Hey! Astro is a producer rising through the ranks, standing out from the crowd and doing things his own way. Following the win of Triple J’s Lost Paradise competition, Hey! Astro releases “Superficial”, a single melding rap, melody and spacious Summer vibes. We had the chance to dive into the production process!

Hey! Astro

Thanks for taking the time and congrats on the release of “Superficial”. How and where did writing for this song begin?

I’d done a lot of reflection on past relationships around the point of writing “Superficial” and there were a lot of realisations I had that I felt I needed to get off my chest somehow. “Superficial” is really just a major reflection on a defining relationship in my youth.  

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How do songs usually begin for you?

I’d say all of my songs start with an instrumental. I then usually freestyle some melodies and get an overall feel for the direction and structure I want to head in. I write all my lyrics on my notes app, and I’ve been freestyling my songs more and more for the past 2 years. I use a Rode NT1-A that goes through an Apollo twin. I’ve been using Fl-Studios (Fruity Loops) since 2020 and do rough mixes using default plugins.

We understand you started out creating crafty diss tracks against classmates. Did this creativity come naturally to you or is there more of a story behind your knack for rhyming?

Looking back on my first few tracks I made I can confidently say it didn’t come naturally. I tend to get very obsessive over my passions, so I’ve spent a lot of time learning and adjusting my music. I still make constant changes to the way I make music and will continue to do so.

How do the beats, music and extra layers come about?

Majority of my beats come from me scouring YouTube looking for beats. That was all you could really do if you wanted to make music but didn’t have any producing knowledge. I found so many great producers this way and I use a select few constantly. In recent years, I’ve been working with some producers in Sydney and Melbourne and that’s been quite a new experience. I’m used to working solo, so the collaborative process has been exciting. I tend to really focus on a beats melody, as that’s what stands out to me and, in my opinion, makes a song replay-able. I love to harmonise and add extra vocal layers and I’m constantly trying out new vocal harmonies and ways to add texture to my tracks.

Your music borrows influence from a few different genres and blends them into something entirely unique. Who are some of your musical heroes?

My greatest musical influences stem from my introduction to moody, melodic, sad rap. XXXTentacion and Joji were a few of my first musical idols and from there I found Juice WRLD on Soundcloud in 2018. As I moved to the Central Coast, my musical taste started to reflect that, and the indie band/lo-fi genre had stuck out to me. Finding artists like Tyler, the Creator, Dominic Fike and more really started to make my songs blend into a mixture of genres. I’m still finding artists that I think I’ll eventually call my “All Time Greats” like Yeek, Ericdoa, and Glaive. These three are 100% doing what those artists back in 2018-2020 did, which is reshaping the way my songs sound and feel.   

What’s next for Hey! Astro?

Right now, I’m just looking at dropping a bunch of music. I don’t think I’ve shared enough of who Hey! Astro is and what my sound really is. Hopefully once my project is released, it gives a better understanding of who I am.

“Superficial” is out now. Keep up with Hey! Astro here.