October 11, 2021 • 19 mins
On this episode of the Cody Cast podcast, Hunter Hayes is celebrating the 10th anniversary of his debut self-titled album, and Cody Alan is asking all of the burning questions! It's an "album celebration conversation" chock full of fun facts like, "Did you know that Hunter wrote 'What You Gonna Do (When I Am Gone) at fourteen years old?" or "He wrote or co-wrote every track on the album and you plays every instrument we hear?" It's all true!
Listen to hear the "Wanted" singer reflect on making the album that earned him three Grammy nominations and made him a household name among country music fans.
PLUS: Cody asks the one question he "HATES" to ask, only for Hunter to reveal an answer that Cody now wants to put on a bumper sticker.
Celebrate with Hunter and Cody by listening to their entertaining, unedited, raw conversation.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is podcast. It's been ten years since Unter Hayes
debut album, Yes, ten years ago, all those incredible hit
songs like Wanted and Storm Warning. I want to get
to all that with Hunter and talk about new music
and see if you'll give us any hints on when
more new stuff is coming. Hunter. Hey, what's up? How
(00:23):
you doing? I'm doing. I'm so happy to talk to
you again. How are you really good? Thank you for
thank you for calling. Let's start with the most important thing, Hunter,
Where are you and what are you wearing? I'm in
Los Angeles, well, technically in the middle of nowhere, out
in to Panga. And because when I say Los Angeles
to my friends, they I think they picture like city
(00:44):
and busy, and I'm the opposite of that. I need space.
So I ended up in the middle of nowhere. But
I'm here and it's nice and cold. I'm enjoying sweats
and you know, studio attire. You know, no kidding, it's
cold there because today in Nashville it's like eight and
I think it's gonna be like eight five tomorrow. It's
like summer's back Indian summer here. Yeah, the the sort
(01:05):
of like the summer they can't make up its mind.
It's just like, you know, you don't have to go home,
but you can't stay here summer, right exactly. Yeah. So
are you back and forth from Nashville to California? Yeah,
for sure, No, I split my time. Um, I just
got really lucky and have this spot, um where we've
we looked down this gorgeous view and I've got the
studio on the edge of the hill and it's a
(01:27):
little tiny place, like it's very modest, it's very humble,
but I love it. It's very like it's just very
grounding and it's a great place to to record. You
showed the photos on Instagram. And actually, if I recall
when the wildfires were happening through there, uh you were
close to him, right, Yeah, the first one in the
year came really close, and I got my first taste
(01:50):
of what it's really like here during fire season. And
it's I mean, by the grace of God, that one. No,
there were no injuries, there were no you know, no structure, no, no,
no one lost their home. Um. The firefighters here definitely,
I mean, they're just they they're they've been through it,
they know it, and they're they're really good at what
they do, but it's still absolutely terrifying and it's a
(02:13):
it's a reality check, you know, and I think I
had to. I kind of allowed myself to sit with
it for a minute and just adjust to it, because
you you have to, you know. That's that's our new reality,
especially with the just environment the way that it is.
You know, did you have to leave your place there
when all that started happening. Yeah, yeah, because it's in
our backyard. It was it was close, and yeah we
(02:37):
had to. We had to evacuate for three or four days.
But like I said, we were lucky. We got to
come back home. So good. Well, anyway, you've been making
music there, I know, and I want to get to
all that. But before we get to the new stuff,
I gotta say congratulations and happy tenth anniversary on Hunter
Hayes the original album, celebrating now ten years. Can you
(02:58):
believe that? Thank you? No? I cannot. It's so weird.
It's so weird in some ways, I feel like that
was um like I haven't grown as a human in
any way, shape or form. I still feel like the
same kid who made that album and this, but like
on the flip side, so much has changed in my
world since then, and looking back it's it's almost it's humorous.
(03:19):
It's like looking back at UM yet like I don't
know what to compared to because I was gonna say
college pictures, but I didn't go to college, so I
have no idea what that's like. But you know, like
fond memories of my first experience of music in the world,
you know, and you look back as really um that
album setting the stage for everything else. But also it's
(03:41):
so well received. I mean, obviously the Grammy nominations, um
Best Country Album Wanted being so huge off that one,
as well as the other songs. I mean, I Love Storm,
Warning and Somebody's Heartbreak. I mean, these are all just
like timeless songs you'll forever be remembered for. So if
you could choose like one song from that album to
(04:01):
like re release as a maybe like you know, Reba's
got this reimagined projects you just released, Is there a
song on there you'd like to go back because of
all you know? Now redo that's so tough because like yeah,
but no, right, like because what I'd like to go
back and and update some things? Yes, am I grateful
(04:23):
that they're sort of preserved in a time capsule as
they are in fact actually funny enough. I did it right,
like I already did so we did the original album.
