Today, we sat with Jason, Ryan, and Kayvan from the band Hyperspace to talk music inspiration, heroes, and much more! Be sure to check out their music below on Spotify after the interview!
Interview:
What is your inspiration to write your music? Is it your surroundings?
Jason: The inspiration for most of my song ideas are from pop culture, comic books, and Star Wars. But I also get inspired when listening to new bands I haven’t heard before. I think whatever I’m going through emotionally comes out either consciously or subconsciously in my lyrics.
Ryan: I’ll let you Jason and Kayvan chime in….
Kayvan: Surroundings can definitely contribute, especially when walking around. Sometimes inspiration comes from something interesting I’ve read about. I think mostly it really comes down to picking up the guitar or bass and just playing a certain way based on how I’m feeling; ideas tend to flow the quickest for me that way.
What type of music did you listen to growing up?
Jason: I was all about hair metal bands in high school like Poison, Def Leppard, and Guns N Roses. Then grunge hit and I was listening to Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mother Love Bone. In college I got into more alternative or indie bands like Weezer, Green Day, Nada Surf, Superdrag, Sebadoh, Nerf Herder, Sugar, Fountains of Wayne, and Fugazi.
Ryan: Right when grunge started spreading to the east coast in the 90’s, I began listening to Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Flaming Lips, Primus, Sebadoh, and Smashing Pumpkins. Gradually, I opened up to other artists like Daft Punk, Cypress Hill, Massive Attack ,and Tupac. Once the Socal pop-punk scene blew up, I mainly listened to Unwritten Law, Goldfinger, Hum, Blink-182, Rancid, NOFX, Local H, The Ataris, Social Distortion, and Bad Religion.
Kayvan: Various kinds, really. The first bands I really started paying attention to were Metallica and Black Sabbath, branching into thrash metal and eventually found my way into death metal. I drifted into ’77 punk and hardcore, especially NYHC, and listened to a lot of the more modern punk bands on Epitaph and Fat Wreck Chords. I liked a lot of electronic music and atmospheric type stuff too, things like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream. Just as in the beginning, I’m always discovering new sounds; it never stops.
Is there someone you looked up as a hero?
Jason: I don’t know if I ever identified people as a hero, but I am very inspired by the musicianship of Matthew Sweet, Kurt Cobain, and J Mascis.
Ryan: I’ve always been a massive admirer of Lou Barlow, a founding member of Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh, and Folk Implosion. He has to have been one of the most underappreciated musicians during the 90’s. When I first saw the movie ‘Kids,’ the soundtrack made that movie. Once I found Lou curated and compiled it, I’ve been a huge fan since.
Kayvan: I’m not sure. Maybe not really a “hero” per se, but Chuck Schuldiner of Death was huge to me. He started with such a raw sound but he had an intense drive to grow as a musician, and this progression can be heard with each successive record. Very, very different music from what I play in Hyperspace for sure! In terms of strictly bass though, it’s always going to be guys like Cliff Burton, Geezer Butler, Matt Freeman, Peter Hook, Simon Gallup, and Bruce Foxton.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing today?
Jason: In another life I think I was a comic book artist or a toy designer.
Ryan: For me, I literally have the best of both worlds. I’m very fortunate to have a rewarding full-time job in healthcare while still being able to work on Hyperspace as my creative outlet.
Kayvan: Music has never been full time for me, but I work in the information security field; that being said, I always liked the idea of being some kind of writer or working in the space program.
What advice do you have for our fans out there that want to create music?
Jason: If you have the drive to create music, just go for it! Everyone started somewhere, good or bad, we all were inspired enough to create music. It gets easier and we all got better over time. Remember, you don’t have to be perfect, just be authentic and express yourself.
Ryan: Audio equipment has tremendously evolved. Your average DIY’er has so many tools at their disposal to easily make at-home, high fidelity recordings. There are tons of online articles to get the creative juices flowing. Thinking back, I vividly remember just how difficult it was during my teens to record on a Tascam four-track Portastudio. Every time we use either Pro Tools or Cubase, I never take them for granted.
Kayvan: Stay true to yourself; play what you want to play, and not what you think will sell records. If you waste time with music that doesn’t resonate with you, you’ll find yourself fatigued and discontent. Learn to compromise with bandmates, but don’t compromise your music. Stick to your guns. If you don’t have any major responsibilities other than yourself, it’s okay to hit the road with your band and play as much as you can. Buy a good solid cheap workhorse guitar that feels right and save for a decent amp; don’t worry about brand name and think expensive equals excellence, that’s only going to drain your bank account – it’s not going to make you a better player.
Music:
