Talking To: Hector Who Lived

One half of the duo Try Me, Miles is a singer, songwriter and producer based in Bristol. With time to slow down and reevaluate in lockdown, Miles decided to turn to solo work while him and Bendy Wendy were unable to create music together. From this, Hector Who Lived was born!

Releasing is first single last month via Sugar Shack Records, we caught up with to discuss his funky sound, his music video produced from home and when we can hear more from The Everyday' favourites, Try Me.

Hi Miles! How are you? Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you’re up to at the moment?

I’m from a small village near Oxfordshire, it has less than 1000 people and everybody’s old. I came to Bristol to study music production and I decided to stay here; I can’t see myself going back because it’s quite boring compared to Bristol.

I’m in a duo called Try Me and we make queer dance music. Music with sometimes a moral message, sometimes a comedic message and sometimes just purely for dancing.

On the side I do a solo project and I’ve just released my first single; my solo work is somewhere I can self-express. It’s only me so it’s something I can control and it’s a way I can get shit out that’s simply my own.

You’ve just realised your debut single which I loved, it’s so funky and groovy – how would you describe your sound?

I’m not trying to take a reference track and then recreate that track, I’m just trying to be inspired by anything that I hear. Monkey was first taken from a sample from a Gameboy, a game called The Incredibles which my partner and I played throughout the first lockdown. So we sampled that game which made the basis of that track and then I did the singing over the top and then added all of the instruments in.

All of the pieces came to fit together fairly easily.

I understand your debut single, ‘Monkey’, was written when the first lockdown hit – did the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns have a big impact on your music?

Yeah, I would say it caused me to start writing by myself again. I used to write a lot by myself but then I met Molly and we started putting a lot of effort into Try Me and were playing a lot of gigs around Bristol.

The first lockdown gave me a chance to think about what I wanted to make if I was by myself. We still did stuff online for Try Me but the beginning of lockdown gave me the opportunity to try something by myself.

I find it difficult trying to write songs with somebody if they’re not in the room with me, you need good communication with each other in order to feel like you’re on the same page, whereas sending each other clips and lyrics online is a lot harder.

I understand the video for ‘Monkey’ was recorded by your partner Atlanta – what was the idea/premise behind the video?

The idea was to do what we can to represent the song within the confines of lockdown. It was all recorded during lockdown in the flat that we lived in. We recorded loads of footage that didn’t get used before finally settling on a theme which was visual feedback.

I had this old camcorder that I bought from a charity shop which I plugged into the TV and then you can have the TV see what the camcorder sees. If you point the camcorder at the TV it creates this visual feedback loop which all the effects you see in Monkey were created through this feedback loop.

It was all about doing the best you can within the limitations and having these limitations made it the best of what it could be.

So was the whole project of Monkey completed in lockdown?

Yeah all of it was. The song was written within two days; I started writing it while playing Gameboy and then came back to it the next day and knew I had to finish it so I didn’t lose the momentum.

After that, lockdown started easing up and we started focusing on Try Me again and so I didn’t come back to it until a year later. When I did come back to it, I remixed it a little but knew I had to get it out because I didn’t want to be sitting on this tune for any longer.

I am going to try and get music out much more consistently under the moniker Hector Who Lived. The people who helped me put it out have given me deadlines to get out the next one which I’m trying to get out.

Is the next song going to have a similar vibe to Monkey?

I would say it’s more influenced by things I’m listening to now. I can’t really remember what I was listening to when I was making Monkey. It was probably Childish Gambino and now I’m listening to a lot of older jazz tracks. The new track doesn’t sound anything like that but it’s kind of got the same romanticism and stuff that’s out of key which is similar.

But it’s definitely different to Monkey, I would say it’s got more of a band feel with a few electronic elements.

They’ve told me to have it ready within a couple of weeks [of when we spoke] and I just recorded the drums so I’m hoping this year. It’s difficult because you create it then it’s usually a six week wait if you want to get the promo paid for but I am hoping for mid-December.

It was PHAT and Sugar Shack Records who helped you release your solo music – how did they become involved?

We met Ola from PHAT when we were Try Me at an open mic which was pre-lockdown and so we had been working with Ola and PHAT from the start. She’s doing amazing things with PHAT with open mic night and open deck night and then PHAT got me in touch with Sugar Shack Records.

You’re one half of the duo of Try Me (who we love at The Everyday) – what made you decide to go solo? And why now?

Originally when I came to Bristol, I was a solo artist but then I met Bendy Wendy and it was so much fun. Now I’ve changed plans again and I want to try everything.

Do you like to be involved with everything – from writing to singing to producing?

Definitely. The more creative control you have, the more you feel like the work is your baby. There is more pressure when you put it out for it to do well but then there is a lot more connection to it if you’ve been included in every part of the way.

Where did the moniker ‘Hector Who Lived’ come from?

My parents were going to call me Hector and as a kid I always wished they had me called that because all kids hate their name, but in a different way it’s a look at what if Hector had lived and who would that person be.

It’s also a way of having a slight disconnection because when you’re releasing your music there is an expectation to be yourself whereas with an actor you can be anyone and the moniker Hector Who Lived allowed me to occupy a space in-between. It’s like me but in alternate presentation.

Do you have any upcoming gigs planned as Hector Who Lived?

Our first full band gig was a couple of weeks back now which went amazingly and the crowd were lovely. We started practising a month before so it came together really quickly and the next one is me and my friend Tom; we are going to Bournemouth to do a set which will be half-improvised, half-songs.

We then have another full band set at The Stables on December 16th

What’s next for you, as both Hector Who Lived and with Bendy Wendy for Try Me?

We’ve got quite a few gigs coming up with Try Me, both in London and in Bristol, which I’m really excited about.

You can check out Hector Who Lived’s new single here.

Keep up-to-date with his work via his Facebook page and Instagram.