I always like it always bothered me, like I was
never happy with the song called More Than I Should.
I ended up rerecording it for the encore version of
the of the album, and it's still like there's still
like I'm just I don't know, I'm totally critical. I
(04:45):
think if anything, I would probably go back and and
um man, I don't know. I was really I don't
maybe rerecord a little bit of I Want Crazy, but no,
because I I love that it was a snapshot of
all the stuff that I loved at the time, and
you know what I love. I think one of the
(05:06):
things I love the most about it is how working
with Dan Huff, who's a you know, a producer who's
obviously as you know, and everybody listening knows like this
guy's produced almost every hit and on on country radio,
and um, but we set out to make a record that,
um while grounded and rooted in country, I was able
(05:27):
to do a lot of others that I was able
to bring in a lot of influences without saying like, look,
at me, I'm doing all this like it just feels
so um, I don't know it just like Dan did
a great job of like editing the extremes and allowing
me to really be pure and sincere with the music
that I was listening to and obsessed with at the time.
And I think lyrically and writing wise, like that was
(05:50):
that was the result of my first I kind of
call it my first year at musical college, like moving
to Nashville. The thing I take away from from, you know,
ten years in Nashville, eleven years in Nashville, is what
I've learned from from writing and the writers that I
write with. So yeah, I think I don't know. I
kind of just want to like leave it as is.
(06:11):
I would mess it up if I redid it, you know.
Is it's crazy to think about the fact that you
were you had to be in sixteen or seventeen years
old when you like wrote those songs, Um you so young. Ye.
There's a song on They're called what You're Gonna Do
When I'm Gone, which looking back sounds really egotistical, but
I think the point was to give other people like
the provision to say, like, you know, what's my value?
(06:33):
In this relation anyway. Whatever. But I wrote that when
I was like freaking fourteen, like, and it's weird to
think about, like wanted I wrote when I was seventeen
and like all these all those songs were very much
like the end of my high school chapter and moving
into like, you know, my career or whatever. But yeah,
I like, yeah, looking back, there's a lot of things
(06:55):
that I'm kind I'm not embarrassed about any of it.
I'm really proud of that album, in those lyrics, but
there are some things that I look back and I'm like,
maybe I would have said that more maturely. Yes, what
is a fourteen year old understand about the fullness of
a relationship anyway? Right, But there is that age old
saying about like how your first time is like the
(07:16):
most the most impactful, you know, the first time feeling
a lot of those things. And that was my first
time feeling a lot of those things. Um, here's a
question I hate to get asked myself. I hate when
people ask me this because I never I never have
a really good started with that. That's great. I hate
this question. What would the current Hunter Hayes tell you
were younger Hunter Hayes I feel like we all have regrets.
(07:39):
In fact, I hate when people say I have no regrets,
because everybody has something they would do differently, I think.
But I will say I never know how to answer
this question because I feel like, is this the same
with you? That the process, this sort of evolution that
you go through is almost makes you who you are now,
and if you'd skip any of those steps, it wouldn't
(08:02):
make you you. And for me, even though I would
love to have the wisdom I have now back then, um,
truly you had to learn that wisdom you get what
I'm saying. Is that kind of how you would answer that?
Or what would you tell the younger hunter tell him
to chill the funk out? Can I say that I
would tell him to chill I would tell him to
(08:23):
chill out like I just like because I was on
the verge of doing the thing I wanted to do
the most, which was make music and and tour the
world and play shows and and write stuff that like
impacts people. I didn't look at it as a job.
I looked at it as like a life. And I
(08:45):
was constantly just like nervous and anxious, and I just
wanted everybody to to like what I was doing. I
also wanted to be liked and just like I was
the nerd, and I think I just wanted people I
wanted like, I just wanted people to like think I
(09:06):
was a cool nerd, I guess um And so often
that just like that impacted me. It's like kept me
from enjoying a lot of the moments that I was in.
