Bayley McKenzie

Bayley McKenzie is a rising pop artist known for his honest songwriting and soulful, expressive voice. Drawing inspiration from icons like Mariah Carey, Bayley blends personal stories with catchy melodies to create music that connects with people.
He started young—at just 17, he wrote, recorded, and produced a song called Crazy entirely on his own. Although it wasn’t released right away, the track found new life when it was included in the rerelease of his debut album, earning over 4,500 streams. By 19, Bayley had fully self-produced that debut album himself, handling everything from the beats to the vocals to the final edits.
Now, he’s back with his second album, Charming Doesn’t Always Mean Nice, and promoting its second single, Health. The album tells the story of a tough two-year period in his life—from May 2022 to March 2024—marked by heartbreak, bad decisions, a house fire, struggles with mental health, and even falling for a friend. It’s a bold, pure pop record that captures the lessons he’s learned and the person he’s become along the way.Highlights from Toby Gribben's Friday afternoon show on Shout Radio. Featuring chat with top showbiz guests. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:22):
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Speaker 2 (00:32):
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Speaker 2 (01:01):
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Speaker 1 (01:12):
Billy McKenzie is a rising pop artist known for heartfelt
storytelling and rich expressive vocals, and he's just released his
second album, Charming Doesn't Always Mean Nice, and he's got
his second single Health out as well, and Billy is
joining us here just now. How are you today?

Speaker 2 (01:31):
Hello, I'm going to how are you?

Speaker 1 (01:33):
I'm excellent? Thank you. So what's the inspiration behind this
new album Charming Doesn't Always Mean Nice?

Speaker 2 (01:42):
I went through quite a few years, to say the least,
because when I released my first album in twenty nineteen,
afterwards I took kind of like lose lovel like creating
music and making music for a very long time. And
then I think when I started going through a lot
of the stuff like break up, mental health, druggles and stuff,
I started really finding like balls and songwriting again, and

(02:04):
I realized that I really hadn't had that passion for
just anything use it. And then I had a bit
of a situation where I had like a housewid all
of that, and so I started writing about all of that,
and then I realized, Wow, like I'm actually creating something
that maybe I want to share with the world again,
which I never thought i'd have that feeling. I'm like,

(02:26):
I love a ballad, And I remember I came across
the bat By King eighty amazing producer and it's on
my album called let You Let Me Feel Sad. And
once I wrote that one, it really just all came
together because it was like the ballad that I needed,
and it was like the album kind of started just

(02:46):
for really complete, and I realized everything that had been
going on during that time. Sure it wasn't great, but
it brought something created back into me and that I'll
always what I would be grateful for.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
And what was it like to record the album? Was
it fun?

Speaker 2 (03:01):
It was actually really fun. So I did it like
three times. So I went into the studio three times.
I broke it up to like three bits because I
went to the studios called Pirate Studios, where you basically
just go in and you literally just do like everything yourself.
I'm not trying to say that I am like top
pro with that. I was definitely happy to learn as
I went. But it was really fun because, like I

(03:25):
went with my friend the first two times. So sometimes
what we do is while I was like recording it,
we'd have like little breaks and we'd get up karayote
on the screen and we'd sing and we'd just kind
of just have like a fun. I also got like
some moment. She also is on one of the track
called I Don't Think I Want You Back Anymore, doing
like a background moment. So that was really cool. It
was fun like the last time I went by myself

(03:46):
and that was like why a sort of my bit
of sweet moment because I suppose I realized I was
like wrapping it up. I was recording the last couple
of songs, and that was a little bit more like ah,
but it was good. It was a good time. It
was a really really good time actually, And.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
You've got a new as well called Hill. So how
would you describe the musical style of that song and
the message and the lyrics.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
It's got like guitar, it's like a park, like is
you know, you could get up and dark if you
wanted to in a relationship again, I was going for
a lot, and I think so like a lot of
people can probably relate the fact that if you're going
for a lot in a relationship and then it's sort
of break down. Once you're out of that relationship, you're
probably going to go a little bit reckless. You're probably
gonna go a little bit wild. And I knew that

(04:28):
that's what I was doing. I was very like aware
that I was being self destructive, and so I was like,
I want to try and make sense of this situation.
I want to try and understand how I am feeling.
And the way that I was coping with my emotions
at the time was to write a song. But I
wanted to kind of have like the both side things,
so like it was messy and everything felt quite wild,

(04:49):
but I also at the same time was having fun,
so I wanted, like, it's sound fun, but also have
the lyrical content of like, yeah, like I'm not really
caring about myself at this moment, but I'm still over
my life. I'm still kind of being you know, reckless,
but it's enjoyable at the same time.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
Well, what are you working on in the future, I mean,
do you have any future plans involving this current album
or indeed other unrelated projects.

Speaker 2 (05:14):
I'm practicing on trying to feel more comfortable with like
performing in front of people and stuff, because with my anxiety,
it's very like I get very nerves with that stuff.
So I want to try and push myself to perform
and do things like that. I mean, in terms of
this album, I do plan one more music video, but
I think, you know, that was a time in my

(05:35):
life and I'm very happy and grateful for what I
created and it was definitely needed. But you know, I'm
also thinking, you know, what I want to go and
do next that I'm listening and I'm writing again, so
that's exciting, but it's definitely not over. I definitely still
have plans to continue with this album, like one more
music video, like I said, and stuff like that. So yeah,

(05:58):
I've still got I've got a few.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
More things absolutely well. In the meantime, where we able
to find this current album charming doesn't always mean nice,
and the new song health and everything else that you
would want us to find.

Speaker 2 (06:10):
It's on all streaming sersains, so you've searching Bailey McKenzie
tarmly doesn't always be nice. Whether that's on Spotify, after music,
YouTube is everywhere. My Instagram is Bailey McKenzie ninety nine.
That's where I mainly post as the side to indulge
in kick Fox, which I didn't used to do before.
But you know, I'm actually having a lot of time
with it, and you know what, if I'm being completely honest,

(06:31):
I can't remember my hand off the top of my head.
That is the main one.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
Give me well many thanks for joining us on the
show today. It's been great having you here.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Thank you so much, Toby, have a lovely day.

Speaker 1 (06:45):
Friday's for celebration, good times and relaxations. To turn the
radio up and just listen.

Speaker 2 (06:51):
Listen.

Speaker 1 (06:52):
If you've got that Friday feeling, you'll soon be dancing
on the ceiling. I'll be because of your host, Tommy. Yes,
some brillianatomysic fantastic told me his terrific and the speature
is a classic sment speech now a hights. It's not
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