STREETS IN My Mind, the debut album by Galway singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer Chris Haze, has been a long time coming, and for the artist, it represents “the end and a new start”.
Streets In My Mind will be released tomorrow, Friday March 19, via Chris’s own Remody Records label. “It’s exciting, it’s a big deal for me as it’s been such a long journey,” Chris tells me during our Monday afternoon interview. “I’m excited for people to hear it. I don’t like to get boxed into any one genre, there are many different styles on it.”
Streets In My Mind is a strong debut, a hip hop album shot through with the sensibility of an acoustic singer-songwriter. Irish folk melodies are discernable amid the hip-hop rhythms of ‘New Me’, while ballads like ‘Deep Underground’, show a more soulful, R’n’B side to Chris’s songwriting.
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“Music has always been in my family,” he says. “We had Michael Jackson albums on vinyl, and you weren’t allowed to touch them, but I’d play them any chance I got. There was a cool CD collection where I discovered 2Pac. I was also in a choir in school. Music has been very relevant in my life.
That debt to 2Pac can be heard in ‘Underestimated’. “He’s up there as one of my favourites,” says Chris. “On that track I went for a laid back, old skool hip hop type feel, and I’m glad that came through.”
A life in music
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In many respects, music has saved Chris’s life, giving him purpose, direction, and goals to aim for after a difficult childhood and adolescence. Chris was born in Galway city, but later lived in Westport, a deeply unhappy period.
“Mum was with this man who wasn’t good for us,” he says. “There was physical abuse, there was fighting with everybody. For a time I lived in a foster home. It was tough.”
Music, and the indomitable, inspirational figure of his mother, were essential in turning his life around. “My mother is the strongest and most resilient person I know,” says Chris. “She’s been through the wars herself. It’s from her I get my drive. She’s an amazing woman.”
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Chris also pays tribute to her on one of the stand-out tracks on Streets In My Mind - ‘Friends and Foes’. “That’s my favourite track on the album,” he says. “It makes me feel things when I listen to it.”
Chris spent a few years “working lots of jobs and not being happy doing them”, but a fresh start came when he met a guitarist and another man who produced hip hop records. “I was sleeping on the floor of their studio,” he says. “It was Chris’s bedroom by night and a recording studio by day. I found all these albums, and music became the outlet that helped me express what was going on in my mind. It was something to pour my energy into.”
Being in the business
Since then Chris has been on an upward path. He first came to attention in 2013 when he featured on Hot Press’s Hot For 2014 list, as well as a nomination for the magazine's readers award for Most Promising Artist.
The following year he released his debut EP, Thoughts To Words, while 2015 saw the single 'Let Us Be Heroes'. Another single, 'I’ll Run', was featured on 2FM, BBC Radio, and Radio X in the UK. It debuted at No 9 on the Irish Singer Songwriter chart on iTunes, eventually reaching No 3.
In 2017, We Are One EP made No 1 on the Irish Singer-Songwriter Chart on iTunes and Google Play; No 2 on the Independent Irish album chart; and No 4 on the Official Irish Album Charts. 'Say Goodbye' debuted at No 1 on the Irish Singer Songwriter Chart and at No 39 on the Official Irish Single Charts.
'When I was coming up I was trying to write songs I thought radio would play. Now I'm making the music I like and that portrays who I really am'
The Recipe EP followed in 2018 before 2019’s 'Chasing Rivers' which made No 11 on the Irish Singles Charts. In April, the Chasing Rivers EP debuted at No 17 on the Official Irish Album Charts on iTunes, reaching No 2 on the Irish Singer-Songwriter Chart. It was also among the Top 40 most played songs on RTE 2XM the week of its release.
While 2020 was a challenging year for all creatives, Haze managed to keep the ball rolling with the Time and Space EP and 'Remody' single; releasing videos; collaborating on the song 'Slow Down' with Dutch duo, Mohtiv; and launching his record label, Remody Records. It was also the year of video sharing platform TikTok.
“Not being able to play gigs, it becomes about how to reach fans, make new fans, and keep myself relevant,” says Chris. “TikTok has become the platform to be on, and it’s made a huge difference. It’s been a learning curve fighting out how it works, the best way to post, but we’re close to 20 millions views now!”
Independence
In January 2021 the single ‘The Business’, effectively Chris’s artistic declaration of independence, was released.
“Listening to ‘advice’ that this is how it should be done and industry talk about appealing to a certain demographic, it all leads you down a pigeon hole of only being able to do one genre,” says Chris.
“When I was coming up I was trying to write songs I thought radio would play or that could be used on adverts, but that takes away from the artistry of it. You’re not creating something that means something to you. Now I'm making the music I like and that portrays who I really am.”
While the future remains uncertain, and gigs and festivals will be slow to return, Chris’s drive remains strong and focused. “I feel very lucky,” he says. “I have so many ideas, pots bubbling over. I feel like I’m only getting started, as a producer, as an entrepreneur, as an artist. I feel I’m just at the beginning of what I can achieve.”
For more see www.chrishazemusic.com