But that's not to say I did not enjoy a
lot of the moments that I was in. But if
I could go back and tell him anything and be like, dude,
like half the ship you're afraid of is going to
(09:26):
be some of your best like experiences and um and
and all the things that you want, you know, all
the things that you're dreaming about will happen someday. Whether
it happens tomorrow or into years, it will happen. So
just like chill out and like roll the windows down
and breathe a little bit, you know, like enjoy like
this this this None of this can happen twice exactly
(09:47):
as it happens. And I think, yeah, you know, it's
like you gotta you only get to live everything. One time,
I joked, I jokingly said to a friend I was
drunk and I drokingly said to a friend, Hey, man,
life is short, you know, live at first and I
think I would actually print that on a bumper sticker
and give it to myself. What a what a great
(10:08):
answer to that question. I mean, that was good. That
is the answer. That is exactly right. And I've never
been able to say that. I've never been able to
articulate that quite as well as you just did. But
that is exactly right. Soak soak it up like a sponge, right,
enjoy it because it's not going to happen this way twice.
That's a great Well, that's a song right there, right,
(10:31):
that's that's a lyric. I think Ken beat me to him.
But yeah, I like it. I like it. Wait what
was the lyric? Kenny had some things that just don't
happen twice. Don't happen twice? That's right? Crap, I thought
we had we were stumbling onto the next big hit. Well,
you know we could read write it. Don't tell him
edit this out. I'll never know a little twist on
that one or something on it. Alright, Um, you were
(10:56):
talking about enjoying where you are. What has changed from
I don't want to get serious. I mean, we're already serious.
I'll get to this fun stuff in a second, I promise.
But tell me what has gotten more comfortable with you
over the years, Like you obviously are chilling a little
more often now, and you're enjoying it a little more,
I hope, right, Yeah, for sure. So when I when
(11:18):
I started out like I wanted to, I just wanted
to fit in, and I really wanted to fit in,
and I worked so hard to fit in to the
point where, like I think, there's a lot of music
that didn't come out because I was trying too hard
to fit in. But um, the stuff that did come
out was was sort of the balance and and where
(11:40):
I found myself after trying and then not trying. And
there's a little bit of everything you know that that
sits in a vault somewhere the you know half of me,
which is the world would hear half of me. Hopes
they'll never hear it. But I think if there's anything
that's changed, it's it's embracing that and trusting. Embracing is
one thing like you can I can sit here and
make a while old album and say it doesn't matter,
(12:01):
Like I hope this doesn't fit in. I hope this
stands out right. That's a fun thing to say, and
that's a great thing to say, and I like the
fact that it's like a very pinterest quote or whatever.
But but but trusting it as a whole other thing,
like because I have the safety when I when I
make this music, like I have the safety that no
one ever has to hear it. But when you really
put it out, when you really put it out into
the world and tell you know, and allow the world
(12:22):
to interpret it and and you know, etcetera, etcetera, it's terrifying.
It's and it's hard to trust. Like just because I
I love you know, whether it be a topic that
we're writing about or um and I don't I don't
know that I necessarily share opinions and songs so much.
I just kind of try to observe feelings and talk
(12:45):
about it um and But but when you share it
with the world, it's it's it's daunting and terrifying. But dude, Like,
the most rewarding stuff that's happened to me in the
last you know, five years have been things like Dear God,
and that was something I didn't think would be well
received at all, And it's the biggest It's the like,
the biggest freaking song off of the last album. And
I'm only saying that to say that that surprised me
(13:08):
and that taught me a lot. And and in that UM,
I embraced a lot of my UM, I trusted a
lot of my weird and my wacky and my off
the beaten path things that I wanted. That song is
such an odd production, like even I can't wrap my
head around it after working on it, you know. But
at the same time, UM, if there's anything that's changed,
(13:31):
it's it's been me saying I don't have to just
be one thing. In fact, I'm pretty sure when people
check into, you know, my music, whether it be on
the streaming or when they pull up an album or
they listen to a new album, I kind of from
what I understand, I think they're kind of hoping for
something new and different and fresh. So why wouldn't I.
Why wouldn't I just like, you know, give them whatever
(13:52):
the newest idea that that we had that we come
up with it, We collaborate around whether you know, these
songs are the sound them with the feel of them. UM,
I love exploring. I have a musically adventurous nature, and
I think if anything's changed, it's been that. It's been
saying no, I need to be more adventurous. I like it,
I enjoy it, and that's that's part of my artistry.
