Last year, Los Angeles-based British indie-folk artist Fairhazel, aka Hugh Macdonald, delivered his dazzling 16 track album I Sold My Soul For Fairhazel. Featuring hit songs such as Broadhurst Gardens and Hell Is Only Hell, the impressive two part record has already racked up well over 65K streams on Spotify alone. And continuing his artistic journey, he came back this year with the release of his brand new single Lou Hardin earlier this month. With extremely good vibes, perfect harmonies and a perfect compilation of songs; I Sold My Soul for Fairhazel is a stunning homegrown folk-rock led journey through the musical ages. Following the release of the record last year, Fairhazel has decided to come back with an exciting new vinyl version of I Sold My Soul For Fairhazel. Partnering up with Qrates for a crowdfunding project, their goal is to reach 100 records by March.
“It’s a collection of songs chronicling my move from the UK to the US and the evolving sound and style that came with it. I was listening to almost exclusively the Kinks and Harry Nilsson and their songs bled into my songwriting. The album is a self-reflection on the purpose behind writing songs, inspired heavily by Fela Kuti’s story of harnessing the power of music for a greater good”.
Fairhazel talking about ‘I Sold My Soul for Fairhazel’
To celebrate the vinyl release, we sat down with Fairhazel to chat all about his music, the album and the whole vinyl process.
TSU: Last year, you released your incredible album I Sold My Soul For Fairhazel. Can you tell us a bit about the record and the inspiration behind it.
The album chronicled my move from London to the US, both in the themes, when the songs were written, and where I was drawing inspiration from. When I left the UK, I missed it a lot and immersed myself in British music, which played a huge role in the songs, but at the same time I was being exposed to all sorts of new American music and I think some elements of both made their way in.
TSU: You’re just about to about to release the record on Vinyl which is incredibly exciting! What made you want to release the record on a physical platform?
The album is very much in a 1960-70s style, in terms of songwriting, so it only felt right to honor the way music was listened to back then!
TSU: Can you tell us a bit about the process that went into creating the vinyl, and the record at large?
I partnered up with an awesome company called Qrates who allow you to do a vinyl crowdfunded, and if you hit the target goal of sales, they will press the records. This is awesome as usually an artist has to pay up front for the pressing and hope they can sell them afterwards. The record was all recorded by me at home, some in London, some in the US, and everything was played and mixed/mastered by me, except from my right hand man, Louis who drums on all the tracks. He’s the best.
TSU: What’s your personal favourite way to listen to music, and what do you think is the best way for listeners to enjoy your records?
As scandalous as it is, Spotify is where it’s at for me. One on hand, yes they don’t pay artists well, but that’s nothing new, no one pays artists well, way before Spotify came around. But Spotify is magical in that every day I can discover a new artist, and just dive deep into their music.
TSU: What are some of your favourite records to listen to on Vinyl?
RAM by Paul and Linda McCartney, some good old Barbra Streisand, and Nathaniel Rateliff’s records too.
A pleasure to catch up with the talented artist, make sure to check out I Sold My Soul for Fairhazel and the brand new vinyl version of the album. With exciting things ahead, keep up with Fairhazel on all his socials:
