Producer & Multi-Instrumentalist John Hayes Unveils The Meditative Techno EP ‘Dawn Creek’

After making his mark with the hypnotic downtempo EP Bloom, in March, today, Denver-via-Minneapolis producer and multi-instrumentalist John Hayes returns with a meditative three-song EP Dawn Creek. The project blends moody techno with IDM soundscapes to create a head-spinning array of beats and dancefloor ready cuts.

Speaking about “Poly” from his Dawn Creek EP, Hayes shares, “Something that I really like to work with in the studio is the emotion that I’m feeling right then and there. When I’m bored in the studio or feeling uninspired, quite often what I like to do is create some kind of challenge for myself. I had recently gotten an Arturia Polybrute and had been playing around with it quite extensively, but not really making or certainly not finishing any music with it. It was a beast in all the best ways, but for some reason I was having a hard time getting any music to come out of me. For such a complex instrument, capable of making almost any sound, I decided to give myself a challenge and take things in a different direction. How simple of a track can I make, using just this one instrument. You can definitely hear a lot of my Nils Frahm influence on this track, specifically his more electronic music. His ability to create a sense of space and restraint in his music is something that will forever be inspiring to me. This track was an exercise in trying to tap into some of that restraint, space and subtlety.”

Listen & Share Bloom Here:
https://johnhayes.ffm.to/dawncreek

After taking a massive step forward with his five-song project, Bloom, Denver-based producer and multi-instrumentalist John Hayes, continues to expand his own sonic boundaries with smashing results on the three-song effort, Dawn Creek. Across these tracks, Hayes immerses himself in the world of body-moving electronic music like never before, resulting in music that’s energetic and propulsive but still containing the emotive streak that’s marked his work thus far. Recalling the hypnotic dancefloor psychedelia of artists like Jon Hopkins and Rival Consoles, Bloom and Dawn Creek make for the start of an exciting new path for Hayes as well as a full realization of his influences and ambitions.

After growing up with the piano as his primary instrument, Hayes eventually abandoned classical studies in college and started immersing himself in the intricacies of score work, as well as the limitless opportunities of electronic music production. Armed with GarageBand and a Beat Thang sampler, he spent his time in higher education honing his craft and making beats for other artists at school. “Being able to manipulate samples was very eye-opening for me,” he recalls.  “I was always interested in electronic music. I just had no idea how to make any of it.”

When Hayes was 23, a close friend passed away—an experience of grief that pushed him to pursue music with even more purpose than before. “That feeling that it could all be gone is why I make music. Why would I not do exactly what I want to do with my time? We’re only around for so long.” Inspired by Nils Frahm’s hybridic neo-classical electronic approach, Hayes has since amassed an impressive and expansive body of work, both under his own name and as Twinsleep with frequent collaborator Maxy Dutcher.

The seeds for Bloom and Dawn Creek lie in Hayes’ 2020 collaborative LP with Dutcher, Borealis—a creative experience that led Hayes to realize that electronic music “was a route I wanted to go down further.” Both projects were conceived after Hayes’ recent move to Denver, and despite the sonic break they represent from the past, the songwriting process was not dissimilar from the gorgeous piano-led ambience of 2022’s Beautifully Lost Mind. “Emotionally, I’m able to get deeper into what I want musically now,” he ruminates while discussing what these releases represent at this stage of his career as an artist. “Electronic music has helped me open more doors when it comes to expressing myself how I want to. Versatility is something I respect a lot in music because it means that you’re challenging yourself.”

Track List:

1. Draft of Night
2. Dawn Creek
3. Poly