(14:15):
Trust You're weird. I'm gonna put that on bumper stone.
Trust You're weird. We had a lot of good quotes
out of good question. Yes, absolutely, we always have those,
by the way, it always used to be the case.
So you have some new music coming soon. I can't
give it all the way, but in the coming days
we will know more. So stay tuned. That's a tease
right there, right, um, Yeah, what can you tell me
(14:35):
about the stuff will be hearing very very soon. Well,
I've been confusing the fans a little bit. I feel
like I laugh because it's it is funny because once
once I get to tell them everything about it, I
just here's the thing. You know, my last project, UM,
I surprised release and I released it early UM, and
(14:59):
I learned a lot and there were certain songs that
didn't make that project that I was having a hard
time reconciling on the new project because I'm I'm following themes,
and the themes are based on like real life experiences,
but not necessarily like strictly about my experience. And so
(15:20):
I think I just had to go back and sort
of like, um, I'm sometimes you, you know, to move forward.
There's all kinds of beautiful quotes about like, um, sometimes
it takes like going back in time or reversing a
little bit to understand how to move forward, and uh,
in a lot of ways, I feel like that's what
(15:40):
I kind of had to do, and and it excites
me and it it thrills me because I think I
got to complete something that felt incomplete, and by doing that,
I feel like the whole vision for it makes more sense.
And I'm I'm really proud of this project. I'm proud
(16:02):
of we. We've got three albums basically on deck right now,
and this one is really I'm just really proud of
it because I feel like it marks, uh, the sort
of like it properly marks the beginning and the end
of the chapters. And you know, I always talked about
albums and chapters, like I was watching a really embarrassing
video of like one of my first interviews with you,
and I've always called the chapters. But that's what I
(16:23):
feel this. We're writing a book and some chapters need
to be need to be finished before you can move on.
You know. Wow, when was that interview? Was that? Like,
I've no I feel old that it was. It was
definitely two thousand eleven. I was wearing a baseball t
and I think it was at one of those you
know booths and during like cm A fest where there's
(16:45):
like eight hundred people interviewing in the same room, and
I was distracted and I was learning a lot and
it's cool crazy. Um well, I always loft talking to you.
Thank you for always making me part of your rounds
when you're about to make a big announce So in
the coming days, I think we've teased enough. It will
you'll we'll find out more. So let's grapp on a
(17:08):
little game here. I call it Hayes for Days and basically,
if you random, dude, oh man, I love it. I
have very little talent, but this is one of the
things I can't get right. Um So I've got some
random topics that rhyme with your last name, So tell
me if you're into these things or not. All right,
Hayes for Days here, dog days, dog days or days
(17:32):
with your dog days? Way into that Big Fan upside
down on the couch right now, And I couldn't care
less about what I'm saying and I love it. Mondays,
how do you feel about that? Well, I mean already
I already used one explicit word during this interview, so
I don't want to use another one. But yeah, no,
no to that. Caberns. Oh, I'm I'm down with it.
(17:53):
I'm down with it, you know. Um, I feel like
do we discuss this? Are you sort of whiskey guy?
Are are you being big Scottish whiskey and Japanese whiskey fan? Yeah, exotic,
the exotic line exactly. Mayonnaise Hayes, mayonnaise Hunter Hayes. What
do you think? Pass hard? Pass hard? No, Chevro laz
(18:20):
That's good, That's really good. Um, well, two nerdy things. Um,
I love. I love the legacy of a Corvette. Um.
I think that's one of one of our greatest achievements
in the American car making industry. I'm a bit more
of a Mustang guy, or you know, for a guy,
but you know, I'm down with it. Fair enough Holidays, Yeah, yeah,
(18:45):
big Fan. Secretly my favorite time to work. Here's why,
because no one knows that I'm working, and no one
cares that I'm working. Well, I don't think any cares anyway,
but no one knows that I'm working. There's no deadlines,
nobody's watching, nobody like. It's almost like it's the best.
It's time for me to create because there's just like
it's free time. Yeah, but but also to be fair
(19:05):
time with family, like I don't get a lot of it,
and that's no one's fault with mine, and it's it's
quality time with the fan is is Yeah, just like
it can't be measured. And finally, Hayes for days Cody
as Cody oh Man, big fan, big fan. I subscribed
to every channel, I'm follow on every account, and it's
(19:26):
the first interview. I it's the first person. You're the
first person I talked to when I walk out of
the house after working for twelve months. So yeah, big first.
