“I’ve got a full-length album coming towards the end of the year. So this is my last release before then.”
Allday’s prolific release pattern over the past few years indicates Gaynor has no trouble rolling out rhymes. He discusses why he’s chosen to opt for more casual release formats thus far rather than diving into album production.
“I think it’s just less of a commitment with an EP. Because I’m moving so fast at the moment, with music and growing up, I don’t want to put something out that I hate, especially if it’s a full length. I put out EPs and I hate them after a couple of months so I wanted to wait to do a full album,” he says.
So Good, taken from A Skateboard Soiree (Allday’s collaborative EP with producer C1), commanded major buzz and came in at #91 in 2012’s triple j hottest 100. However, the song’s lush, soulful production isn’t necessarily paradigmatic of Allday’s oeuvre. He’s also matched his easy going flow with dry acoustic instrumentation and heavier dance-oriented beats. Gaynor suggests that the album will continue to encompass a variety of sounds, but will ultimately be more cohesive.
“I think this one’s going to be a lot more focused, hopefully, just because I want it to have some continuity. It’s going to be a lot more hip hop sounding and a lot more dark.”
Allday’s wide musical experimentation has been accompanied by plenty of youthful lyrical exploration. He explains that he’s now reached the point where he can confidently apply himself to an overarching concept.
“It’s a loose concept album and then the second one will probably follow on from that. I don’t really want to go into it now because things might change, but there’s definitely a concept. I feel like I’ve grown into being able to do that now.”
Gaynor has been fooling around with rapping since a young age, which made hip hop the obvious outlet to sublimate his musical inclinations. However, even though it has long been a hobby, it seems hip hop hasn’t always been his dream vocation.
“When I was a kid I wanted to be a professional basketball player, but I always thought I was going to be like Shaq and release an album on the side, sort of thing,” he sincerely quips.
Evidently the proposed basketball career has since been shelved and his focus consolidated on music. The acclaim given to Girls In Jeans was the catalyst for Gaynor’s determined application to rapping, but he reveals that the single’s release was hardly even planned.
“That was a song that I just made because my friend made a beat and I thought ‘I’ll take that’ and then my other friend said ‘we’ll do a video clip for you’ and I was like, ‘oh I guess so.’ It all just kind of happened without any particular goal in mind.”
Composing rap music entails arranging voluminous lyrics into rhythmic rhyming schemes and apt vocal phrasing. Gaynor describes how he critically edits his lyrics in order to give his delivery the strongest impact.
“I’ve noticed that on a lot of the songs that are really popular – even Girl in the Sun or So Good, any of my songs that have been popular – even if the lyrics are simple, I spent time making them simple but with a message or in a way that can connect with people. That’s something that I’m slowly learning, that it does take a lot of time.”
Reaching a level of simplicity without sacrificing any substance is of paramount importance for Allday. Fine-tuning lyrics is a delicate craft and Gaynor indicates that he has to be careful not to simplify something to the point that it sounds inane while also preventing the lyrics from becoming too abstract.
“I want to do it in a smart way but I don’t want to make my music inaccessible. It’s definitely a line to walk and I haven’t always got it right. Some of my most simple lyrics are the ones that I’m most proud of because I know what it takes to write something that is simple that’s also good.”
Soon I’ll Be In Cali 2 will available for free download as of Sunday July 28 and Gaynor speaks enthusiastically about the quality of material on the mixtape.
“Anyone that’s liked any of my prior music I’ve released, they’ll probably be happy with it, because it’s got a little bit of everything but perfected and just better. I’m pretty happy with it I think it’s my most solid release so far,” he states.
Gaynor’s positive self-appraisal seems partly informed by the fun he had compiling the mixtape and he admits the process offered some respite from the ongoing rigors associated with album construction.
“I can just go, ‘oh that’s just what I want to say,’ I don’t care what the track means, I don’t care what this line means or this line means specifically, I’m just going to say it. That sometimes means things aren’t as good but it sometimes means they’re better.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
