July 16, 2025 • 11 mins
After more than ten years in the musical game, Lachie Hayes has released his sophomore album.
The Kiwi musician hails from the deepest of the deep south, blending rural blues, alt-folk-country, and soul rock to deliver a new wave of alt-country music.
‘Subsatellite’ is an eleven-track album, produced by prolific musician and producer Delaney Davidson, filled with the colourful stories of ordinary people.
He joined Heather du Plessis-Allan for a chat about the rising popularity of country music and where his career is headed next.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our latest musical talent comes to us from the Catlans.
Not something you can say very often, is it. Lockie
Hayes has been in the music game for over a
decade now, started with a couple of EPs, then an
album based on a live performance. He finds a lot
of inspiration from Bob Dylan, which you can actually hear
in his music. He's got out his sophomore album. It's
called sub Satellite. It's a mix of old country blues
(00:21):
and soul and Lockey hazes with me.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Now morning Lockey, Good morning. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm very well, thank you. Oh man, I've got to
talk to you about Delaney Davidson. How did you find
working with him? Oh?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Delaney is like he's a mixture of an enigma and
a chameleon, and you can't always tell if he's joking
or not. But it was a hell of an experience anyway.
I learned a lot.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Did you learn a lot from him? Because he is
I mean, he makes some beautiful music, doesn't he.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, he's really incredible to what to work. You can
sort of see he's got this calculating way of hearing
the music and almost get the sense that there's these
cogs turning in his head every second of the day
thinking about it, and then he will go in the
studio do some things, make some noises, and you'll think
what is he doing? And then when he plays it
(01:13):
back to you, you're like, oh, wow, how did you
hear that in your head before you before you went
in the studio. It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Where are you based? Are you based in Vicargo?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I'm actually based in a small town out of in
Vicago called Wyndham. I'm a schoolteacher here and yeah, so so, yeah,
some of the some of the morning chat has been
interesting to me.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
But yeah, well do you want to wear all the
open playing classes?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Then I don't know if I want to weigh in
on it too much. Yeah, tell me.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The reason I was asking you, asking you where you're
based is obviously Delaney comes from Littleton, right, They've got
a fantastic little country music scene going on there.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
What about Wyndham, Well, Wyndham's pretty close to Gore, so
country is pretty big around these parts, to be honest.
It's one of those It's a strange thing because country
music was very much the music of my grandparents' generation,
and then popular music came along my parents' generation was
(02:14):
more into popular music. But the young people now, and
a lot of the students I see coming up through school,
are just mad about country music. It seems to be
the biggest thing. I really can't put my finger on it,
but I guess when you're living in rural New Zealand
and your aspirations are to drive tractors, and the really
(02:36):
America and the country music would speak to you.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
But you know, I mean, I would agree with you,
and I think you're onto something. But I would agree
with you that if it was just a country thing.
But it's not just a country thing, is it. I mean,
city kids are loving it as well. Is it maybe
that we've got over the vacuousness of pop music and
we're looking for something a little bit more deep and layered.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, I would sure hope so. To be honest, I
would think that would be that would be a gift
from God if we could get over any vecuous kind
of popular music setting. I do know that kids don't
care as much about the charts anymore. That seems to
be something that I notice. They seem to just pick
up on what their friends listen to, what their parents
(03:18):
listen to, what they've heard on a movie, what they've
heard somewhere else where As it used to be you
could say, what's number one in the charts? Now, you know,
we all used to listen to top forty and wait
to hear the number one. They don't seem to care
so much about that anymore. So perhaps you're right.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
The age of Spotify, Lockie, where once you? Because I mean,
the thing about radio versus Spotify, obviously is radio gives
you what it thinks you should hear, but Spotify gives
you more of what you already like. So if you're
liking a country song, it starts to feed you more
and it just opens up this world to you.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, you do get really sort of lost down that
rabbit hole on Spotify, don't you.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
It's a good rabbit hole though, way not a bad one.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, totally. Now, is that you playing harmonica on your album?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah? Yeah, that's me playing the harmonica on me Going.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
To play harmonica like that, Locky, because you sound like
like a sixty year old man sitting around a campfire.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well, as you mentioned, I'm from the Catlands. I grew
up on the Catlands, and it's pretty dark. And rainy,
and there's not a lot to really do. And my
parents are both musicians, and my grandparents are musicians, so
there was kind of this, you play us a tune
and you don't have to go to bed right now?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Ye do that to you in a way.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
In a sense. Yeah, there was a lot of I'm
from quite a big extended family as well, so there
was a lot of gatherings and there was a lot
of just tunes and sing alongs around a few drinks,
and so there was a lot of you come and
do your song now, you know. And harmonica is quite
a It's an economical instrument because it can fit in
(04:55):
your pocket, right, So you give it to a little kid,
which was me, and say you're going to play along
with us when we play these old country songs.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Do you like as a musician?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Now?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Do you really love your parents for that, because they
must have listened to some god awful harmonica playing from
you while they were trying to play their song.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, I'm sure they I'm sure they did. They must have.