I love talking to you every time. Thank you, hunter Man,
Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to Cody cast.
Follow Cody right now at Tody Allen on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook. Care Cody on hundreds of radio stations every day,
(19:47):
and watch Cody on twenty. This weekend Saturday and Sunday
at ny MS Central on CMT by for now
This is podcast. It's been ten years since Unter Hayes
debut album, Yes, ten years ago, all those incredible hit
songs like Wanted and Storm Warning. I want to get
to all that with Hunter and talk about new music
and see if you'll give us any hints on when
more new stuff is coming. Hunter. Hey, what's up? How
(00:23):
you doing? I'm doing. I'm so happy to talk to
you again. How are you really good? Thank you for
thank you for calling. Let's start with the most important thing, Hunter,
Where are you and what are you wearing? I'm in
Los Angeles, well, technically in the middle of nowhere, out
in to Panga. And because when I say Los Angeles
to my friends, they I think they picture like city
(00:44):
and busy, and I'm the opposite of that. I need space.
So I ended up in the middle of nowhere. But
I'm here and it's nice and cold. I'm enjoying sweats
and you know, studio attire. You know, no kidding, it's
cold there because today in Nashville it's like eight and
I think it's gonna be like eight five tomorrow. It's
like summer's back Indian summer here. Yeah, the the sort
(01:05):
of like the summer they can't make up its mind.
It's just like, you know, you don't have to go home,
but you can't stay here summer, right exactly. Yeah. So
are you back and forth from Nashville to California? Yeah,
for sure, No, I split my time. Um, I just
got really lucky and have this spot, um where we've
we looked down this gorgeous view and I've got the
studio on the edge of the hill and it's a
(01:27):
little tiny place, like it's very modest, it's very humble,
but I love it. It's very like it's just very
grounding and it's a great place to to record. You
showed the photos on Instagram. And actually, if I recall
when the wildfires were happening through there, uh you were
close to him, right, Yeah, the first one in the
year came really close, and I got my first taste
(01:50):
of what it's really like here during fire season. And
it's I mean, by the grace of God, that one. No,
there were no injuries, there were no you know, no structure, no, no,
no one lost their home. Um. The firefighters here definitely,
I mean, they're just they they're they've been through it,
they know it, and they're they're really good at what
they do, but it's still absolutely terrifying and it's a
(02:13):
it's a reality check, you know, and I think I
had to. I kind of allowed myself to sit with
it for a minute and just adjust to it, because
you you have to, you know. That's that's our new reality,
especially with the just environment the way that it is.
You know, did you have to leave your place there
when all that started happening. Yeah, yeah, because it's in
our backyard. It was it was close, and yeah we
(02:37):
had to. We had to evacuate for three or four days.
But like I said, we were lucky. We got to
come back home. So good. Well, anyway, you've been making
music there, I know, and I want to get to
all that. But before we get to the new stuff,
I gotta say congratulations and happy tenth anniversary on Hunter
Hayes the original album, celebrating now ten years. Can you
(02:58):
believe that? Thank you? No? I cannot. It's so weird.
It's so weird in some ways, I feel like that
was um like I haven't grown as a human in
any way, shape or form. I still feel like the
same kid who made that album and this, but like
on the flip side, so much has changed in my
world since then, and looking back it's it's almost it's humorous.
(03:19):
It's like looking back at UM yet like I don't
know what to compared to because I was gonna say
college pictures, but I didn't go to college, so I
have no idea what that's like. But you know, like
fond memories of my first experience of music in the world,
you know, and you look back as really um that
album setting the stage for everything else. But also it's
(03:41):
so well received. I mean, obviously the Grammy nominations, um
Best Country Album Wanted being so huge off that one,
as well as the other songs. I mean, I Love Storm,
Warning and Somebody's Heartbreak. I mean, these are all just
like timeless songs you'll forever be remembered for. So if
you could choose like one song from that album to
(04:01):
like re release as a maybe like you know, Reba's
got this reimagined projects you just released, Is there a
song on there you'd like to go back because of
all you know? Now redo that's so tough because like yeah,
but no, right, like because what I'd like to go
back and and update some things? Yes, am I grateful
(04:23):
that they're sort of preserved in a time capsule as
they are in fact actually funny enough. I did it right,
like I already did so we did the original album.
