Watching the World Pass by with will hyde
Melbourne-raised, Los Angeles-based artist will hyde has been growing his dedicated “angel circle” for some time now. Amidst the release of his latest project as the world is passing by. and the wrapping up of the first season of his podcast Really Mental, hyde has brought this past year to a reflective close. In resonating with vulnerability, hyde invites his listeners to the forefront of his mentality through conversation and music.
Released on December 2nd, as the world is passing by., hyde’s third EP, is an extremely authentic and emotional body of work. Featuring collaborations with artists such as elijah woods, Jess Benko, and Keenan Te, the EP passionately explores our relationship with the world around us. Through the navigation of loss and discovery, hyde focuses on building a world through his music shaped by his leading production of the EP. Taking a look beyond one’s “self,” as the world is passing by. provides a musical vessel of introspection, teleporting us to places such as Amsterdam and Malibu.
hyde also wrapped up the first season of his podcast Really Mental in November, which was launched back in May. The podcast, which is cohosted with hyde’s best friend Harrison Kennedy, hopes to tap into the mental health of our youth, providing an outlet for people to find comfort. With special guests ranging from Chelsea Cutler to Verzache, Kennedy and hyde dive into the universal conversation of our generation, fostering a community focused on mental health, self-expression, growth, and esteem.
Sitting down with Unpublished this month, hyde reflected on this past year, delving into the inspirations for his latest project, places he’d like to go, and what he envisions for 2023 with his music and with Really Mental.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How are you doing today?
[WILL:] I’m good, thank you. Honestly, I've been working on my next project and staying up a lot later in the night. So, I slept in a little bit today and I've just been taking some time to recharge. That's my mood at the moment. I'm recharging.
[UNPUBLISHED:] The last time we sat down with you, you had just started releasing episodes of your podcast Really Mental. Now that you're wrapping up the first season, how are you feeling?
[WILL:] It’s been an interesting journey and I was excited with how season one went. I feel energized going into 2023 to continue reaching more people with that project and speaking to new people who can help be a voice for those who are struggling but don't have the opportunity to talk about it. It's given me a lot of fulfillment looking back on the last year because it's another way to express myself. One way is through my music, but conversations are also important.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have a favorite moment from the past few months or a fun memory you'd like to share?
[WILL:] Definitely quite a few, especially moving to LA. I honestly feel like the easiest one for me to say is going to Korea, going to Seoul, and other places in the country. That was such a cool period. I went with my Manager, Sky, and met so many people in the music industry over there. Immersing myself in the culture was just so fun and I learned so much from it.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You just released your third newest project this month called as the world is passing by., huge congratulations. Can you explain the meaning behind the title?
[WILL:] I feel like my previous projects have been introspective. My last EP was nothing ever changes. and it was much more about the search internally. With as the world is passing by., a lot of the songs are about how things around me, like relationships, have influenced me as a person. So it just felt fitting to title it that. It's almost like being a fly on the wall and just seeing how everything has shaped me. Sometimes it's nice to sit and just watch everything pass by and not be too attached.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Your fourth track of the project, "6am in amsterdam.," is extremely raw and moving. What is the significance of Amsterdam to you?
[WILL:] I don't know where it fully came from. I was just writing and then that line came out of me. And that's how a lot of my music happens. I don't know where the “Amsterdam” in particular came from. But, I remember I just felt like that was a strong way to tie an experience to a place and to transport my listeners. Part of my goal is to have people to be able to connect with my music and feel less alone. So, I feel like it just came from that place. I love mentioning seasons and places for that reason, I feel like it gives people more than they can picture and envision.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You use the theme of places in this project. What is a place you want to visit? Or is there a place that you've been to that you want to write about?
[WILL:] Definitely Paris, it almost made it into a song for my next project. But I don't know if I'm going to include Paris in the lyrics. I just love that place. I'm going there in 2024 for the Olympics because the Australian team is going. I was thinking about that today, I'm so excited about going to Paris.
[UNPUBLISHED:] The first song in the EP is "now ur gone." with Keenan Te. The song establishes initial feelings of loss and grief when it comes to different relationships in our lives. I feel like I'm so used to seeing these types of songs placed at the end of projects. Was having it at the beginning of the EP intentional?
[WILL:] Yeah, definitely. I wanted to start the EP with an emotional slap in the face, just straight in. So that song felt fitting because it's confident in the way I'm expressing myself. The final song on the EP, “hayley.,” is a cliffhanger and leaves it where you don't know where you will end up. But "now ur gone." felt like it was just lonely. How do I deal? So I wanted to put that out first because it’s a pretty tough emotion to deal with. The EP ends more like, "where's this going to end up?" And I feel like that's just life; we don't know what we're going to face in the following months or years. But, you just do your best. That's how I saw it for the EP tracklist.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Are there any new creative approaches that you took with making this project?
[WILL:] Yeah. Definitely, with me taking the lead on the production again, I enjoyed that and it pushed me a lot. This was the second EP I've done with just me on the production. So, that was an exciting sort of continuation from nothing ever changes. And I think I've just been taking the reins more and more artistically, on the songs and also the vision. I did all the artwork. So, that was completely different. I have never done artwork before and we needed someone to create cover art for “malibu.” I was like, "Okay, let me try." I just used an app on my phone, like a scanner. But, that was a point of difference too. Part of as the world is passing by. that I've enjoyed is I'm throwing myself more into the world-building of an EP because I'm taking more control. Then lastly, the amazing collaborators that I was fortunate enough to have on the songs like elijah woods, Jess Benko, and Keenan. They're all so incredible and I love their music. So, that was pretty awesome to have them on and that's a huge difference for sure. Probably number one is the collaborators.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What was it like working with so many different people on this project?