I do often think how patient they must have been
with teaching all of my I've got four siblings as well,
and we all sort of play an instrument to some degree,
so they must have been pretty patient.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, how long do you reckon? You got to like,
how long did you extend your bedtime by?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Well, indefinitely, I think sometimes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Oh my goodness, your parents are good people. Lockie. I
have got a text from Jamie McKay that says, ask
Lockey about his dad's rugby exploits.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Okay, my dad's rugby exploits. Yeah, he Well, my dad
was a self unrepresentative in the nineties for the rugby.
Is sort of a weird part of my family. Not
that I play rugby. I was never any good at it,
but yeah, my father represented south On, as did my grandfather,
and my auntie and my sister have all represented south
(06:09):
on the rugby and my auntie, Carol Hayes, was one
of the original Black Friends. So there's a weird sort
of rugby link in the family.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
You guys are just a family of overachievers, aren't you.
And then as well as so your dad your dad's
a farmer and he's playing rugby for Southland. And then
you also say your dad your parents used to drag
you around two gigs. Were they playing gigs?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah? Yeah, they were in a sort of a bit
of a Southland institution in the day was their bluegrassy
country men called the Progress Valley Possum Piggers, which is
a name and a name in a heart.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That's a good name. And so what they would take you?
Where would they play gigs? I mean there's it's not
as if you're living in the middle of a city
where you could just go to any number of venues.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well they believe it or not, they played a lot
of wolfsheads. Wolfshed parties were a big thing. So we
were dragged along to a lot of woo. She's in
a lot of pubs, a lot of rural pubs. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And what do you do now? Where do you tour?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
If you tour, well, anywhere and everywhere that we can
we obviously traveling is a big part of it. You've
got to get used to traveling if you want to
live in a rural community and perform places. But I mean,
we've got a lot of good venues in central Otago,
Dunedin and the cargo's coming along now with some really
good venues. So it just means a few hours driving.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, And what about because you've got a family, haven't you?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
How do you do that with kids?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Well, very patiently and we tray your best.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Do you take them along? Do you schlep them along
to the pub with you?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Well? Sometimes? But the I guess the culture around that
has changed, do we But we used to be dragged
as children to pubs without people betting an eye, But
I think now nowadays people give you a bit of
a sideways eye if you if you dragging your kids everywhere.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Okay, I want to ask you. I've been thinking the
last few days. Have you heard of this band called
the Velvet Sundown.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
The Velvet Sundown is somebody mentioned this to me the
other day. I still I've never heard them now.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Okay, so they're actually not a band. They're AI and
they do music that's a little bit sort of nineteen
seventies folk. Well, I mean, obviously they'll be like a
musical director, there'll be a human behind it. But they
do nineteen seventies folk music. It wouldn't. It's a bit CCR,
you know, bit credence. And what I'm finding really weird
about it is that I don't hate it. I actually
kind of like it. Should I be ashamed of myself?