I always like it always bothered me, like I was
never happy with the song called More Than I Should.
I ended up rerecording it for the encore version of
the of the album, and it's still like there's still
like I'm just I don't know, I'm totally critical. I
(04:45):
think if anything, I would probably go back and and
um man, I don't know. I was really I don't
maybe rerecord a little bit of I Want Crazy, but no,
because I I love that it was a snapshot of
all the stuff that I loved at the time, and
you know what I love. I think one of the
(05:06):
things I love the most about it is how working
with Dan Huff, who's a you know, a producer who's
obviously as you know, and everybody listening knows like this
guy's produced almost every hit and on on country radio,
and um, but we set out to make a record that,
um while grounded and rooted in country, I was able
(05:27):
to do a lot of others that I was able
to bring in a lot of influences without saying like, look,
at me, I'm doing all this like it just feels
so um, I don't know it just like Dan did
a great job of like editing the extremes and allowing
me to really be pure and sincere with the music
that I was listening to and obsessed with at the time.
And I think lyrically and writing wise, like that was
(05:50):
that was the result of my first I kind of
call it my first year at musical college, like moving
to Nashville. The thing I take away from from, you know,
ten years in Nashville, eleven years in Nashville, is what
I've learned from from writing and the writers that I
write with. So yeah, I think I don't know. I
kind of just want to like leave it as is.
(06:11):
I would mess it up if I redid it, you know.
Is it's crazy to think about the fact that you
were you had to be in sixteen or seventeen years
old when you like wrote those songs, Um you so young. Ye.
There's a song on They're called what You're Gonna Do
When I'm Gone, which looking back sounds really egotistical, but
I think the point was to give other people like
the provision to say, like, you know, what's my value?
(06:33):
In this relation anyway. Whatever. But I wrote that when
I was like freaking fourteen, like, and it's weird to
think about, like wanted I wrote when I was seventeen
and like all these all those songs were very much
like the end of my high school chapter and moving
into like, you know, my career or whatever. But yeah,
I like, yeah, looking back, there's a lot of things
(06:55):
that I'm kind I'm not embarrassed about any of it.
I'm really proud of that album, in those lyrics, but
there are some things that I look back and I'm like,
maybe I would have said that more maturely. Yes, what
is a fourteen year old understand about the fullness of
a relationship anyway? Right, But there is that age old
saying about like how your first time is like the
(07:16):
most the most impactful, you know, the first time feeling
a lot of those things. And that was my first
time feeling a lot of those things. Um, here's a
question I hate to get asked myself. I hate when
people ask me this because I never I never have
a really good started with that. That's great. I hate
this question. What would the current Hunter Hayes tell you
were younger Hunter Hayes I feel like we all have regrets.
(07:39):
In fact, I hate when people say I have no regrets,
because everybody has something they would do differently, I think.
But I will say I never know how to answer
this question because I feel like, is this the same
with you? That the process, this sort of evolution that
you go through is almost makes you who you are now,
and if you'd skip any of those steps, it wouldn't
(08:02):
make you you. And for me, even though I would
love to have the wisdom I have now back then, um,
truly you had to learn that wisdom you get what
I'm saying. Is that kind of how you would answer that?
Or what would you tell the younger hunter tell him
to chill the funk out? Can I say that I
would tell him to chill I would tell him to
(08:23):
chill out like I just like because I was on
the verge of doing the thing I wanted to do
the most, which was make music and and tour the
world and play shows and and write stuff that like
impacts people. I didn't look at it as a job.
I looked at it as like a life. And I
(08:45):
was constantly just like nervous and anxious, and I just
wanted everybody to to like what I was doing. I
also wanted to be liked and just like I was
the nerd, and I think I just wanted people I
wanted like, I just wanted people to like think I
(09:06):
was a cool nerd, I guess um And so often
that just like that impacted me. It's like kept me
from enjoying a lot of the moments that I was in.
