at a time and let the whole project kind of create itself naturally.

What was it like recording ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE?

It was probably my favorite experience making music ever. A lot of the songs were recorded just minutes after I wrote them, and on others I literally made up the lyrics and melodies on the spot with only a vague theme in mind. We wanted to capture my raw thoughts and emotions on some tracks while others would be far more polished and planned. Previously we recorded at a studio, but for this project we recorded almost everything at home. We also used more electronic elements than we have in the past, which allowed us to make really specific choices about how everything sounds.

Which song was the hardest to write on ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE? Which one was your favorite to create?

“romance hyperactive” was the only one that gave us some trouble. Initially we just had a recording of the vocals–which I made up spontaneously–and then we had to create instrumentation around it. It took several iterations before we were able to land on the right sound design for it, but I’m very happy with how it turned out.

“babe!!!” is a stand out track on ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE because of how different it is, and I love it! How did you know you wanted this song to be like this? What was the creative process like for this one?

I think hyperpop is such an innovative and fascinating movement in music right now. My introduction to it was Charli XCX’s album, how i’m feeling now, which resonated with me so strongly. I was bonding with Connor Brogan (the keyboard player in the Ha Vay live band) over hyperpop so I asked if he’d be down to produce a track with me. I gave him the lyrics to “babe!!!” and told him I wanted to do something that was cute and chaotic at the same time. So he took that and put together the basic instrumentation. We had a session to add vocals, for Elliott to add some flourishes. Honestly it was the most fun I’ve ever had making a song.

While creating and writing ROMANCE HYPERACTIVE, what bands/artists were your inspirations?

Throughout the writing/production process I was listening to a lot of Fiona Apple, Mazzy Star, Charli XCX, Caroline Polachek, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Björk, Beabadoobee and Suki Waterhouse.

One of my favorite things about your music is your lyrics, and how every time you release something it keeps getting better and better! How do you continue to grow as a songwriter and keep the vulnerability that’s always present in your lyrics?

I really appreciate that! With this project I made up a lot of the lyrics completely stream-of-consciousness (with some recorded on the spot, as I mentioned before). I’ve found that when I allow the lyrics to just flow out without a filter or much editing, it cuts deeper than when I curate myself. But the bigger thing is that I’m always looking to experiment and try new processes.

My favorite tracks on the EP is “ohmygod” and “Morocco” what was the writing and creative processes like for these tracks? Were they any different?

Yes, definitely. “morocco” is one of the only songs I wrote premeditated–like I actually sat down at a piano and wrote the song from start to finish. For “ohymgod” I came up with the melody and lyrics walking down the street one day, and then we took that and created the instrumentation around it.

You continue to surprise your listeners with your music with constant growth in your song writing, but also testing out different genres! What would you say is next for Ha Vay?

I’m already working on making music videos for all the songs on this EP so those will be coming out throughout the next couple months. We’re touring later in the summer, and then I have no idea what’s next! But I’m very excited to keep experimenting and creating, and I’m so grateful for everyone listening and supporting <3

Words by Melody

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