(08:34):
Do you worry about the AI.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I don't really worry about it too much. I did
I think I read an article about them. The guy
said it was kind of a prank, right, Yeah, Well,
I pilfer and steal from all the pop culture I can,
and I'm a big fan of hip hop and how
they sample music. They steal sort of we sections from
(08:57):
other songs and turn it into something new. I mean,
if I were to stick my neck out and say
that people using AI technology is just awful, you know,
how far back do I have to go before I'm
then going, well, I'm stealing music from basically from America,
from a long and rich lineage in history that I
(09:17):
have nothing to do with. So how far back am
I going to go before I have to look at
myself and go, yeah, well you're not much better?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah, this is true. I'm comforting myself with the idea
that AI cannot be creative, right. AI just takes what
we're already doing and then replicates it, kind of does
a copy of it. Whereas if you really want something
completely different and never been done before, it's only a
human that can come up with that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
A Well, yeah, AI is not actually alive. You know,
we sort of. We talk about it as this living thing,
but it's just a language model and a little computer,
isn't it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, By the way, what do you teach?
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I'm actually a primary school teacher. Well, I teach it
an intermediate school called Menzies College, but to the U
seven students, so that I always have the three hours
the reading, writing, arithmetic.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Is it working? Is the hour a day working?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Is that? Sorry?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
The hour a day of reading, writing and maths working?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Taking you back to politics, say sorry.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
That's all right, it's fun. I would say we're doing
our best as well in that in that area. Yeah. Good.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Hey, listen, what's the plan you've done? You've done some EPs,
you've done a couple of albums, now you're touring. Where
do you want to take this?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Well, you know, as always the way with people creating artists,
just to keep doing it and hopefully, you know, put
it out there and if people like it, they like
it and that's great, and if they don't, well, who cares.
I'm going to keep creating it. So it's pretty good
to be there.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah, Lockie, thank you for your time. It's been absolutely
lovely to talk to you, and best of luck with everything.
Blockie Hayes KIWI singer Heather I love listening to the
interview with Locke. The Hayes family was part of the
Possum Pickers played at a local fundraiser. They were supposed
to plans to one am, but they were having such
a great time they played till four am. Fantastic night, Marianne.
Thank you for more from the Mic Asking Breakfast. Listen
(11:09):
live to news talks it'd b from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Our latest musical talent comes to us from the Catlans.
Not something you can say very often, is it. Lockie
Hayes has been in the music game for over a
decade now, started with a couple of EPs, then an
album based on a live performance. He finds a lot
of inspiration from Bob Dylan, which you can actually hear
in his music. He's got out his sophomore album. It's
called sub Satellite. It's a mix of old country blues
(00:21):
and soul and Lockey hazes with me.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Now morning Lockey, Good morning. How are you.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I'm very well, thank you. Oh man, I've got to
talk to you about Delaney Davidson. How did you find
working with him? Oh?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Delaney is like he's a mixture of an enigma and
a chameleon, and you can't always tell if he's joking
or not. But it was a hell of an experience anyway.
I learned a lot.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Did you learn a lot from him? Because he is
I mean, he makes some beautiful music, doesn't he.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, he's really incredible to what to work. You can
sort of see he's got this calculating way of hearing
the music and almost get the sense that there's these
cogs turning in his head every second of the day
thinking about it, and then he will go in the
studio do some things, make some noises, and you'll think
what is he doing? And then when he plays it
(01:13):
back to you, you're like, oh, wow, how did you
hear that in your head before you before you went
in the studio. It's incredible.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Where are you based? Are you based in Vicargo?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
I'm actually based in a small town out of in
Vicago called Wyndham. I'm a schoolteacher here and yeah, so so, yeah,
some of the some of the morning chat has been
interesting to me.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
But yeah, well do you want to wear all the
open playing classes?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Then I don't know if I want to weigh in
on it too much. Yeah, tell me.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
The reason I was asking you, asking you where you're
based is obviously Delaney comes from Littleton, right, They've got
a fantastic little country music scene going on there.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
What about Wyndham, Well, Wyndham's pretty close to Gore, so
country is pretty big around these parts, to be honest.