[WILL:] It was different because these are my first collaborations for my songs. I had to step out of what I wanted and figure out how to collaborate such that we make the best together. An example of that is "hayley." I originally wanted to do the second verse and we kept going back and forth on who should be in what part of the song. And I was like, "Yeah, you're right, I'm going to bring my second verse to the first verse and I think that sounds better." So, I think in that sense it pushed the songs a lot and it also kept us on our toes because all of the collaborations were coming in very fluidly. It wasn't a set up thing, so it required a lot of flexibility. elijah hopped on the song a month before it came out which is a bit unheard of and very cool. I was just like, "Okay, let's do it."
[UNPUBLISHED:] You wrote that as the world is passing by. is a search and longing for something more than yourself. You're ending the year with the release of this project. What is something that you learned about yourself or others this year?
[WILL:] Wow, that's a great question. That reminds me of a question we would ask on the podcast. Love that. There have been so many changes this year. Even in just the last four or five months, I’ve changed through my travels. I would say one of the things I'm ending this year on, which took me a while to learn, is focusing on what I can control, like moving to LA from Australia and having this growth over the last year musically. I've been thinking about what I want to happen next year and thinking about the outcomes. I’ve been trying to simplify it and be like, "Okay, what can I control and how can I work towards what I want to do next year?" And that's been a game changer for me. Another thing is just taking breaks. This is the first year I've been taking some scheduled time off and it's been so good for my mental health.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What have you been enjoying about life recently?
[WILL:] Probably all of the new people that I've been meeting here in LA. I've been meeting so many different humans (and there are a lot of people here) that are so passionate about what they do and I love passionate people. Whatever it is, whether you're passionate about accounting or something else. And also just making this new music. I've just been loving music and making music more than ever. It feels like it's been growing for me. Since focusing on just what I can control, it feels like I've turned off the noise, allowing me to be clearer than ever on what I want to do for next year.
[UNPUBLISHED:] For your podcast Really Mental, what can people expect for the future?
[WILL:] Well, next year, we have some really exciting guests in the lineup that people will know. For Really Mental we want to continue to reach as many people as possible and help grow the conversation around mental health because our youth needs it. Expect a second season for the podcast. We have our live show, which we partnered with Amazon for. So we're doing that every Sunday at 7 PM PT, 10 PM AT on the Amp app. We have special guests and our goal is to bring it to TV. That's a bit of a reach goal but we want to continue to work towards that.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You must be busy working on new projects and podcasts and all of that. While all these things can be exciting and inspiring, I bet they can be a little overwhelming. So, during a busy schedule, how do you de-stress and step away to take time for yourself?
[WILL:] Yeah, that's a really good question. I'm glad you asked because I'm still figuring out the balance and I think I always will because life's a journey. Some of the things I do is try to have a strong morning ritual. So for me, I pray and meditate and that's a really firm thing that I can do anywhere, no matter where I am or what I have going on. That just fills me with energy for the day. In terms of how I spend my time, I take into account all the time I spend. I have a clock going now for how I'm spending my time. Auditing where you're putting your attention is really important. I've been taught that by people who are much wiser than me. So, I'm starting to do it now. That helps me be particular with how I'm spending my time and focusing on important things/tasks. In today’s hustle culture it's really easy to get caught up in just doing work for the sake of working. I make sure to have structured time off too which is something I sometimes struggle with. Last night I was working all day and then had dinner and then I just started working on music. But, I'm trying to structure my time off so that I can make sure I'm rested. I find that helps. So yeah, those are some things that hopefully can help someone else too.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Musically, what does the upcoming year look like for you?
[WILL:] I have some collaborations coming out in early 2023 which I'm excited about. And then I'm building towards an album. So, I'm working on that body of work for later in 2023. With those two things in mind, I'm looking at doing a tour later in the year as well. Just trying to continue to grow the “angel circle,” which is a community I have. I’m trying to do more community events next year and grow that family because that's been fun and fulfilling. And then hopefully some trips back to South Korea for some collaborations. That's the layout so far.
[UNPUBLISHED:] I noticed you call your listeners the “angels and misfits.” How did you come up with that?
[WILL:] Yeah, I had "angel" tattooed on me before I even started releasing any music for my project. So, I think the “angel” part comes from the fact that there are lots of beautiful times in life. In the tough times and the darker moments, it's really important to hold on to that light at the end of the tunnel. And that's what the word "angel" resembles for me. The "angel circle" can be the place that provides that little bit of light in your day; where you can feel like you belong. And then “misfit” actually came from November last year. I had a song "misfit." get played by Stray Kids on their live stream and they had millions of people watching. It was such an awesome moment to happen completely randomly. So off of that, I had a lot of new listeners from Stray Kids that loved the song. And they started calling themselves the “ancient misfits” and I was like, "Oh, this is a great name" because I feel like there are times when you also just feel like you're on your wavelength. You're just doing you, so it became the age of “misfits.”
[UNPUBLISHED:] Is there anything else you want people to know?
[WILL:] You are loved by someone. You're loved and appreciated by me. I hope that if you listen to my music, it connects with your soul or part of your journey and that we can eventually be friends one day and join the “angel circle.” And text me [+1 (818) 643-6885]. Those are my thoughts for the beautiful people reading Unpublished.