But that's not to say I did not enjoy a
lot of the moments that I was in. But if
I could go back and tell him anything and be like, dude,
like half the ship you're afraid of is going to
(09:26):
be some of your best like experiences and um and
and all the things that you want, you know, all
the things that you're dreaming about will happen someday. Whether
it happens tomorrow or into years, it will happen. So
just like chill out and like roll the windows down
and breathe a little bit, you know, like enjoy like
this this this None of this can happen twice exactly
(09:47):
as it happens. And I think, yeah, you know, it's
like you gotta you only get to live everything. One time,
I joked, I jokingly said to a friend I was
drunk and I drokingly said to a friend, Hey, man,
life is short, you know, live at first and I
think I would actually print that on a bumper sticker
and give it to myself. What a what a great
(10:08):
answer to that question. I mean, that was good. That
is the answer. That is exactly right. And I've never
been able to say that. I've never been able to
articulate that quite as well as you just did. But
that is exactly right. Soak soak it up like a sponge, right,
enjoy it because it's not going to happen this way twice.
That's a great Well, that's a song right there, right,
(10:31):
that's that's a lyric. I think Ken beat me to him.
But yeah, I like it. I like it. Wait what
was the lyric? Kenny had some things that just don't
happen twice. Don't happen twice? That's right? Crap, I thought
we had we were stumbling onto the next big hit. Well,
you know we could read write it. Don't tell him
edit this out. I'll never know a little twist on
that one or something on it. Alright, Um, you were
(10:56):
talking about enjoying where you are. What has changed from
I don't want to get serious. I mean, we're already serious.
I'll get to this fun stuff in a second, I promise.
But tell me what has gotten more comfortable with you
over the years, Like you obviously are chilling a little
more often now, and you're enjoying it a little more,
I hope, right, Yeah, for sure. So when I when
(11:18):
I started out like I wanted to, I just wanted
to fit in, and I really wanted to fit in,
and I worked so hard to fit in to the
point where, like I think, there's a lot of music
that didn't come out because I was trying too hard
to fit in. But um, the stuff that did come
out was was sort of the balance and and where
(11:40):
I found myself after trying and then not trying. And
there's a little bit of everything you know that that
sits in a vault somewhere the you know half of me,
which is the world would hear half of me. Hopes
they'll never hear it. But I think if there's anything
that's changed, it's it's embracing that and trusting. Embracing is
one thing like you can I can sit here and
make a while old album and say it doesn't matter,
(12:01):
Like I hope this doesn't fit in. I hope this
stands out right. That's a fun thing to say, and
that's a great thing to say, and I like the
fact that it's like a very pinterest quote or whatever.
But but but trusting it as a whole other thing,
like because I have the safety when I when I
make this music, like I have the safety that no
one ever has to hear it. But when you really
put it out, when you really put it out into
the world and tell you know, and allow the world
(12:22):
to interpret it and and you know, etcetera, etcetera, it's terrifying.
It's and it's hard to trust. Like just because I
I love you know, whether it be a topic that
we're writing about or um and I don't I don't
know that I necessarily share opinions and songs so much.
I just kind of try to observe feelings and talk
(12:45):
about it um and But but when you share it
with the world, it's it's it's daunting and terrifying. But dude, Like,
the most rewarding stuff that's happened to me in the
last you know, five years have been things like Dear God,
and that was something I didn't think would be well
received at all, And it's the biggest It's the like,
the biggest freaking song off of the last album. And
I'm only saying that to say that that surprised me
(13:08):
and that taught me a lot. And and in that UM,
I embraced a lot of my UM, I trusted a
lot of my weird and my wacky and my off
the beaten path things that I wanted. That song is
such an odd production, like even I can't wrap my
head around it after working on it, you know. But
at the same time, UM, if there's anything that's changed,
(13:31):
it's it's been me saying I don't have to just
be one thing. In fact, I'm pretty sure when people
check into, you know, my music, whether it be on
the streaming or when they pull up an album or
they listen to a new album, I kind of from
what I understand, I think they're kind of hoping for
something new and different and fresh. So why wouldn't I.
Why wouldn't I just like, you know, give them whatever
(13:52):
the newest idea that that we had that we come
up with it, We collaborate around whether you know, these
songs are the sound them with the feel of them. UM,
I love exploring. I have a musically adventurous nature, and
I think if anything's changed, it's been that. It's been
saying no, I need to be more adventurous. I like it,
I enjoy it, and that's that's part of my artistry.
(14:15):
Trust You're weird. I'm gonna put that on bumper stone.
Trust You're weird. We had a lot of good quotes
out of good question. Yes, absolutely, we always have those,
by the way, it always used to be the case.