It's one of those It's a strange thing because country
music was very much the music of my grandparents' generation,
and then popular music came along my parents' generation was
(02:14):
more into popular music. But the young people now, and
a lot of the students I see coming up through school,
are just mad about country music. It seems to be
the biggest thing. I really can't put my finger on it,
but I guess when you're living in rural New Zealand
and your aspirations are to drive tractors, and the really
(02:36):
America and the country music would speak to you.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
But you know, I mean, I would agree with you,
and I think you're onto something. But I would agree
with you that if it was just a country thing.
But it's not just a country thing, is it. I mean,
city kids are loving it as well. Is it maybe
that we've got over the vacuousness of pop music and
we're looking for something a little bit more deep and layered.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Well, I would sure hope so. To be honest, I
would think that would be that would be a gift
from God if we could get over any vecuous kind
of popular music setting. I do know that kids don't
care as much about the charts anymore. That seems to
be something that I notice. They seem to just pick
up on what their friends listen to, what their parents
(03:18):
listen to, what they've heard on a movie, what they've
heard somewhere else where As it used to be you
could say, what's number one in the charts? Now, you know,
we all used to listen to top forty and wait
to hear the number one. They don't seem to care
so much about that anymore. So perhaps you're right.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
The age of Spotify, Lockie, where once you? Because I mean,
the thing about radio versus Spotify, obviously is radio gives
you what it thinks you should hear, but Spotify gives
you more of what you already like. So if you're
liking a country song, it starts to feed you more
and it just opens up this world to you.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Yeah, you do get really sort of lost down that
rabbit hole on Spotify, don't you.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
It's a good rabbit hole though, way not a bad one.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
It's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
Yeah, totally. Now, is that you playing harmonica on your album?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah? Yeah, that's me playing the harmonica on me Going.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
To play harmonica like that, Locky, because you sound like
like a sixty year old man sitting around a campfire.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well, as you mentioned, I'm from the Catlands. I grew
up on the Catlands, and it's pretty dark. And rainy,
and there's not a lot to really do. And my
parents are both musicians, and my grandparents are musicians, so
there was kind of this, you play us a tune
and you don't have to go to bed right now?
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Ye do that to you in a way.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
In a sense. Yeah, there was a lot of I'm
from quite a big extended family as well, so there
was a lot of gatherings and there was a lot
of just tunes and sing alongs around a few drinks,
and so there was a lot of you come and
do your song now, you know. And harmonica is quite
a It's an economical instrument because it can fit in
(04:55):
your pocket, right, So you give it to a little kid,
which was me, and say you're going to play along
with us when we play these old country songs.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Do you like as a musician?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Now?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Do you really love your parents for that, because they
must have listened to some god awful harmonica playing from
you while they were trying to play their song.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, I'm sure they I'm sure they did. They must have.
I do often think how patient they must have been
with teaching all of my I've got four siblings as well,
and we all sort of play an instrument to some degree,
so they must have been pretty patient.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
Yeah, how long do you reckon? You got to like,
how long did you extend your bedtime by?
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Well, indefinitely, I think sometimes. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
Oh my goodness, your parents are good people. Lockie. I
have got a text from Jamie McKay that says, ask
Lockey about his dad's rugby exploits.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
Okay, my dad's rugby exploits. Yeah, he Well, my dad
was a self unrepresentative in the nineties for the rugby.
Is sort of a weird part of my family. Not
that I play rugby. I was never any good at it,
but yeah, my father represented south On, as did my grandfather,
and my auntie and my sister have all represented south
(06:09):
on the rugby and my auntie, Carol Hayes, was one
of the original Black Friends. So there's a weird sort
of rugby link in the family.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
You guys are just a family of overachievers, aren't you.
And then as well as so your dad your dad's
a farmer and he's playing rugby for Southland. And then
you also say your dad your parents used to drag
you around two gigs. Were they playing gigs?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah? Yeah, they were in a sort of a bit
of a Southland institution in the day was their bluegrassy
country men called the Progress Valley Possum Piggers, which is
a name and a name in a heart.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
That's a good name. And so what they would take you?
