It’s rare that an Australian act will enter the scene surrounded by such mystique. It’s a testament to Melbourne singer-songwriter Howqua’s abilities as a songwriter and an artist. He first turned heads late last year with the raw emotional statement ‘My Mindset’, which set the stage for a songwriting talent of true talent and depth, with ensuing releases bearing the same resonant percussion, melancholic tones, affecting vocals, and diary-like lyrics.
Art Beat
“I think, I think about my thoughts too much” is the only line I could have ever imagined opening my ‘Naked’ EP with. Art Beat is inspired by following your heart and mixing the art of songwriting that makes you feel with the beat of music that makes you move. It’s an introduction that explains how ready I am to share the music I have always heard in my head and the words I want to say. This was one of the first tracks I did with Hayden Calnin in his home studio in Redhill. It was the beginning of the natural process of us working so well together and the start of a great friendship.
Time
This is a song of encouragement to make the most of our limited time in life and do what we want now, not tomorrow. It opens quite stripped back but we wanted to take it to a place where the beat would represent the moving of time, the ticking of a clock and the fact that even if you slow down, time won’t. Earlier on in the recording process with Hayden Calnin we originally had a surrounding for the track that was much more chaotic but we came to the conclusion that it was a bit too much and the message got lost. We pulled a bunch of instruments from the start and made it a bit more of a slow burner.
My Mindset
My Mindset was the first track I shared online and I did this with a video I filmed of myself standing in front of GoPro every day for 3 months. It was a one of the biggest indications to myself that I was willing to put it all on the line and go out of my comfort zone to create the best art I could. I wrote the song based around a simple line a mate said when I was really struggling with self confidence – he said “love yourself”.
It’s about the power of changing your negative thoughts to positive ones. I wanted people to really feel the drums hit them in the chest and take them on quite an intense journey. Hayden Calnin’s production skills really added the needed flavour and Tim Carr’s mixing abilities at Studios 301 in Sydney was a perfect way to make this sit where we were hoping. It was a scary moment releasing this song and video but the positive feedback and the amount of spread online was an exciting result.
Her
Her was inspired by my little sister and explains the presence of a beautiful soul. I was 9 years old and in the hospital room when she was born and have always been very close to her. I wanted this to be track 4 as I felt it has a real feeling of brightness and positivity that follows on from the intensity of the previous track – My Mindset. I see this as a positive turning point on the the EP. I wrote this as a track that had the potential to really build. Hayden Calnin had visions for a nice but simple beat. We played around with a few options and combined that with the vision of the slow build and the result is one of my favourites.
Waiting…
This tune is the most recently recorded track on the EP and it was done with producer Jono Steer at Sing Sing in Melbourne and again mixed by Tim Carr in Sydney. It’s the EP’s love song and tells the story of yearning to be by the side of the person you love. It’s about counting the days that go by until you can put your arms around each other and feel the true human connection and not just the text message or Skype one.
City Sounds
City Sounds closes my EP ‘Naked’ and I wrote this when I returned back home to Melbourne to record with Hayden Calnin after my full on soul searching trip across the country. I was pretty lost a couple of years back deciding if I was willing to tell my story and share my emotions with others.
I decided that it was what I had to do and that I was ready to share it with the world in the hope that maybe people could connect in some way to help them on their own journey. I wanted this track to represent an open and earthy feeling throughout the verses and a hectic city like industrial feel with trams and music and people in the chorus. Hayden also saw this vision and his skills in the studio really brought this to life. The addition of Don Pople on violin gave us a platform to represent the city sounds with his unique and tasteful harmonic squeaks and noises.
