Money Can’t Buy Class: An Interview with Hayley Marsten
Hayley Marsten is a young singer-songwriter with big dreams for the future. I first saw her live in 2015, and since then she has come along in leaps and bounds, with a host of tours and performances alongside big-name artists such as Katie Noonan, Deborah Conway and Clare Bowditch.
Marsten’s latest single Money Can’t Buy Class (from her 2017 EP Lonestar) is a country-pop anthem for anyone who has ever been made to feel bad about themselves because of the way they dress and how they look.
In this interview, we discuss the inspiration behind the song and its music video, career highlights and plans for a debut album.
Congratulations on the release of your new single Money Can’t Buy Class. What was the inspiration behind this?
Thank you! It was inspired by a girl who was really nasty to me, she had a lot of choice words to say about how I couldn’t pull of designer things (blah blah blah). So, I think in some ways it’s a good lesson for everyone that you should never be a jerk because you never know who is a songwriter!
You’ve released the music video (created with the assistance of a RADF grant) for the new single, and you said (in your press release) that it was the most involved you’ve been in a music video thus far. Can you tell me more about the process behind creating the video?
I had a lot of ideas for this video from the time I recorded all the way back in 2016. I’d been talking about my ideas for it with Brock from The Filmery, who’s done all of my previous videos since last year.
So, it’s something I’ve had a lot of time to think on and dream up ways to make people laugh. I wanted it to be a bit of a piss-take on myself in some ways. I’m the first one to laugh at myself and I wanted to say nobody can make fun of me better than me!
The song is from your EP, Lonestar (2017), which you funded through Pozible. How did you find that experience?
I really didn’t know what to expect with crowd funding. I was and still am a fairly new artist, so I was unsure how much people would really want to support me. But I was very pleasantly surprised when I reached more than my target for the EP.
It was very stressful, so we’ll see if my little heart can take it to do it again someday!
The EP debuted at no. 1 on the AIR Charts, no. 3 on iTunes (Country Chart) and no. 8 on the ARIA (Country) Chart. Was such a fantastic reaction something you expected, or did it all come as a surprise?
It wasn’t exactly expected but it was definitely a goal that was working towards and had in mind when I was working on the launch of the record last year. I’d hoped I would be able to crack the top 10 on all the charts but I have to say the AIR charts #1 was a very big shock and still is!
What normally informs your song writing?
I just tend to write about what I know, what I’ve experienced or what my friends and family have. I want to write stuff about what’s going on with me and hope that someone else out there has felt the same way.
Can we expect an album soon?
It’s definitely on the cards! I’m writing for it right now but not really putting a time constraint on it just yet. I love this current EP so much and I wanna make sure the follow up is something I’m equally (or more) proud of.
I saw you live at Rockin’ For the Homeless, and you’ve obviously come so far since 2015. In your opinion, how have you grown as a musician during that time?
Wow, that’s a blast from the past! I feel like I have grown so much as a musician, a songwriter and a vocalist since then. I think it probably just comes from getting older and having a bit more confidence in myself.
What are the highlights and lowlights of your career up to this point?
A big highlight for me was working with the Queensland Music Festival last year for their Songs That Made Me program. I was the regional mentor for my hometown of Gladstone and got to work alongside Katie Noonan, Deborah Conway and Clare Bowditch.
It culminated with a show at The Tivoli in Brisbane, which has always been my dream venue. And the crowd was amazing, laughed at all my jokes, bought my CDs – it just did everything you could hope for from a crowd!
A low light is, luckily, hard to find. To be honest, sometimes being an independent musician can get you down. I often suffer from a lot of self-doubt when it comes to what I’m writing, where I’m going, everything, really! But it’s all part of the career path and I would never change it.
Who are your idols, both personally and professionally?
I really look up to a lot of strong, funny, independent women like Fanny Lumsden, Kacey Musgraves, Zoe Foster-Blake.
How and when were you inspired to make music your career path?
I don’t remember ever wanting to do anything else, to be honest. I wrote my first song when I was 7 and it never really entered my mind until I was about 13 that I would ever be anything else. After high school, I decided this was it and started making it more than just a dream.
If you could collaborate with anyone in the industry (living or dead), who would it be and why? Loretta Lynn or Taylor Swift. Taylor was a really big influence on me getting into country. Her song writing style and honesty really influenced mine too – plus I am a huge fangirl for her.
Loretta is very similar, in the way her song writing influenced me. She is so strong and sassy, and she says exactly what she means.
Country music is growing in popularity in Australia and you got into the genre after listening to Taylor Swift. How does country music allow you to connect with people in a way that you can’t with other genres?
Swifty for life! (Laughs) I think what’s really special about country music is the stories. It a genre where you can always be honest. Listening to Taylor Swift as a teenager it all sort of clicked for me. My songs were never like the ones my friends in rock bands wrote and I never knew where I fit as a songwriter. When I found country music, it just felt like the perfect match.
You’ve performed alongside Andrew Swift, Clare Bowditch and Deborah Conway. What did you take away from those experiences?
They’re all great entertainers. I think sharing the stage with people like that allows you to keep that same energy and, in my head, ‘makes me feel more sparkly’.
You’ll be on the road for the next few months. What do you enjoy most about touring?
Playing to new crowds is always fun but I think just getting to be in front of a crowd who wants to listen to you and is engaged. It really reminds me why I want to do it and why it’s all worth it!
I tell a lot of stories and jokes during my set. I always want people to be entertained more than just enjoying some music. As Dolly Parton says, “Make ‘em laugh, Make ‘em cry, Scare ‘em and send them home!”
Generally speaking, do you prefer intimate performances or a festival setting, like Tamworth Country Music Festival or Deni Ute Muster?
I enjoy both! I just love a crowd that’s into the performance that I can engage with. I think the great thing about Australian country music fans is they can be that crowd in a little songwriter’s show and a big festival stage.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
Just that you have to keep pushing through, there are so many times that I could’ve easily just tapped out after heaps of setbacks. But I didn’t, and things got so much better, and [I was] more successful after I just stopped getting bogged down in the setbacks and just focused on what was working.
What music are you listening to at the moment?
I’m loving Ashley McByrde’s Girl Goin’ Nowhere and I’m also listening to my good friend Arna Georgia’s EP. We’re touring together at the end of the year again, so I’m practising my harmonies with it!
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
I’ll be almost 30, eek!! But hopefully I’ll have released a fabulous debut album and would be well into working on the second one. I want to be able to be playing the major Australian festivals, maybe some US touring too. The thing I want most to change in five years is no more day job (Laughs)!
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Hayley Marsten is touring around Queensland for the next couple of months. To book tickets for the below dates, or find out more about her upcoming projects, visit her website.
Sunday 13th May – Steampunk, Surfers Paradise
Sunday 3rd June – Steampunk, Surfers Paradise
Sunday 10th June – Canvas, Brisbane
Wednesday 13th June – The Brightside – A Night of Country Goodness Series, Brisbane
Saturday 7th July – Christmas Tree Farm – Granite Belt (w/Amber Lawrence for Christmas in July)
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