So you have some new music coming soon. I can't
give it all the way, but in the coming days
we will know more. So stay tuned. That's a tease
right there, right, um, Yeah, what can you tell me
(14:35):
about the stuff will be hearing very very soon. Well,
I've been confusing the fans a little bit. I feel
like I laugh because it's it is funny because once
once I get to tell them everything about it, I
just here's the thing. You know, my last project, UM,
I surprised release and I released it early UM, and
(14:59):
I learned a lot and there were certain songs that
didn't make that project that I was having a hard
time reconciling on the new project because I'm I'm following themes,
and the themes are based on like real life experiences,
but not necessarily like strictly about my experience. And so
(15:20):
I think I just had to go back and sort
of like, um, I'm sometimes you, you know, to move forward.
There's all kinds of beautiful quotes about like, um, sometimes
it takes like going back in time or reversing a
little bit to understand how to move forward, and uh,
in a lot of ways, I feel like that's what
(15:40):
I kind of had to do, and and it excites
me and it it thrills me because I think I
got to complete something that felt incomplete, and by doing that,
I feel like the whole vision for it makes more sense.
And I'm I'm really proud of this project. I'm proud
(16:02):
of we. We've got three albums basically on deck right now,
and this one is really I'm just really proud of
it because I feel like it marks, uh, the sort
of like it properly marks the beginning and the end
of the chapters. And you know, I always talked about
albums and chapters, like I was watching a really embarrassing
video of like one of my first interviews with you,
and I've always called the chapters. But that's what I
(16:23):
feel this. We're writing a book and some chapters need
to be need to be finished before you can move on.
You know. Wow, when was that interview? Was that? Like,
I've no I feel old that it was. It was
definitely two thousand eleven. I was wearing a baseball t
and I think it was at one of those you
know booths and during like cm A fest where there's
(16:45):
like eight hundred people interviewing in the same room, and
I was distracted and I was learning a lot and
it's cool crazy. Um well, I always loft talking to you.
Thank you for always making me part of your rounds
when you're about to make a big announce So in
the coming days, I think we've teased enough. It will
you'll we'll find out more. So let's grapp on a
(17:08):
little game here. I call it Hayes for Days and basically,
if you random, dude, oh man, I love it. I
have very little talent, but this is one of the
things I can't get right. Um So I've got some
random topics that rhyme with your last name, So tell
me if you're into these things or not. All right,
Hayes for Days here, dog days, dog days or days
(17:32):
with your dog days? Way into that Big Fan upside
down on the couch right now, And I couldn't care
less about what I'm saying and I love it. Mondays,
how do you feel about that? Well, I mean already
I already used one explicit word during this interview, so
I don't want to use another one. But yeah, no,
no to that. Caberns. Oh, I'm I'm down with it.
(17:53):
I'm down with it, you know. Um, I feel like
do we discuss this? Are you sort of whiskey guy?
Are are you being big Scottish whiskey and Japanese whiskey fan? Yeah, exotic,
the exotic line exactly. Mayonnaise Hayes, mayonnaise Hunter Hayes. What
do you think? Pass hard? Pass hard? No, Chevro laz
(18:20):
That's good, That's really good. Um, well, two nerdy things. Um,
I love. I love the legacy of a Corvette. Um.
I think that's one of one of our greatest achievements
in the American car making industry. I'm a bit more
of a Mustang guy, or you know, for a guy,
but you know, I'm down with it. Fair enough Holidays, Yeah, yeah,
(18:45):
big Fan. Secretly my favorite time to work. Here's why,
because no one knows that I'm working, and no one
cares that I'm working. Well, I don't think any cares anyway,
but no one knows that I'm working. There's no deadlines,
nobody's watching, nobody like. It's almost like it's the best.
It's time for me to create because there's just like
it's free time. Yeah, but but also to be fair
(19:05):
time with family, like I don't get a lot of it,
and that's no one's fault with mine, and it's it's
quality time with the fan is is Yeah, just like
it can't be measured. And finally, Hayes for days Cody
as Cody oh Man, big fan, big fan. I subscribed
to every channel, I'm follow on every account, and it's
(19:26):
the first interview. I it's the first person. You're the
first person I talked to when I walk out of
the house after working for twelve months. So yeah, big first.
I love talking to you every time. Thank you, hunter Man,
Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to Cody cast.
Follow Cody right now at Tody Allen on Twitter, Instagram,
and Facebook. Care Cody on hundreds of radio stations every day,
(19:47):
and watch Cody on twenty. This weekend Saturday and Sunday
at ny MS Central on CMT by for now
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.