Dev Hynes
Dev Hynes
Devonté "Dev" Hynes, also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is a British singer, songwriter, composer, producer and author. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was a member of the band Test Icicles, playing guitar, synth, and occasionally performing vocals. They released only one full-length album in 2005. Hynes went on to release two solo studio albums as Lightspeed Champion and subsequently three more as Blood Orange, between 2008 and 2016...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPop Singer
Date of Birth23 December 1985
CityHouston, TX
artists clear dismiss exists guilty liked listen listened music people previous weary work
I'm always weary of connotations. I don't want people to listen to the music I make presently because they liked my previous work, or to dismiss it because they didn't. I'm guilty of this as well - having preconceptions about other artists - but it's stupid because all music exists on its own and should be listened to with a clear head.
cello
Cello is my first instrument, then piano, drums, bass, violin, recorder, saxophone, but I'd never play them live!
audio care connecting exists good lyric obviously people record respect saw ways
I don't really care about audio quality. If people saw some of the ways that I record stuff, they'd see I don't care in that respect. I obviously care about things sounding good, but I think quality exists through other things like emotionally connecting with a lyric or a feeling, or whatever.
music parts people recording result trying
When I was recording music, I'd record all the parts myself, and I wouldn't let other people in; that's essentially what Blood Orange is the result of; me trying to find the most comfortable I can be with everything.
banking basically change created days few fully love putting screen sounds spent
I'm pretty much fully digital. I've basically spent a few painstaking days putting sounds into my laptop, just banking them, because I love playing, and I love visually seeing it on my screen and being able to change the sounds more, with different plug-ins. I've created my own synth sounds.
beaten bus couple ended
A lot of my friends were gay, so I was spat on on the bus daily, and I ended up in hospital a couple of times from being beaten up so badly.
amazing chord composer crazy kids listening melody opening played rendition section sequence track weird
I've been kind of listening to the composer Britten and his rendition of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' The opening track is a choral section where all the weird fairies, who are played by kids in the production, sing. It's a crazy opening melody and chord sequence - really amazing.
almost beats believer love loving obviously selfish songs stop swept trap
I'm such a strong believer in making yourself happy. Almost in a selfish way. There are a lot of trends, and obviously you can get swept up into them. But I feel like if you just write songs you love, it can have trap beats in it or whatever's going on in the moment, but you don't stop loving songs.
cover remix version
I like to blur the line between remix and cover version and new song.
block dies keeping overwhelm panic suck tend totally until
Every day there's a lot of things I block out, because if I start visualising things, I tend to go completely insane. I've always had anxiety issues, and it can totally overwhelm me and suck me under if I'm not keeping focused. I just think and think until I have a panic attack, and then it dies down.
I'm pretty strict with videos, at least the imagery stuff.
definitely eaten figure freer huge people presence watching work
I know a lot of people feel like they get eaten alive by New York, but I feel it more as a father figure or something - this huge presence watching over me. I definitely feel better and work freer here.
vice
Yeah, I associate every sound with a color and vice versa.
boy music quite saying school seems talking teacher trying
I was 13 years old at music school talking to my teacher. I can't quite remember what it was I was trying to describe, but I do remember my music teacher saying to me, 'Do you have synesthesia?' In hindsight, it seems a little presumptuous of her to think a little boy in Essex would know what synesthesia was.