Where would they play gigs? I mean there's it's not
as if you're living in the middle of a city
where you could just go to any number of venues.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Well they believe it or not, they played a lot
of wolfsheads. Wolfshed parties were a big thing. So we
were dragged along to a lot of woo. She's in
a lot of pubs, a lot of rural pubs. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
And what do you do now? Where do you tour?
Speaker 2 (07:04):
If you tour, well, anywhere and everywhere that we can
we obviously traveling is a big part of it. You've
got to get used to traveling if you want to
live in a rural community and perform places. But I mean,
we've got a lot of good venues in central Otago,
Dunedin and the cargo's coming along now with some really
good venues. So it just means a few hours driving.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, And what about because you've got a family, haven't you?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Yes, I do.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
How do you do that with kids?
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Well, very patiently and we tray your best.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Do you take them along? Do you schlep them along
to the pub with you?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Well? Sometimes? But the I guess the culture around that
has changed, do we But we used to be dragged
as children to pubs without people betting an eye, But
I think now nowadays people give you a bit of
a sideways eye if you if you dragging your kids everywhere.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Okay, I want to ask you. I've been thinking the
last few days. Have you heard of this band called
the Velvet Sundown.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
The Velvet Sundown is somebody mentioned this to me the
other day. I still I've never heard them now.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Okay, so they're actually not a band. They're AI and
they do music that's a little bit sort of nineteen
seventies folk. Well, I mean, obviously they'll be like a
musical director, there'll be a human behind it. But they
do nineteen seventies folk music. It wouldn't. It's a bit CCR,
you know, bit credence. And what I'm finding really weird
about it is that I don't hate it. I actually
kind of like it. Should I be ashamed of myself?
(08:34):
Do you worry about the AI.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I don't really worry about it too much. I did
I think I read an article about them. The guy
said it was kind of a prank, right, Yeah, Well,
I pilfer and steal from all the pop culture I can,
and I'm a big fan of hip hop and how
they sample music. They steal sort of we sections from
(08:57):
other songs and turn it into something new. I mean,
if I were to stick my neck out and say
that people using AI technology is just awful, you know,
how far back do I have to go before I'm
then going, well, I'm stealing music from basically from America,
from a long and rich lineage in history that I
(09:17):
have nothing to do with. So how far back am
I going to go before I have to look at
myself and go, yeah, well you're not much better?
Speaker 1 (09:23):
Yeah, this is true. I'm comforting myself with the idea
that AI cannot be creative, right. AI just takes what
we're already doing and then replicates it, kind of does
a copy of it. Whereas if you really want something
completely different and never been done before, it's only a
human that can come up with that.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
A Well, yeah, AI is not actually alive. You know,
we sort of. We talk about it as this living thing,
but it's just a language model and a little computer,
isn't it.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Yeah, By the way, what do you teach?
Speaker 2 (09:53):
I'm actually a primary school teacher. Well, I teach it
an intermediate school called Menzies College, but to the U
seven students, so that I always have the three hours
the reading, writing, arithmetic.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Is it working? Is the hour a day working?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
Is that? Sorry?
Speaker 1 (10:08):
The hour a day of reading, writing and maths working?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (10:12):
Taking you back to politics, say sorry.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
That's all right, it's fun. I would say we're doing
our best as well in that in that area. Yeah. Good.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Hey, listen, what's the plan you've done? You've done some EPs,
you've done a couple of albums, now you're touring. Where
do you want to take this?
Speaker 2 (10:29):
Well, you know, as always the way with people creating artists,
just to keep doing it and hopefully, you know, put
it out there and if people like it, they like
it and that's great, and if they don't, well, who cares.
I'm going to keep creating it. So it's pretty good
to be there.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah, Lockie, thank you for your time. It's been absolutely
lovely to talk to you, and best of luck with everything.
Blockie Hayes KIWI singer Heather I love listening to the
interview with Locke. The Hayes family was part of the
Possum Pickers played at a local fundraiser. They were supposed
to plans to one am, but they were having such
a great time they played till four am. Fantastic night, Marianne.
Thank you for more from the Mic Asking Breakfast. Listen
(11:09):
live to news talks it'd b from six am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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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.