Following the release of his latest single 'Good Kind (To Me) ft. Voilàh’, Flex caught up with Manchester-based electro-pop artist Jay Hofman to find out what influences his eclectic sound. If you enjoy Hofman's picks be sure to check out 'Good Kind (To Me)' at the end of the article.
1. Lana Del Rey - West Coast
"This is one of my favourite songs ever written. Lana has that mesmerising ability to give her vintage lyrics a modern sound and meaning. The tempo change in ‘West Coast’ is simply genius. From master alternative track she teleports us back to 60s filled with dreamy watery electric guitars that happen to be my favourite instruments. The video concept is what inspired a music video for my song called ’Spirits’. I grew up in a very small town in Poland and I’ve always dreamt of making a music video in Hollywood. Some of the scenes in that video were shot where Lana shot hers. I remember having ‘West Coast’ on loop when I first came to LA. Del Rey’s music prompted the creation of my songs ’The Modern Vintage’, ‘I Won’t Kill’ and ‘L.A.’ Everyone who knows me well, knows how infatuated I am with this woman."
2. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own
"I will never be able to say how much I owe Amy as an artist. When I first started putting my demos out, a lot of feedback I got was that my music is not current and quite dated. I was very heavily influenced by 60s and big band sounds when I was putting out my first album ‘Avant Garde’ back in 2012 and there were not many artists who would also entertain that genre at that time. Amy was one of them and boy, did she not rule that vibe! Listening to her lyrics, I was captivated in how something so modern can sound so vintage. Similarly to Lana Del Rey or The Libertines, her words sounded so poetic yet current and relevant. I remember I had a few songs, considered for the album release, that felt almost too personal to publish (‘Faux Pas’, ’The Man You Want Me To Be’, ’The Only War I Lost’ which is especially inspired by Amy’s ‘Tears') and it was after listening to Winehouse’s stuff, I’ve decided to give them a green light. Musically, that album is all about saxophone, guitars, drums, strings, all natural instruments arranged by phenomenal producer Sean Redmond (aka my own Mark Ronson). The music video for the lead single from this album, ‘Easy To Say’, ends with a scene filmed outside Amy’s house in London. I’ve also got a lucky horseshoe tattoo to always remember how grateful I am to her for inspiring me to publish my stuff too."
3. Muse - Panic Station
"I don’t know if I have ever been to see any other band live more than Muse. Matt Bellamy’s virtuoso approach to electric guitars and rock music is probably part of my religion now that got me to move from vintage band sound on my first album, ‘Avant Garde’ to more alternative rock vibe on my sophomore ‘The Modern Vintage’. Too many songs to chose from, yet I’ve settled on 'Panic Station'. It’s fun, it’s rock, it’s alt, it’s somehow… pop. I love what they’ve done with the automation on guitars and some of that inspired the arrangements of electro-sound of my latest song ‘I Can’t Sing’ (even though the melody is completely different, it’s the sound that I was really into). There is a song on my brand new album ‘Commentarium de Paradiso’ called ‘Guilty ’til Proven Innocent’ and I pretty much shout instead of singing in the chorus. In the studio, I felt the same energy that I saw beaming off Matt’s live performance of ‘Panic’ in 02 Arena, when I saw them live. Other ones that were produced whilst being under Muse’s spell are ‘When Love Dies’ and ‘Hard Enough’. Please listen and tell me if you can find Muse’s touch in them."
4. Dua Lipa - If It Ain’t Me
"Ok, hear me out. I know this is not an official video to that tune and I don’t think Dua actually made it a single but the bass line in this is what I’ve shown my producer Chris Hughes of Oscillate Recordings when I first sat down with him in his Cheshire studio as we discussed how to approach arrangements for my brand new single ‘Good Kind (To Me)’. I remember being freshly back from Denia, Spain with this song on my hands and feeling very excited. Up to that moment, my music was mainly led by rock and alternative sounds and I wanted to do something fun and funky with this one. Chris is a pro when it comes to electro-pop sound and we also share a sentiment for 70s dance hall. Again, the melodies of these two songs differ but I think the bass is what dominates both tracks. If you happen to spare a few minutes to give ‘Good Kind’ a listen, I hope the bass will force you to boogie, like it did to me and my musical guest on that track - Voilàh."
5. Bjork - Unravel
"There are a lot of international artists like Nosowska, Anita Lipnicka, Edyta Gorniak (Poland), Lena Katina, Sergey Lazarev (Russia), Sigur Ros (Iceland), Royksopp (Norway) that I felt inspired by but I thought I’ll dedicate this last spot to Bjork. She’s been a huge core shaker to me when it comes to musical creativity. I’ve got songs that are so wild that I feel only Bjork could actually get them. Maybe partially due to us both being foreigners and trying to sing in English. Jokes aside, her iconic ability to see the music and the world beyond any boundaries deserves a bow from anyone and everyone in art. Again, this is not an official music video but rather a visual for her tour but I don’t think any other form of music visuals had ever got me more captivated. I remember watching it for the first time thinking, 'what are these lines’? Spoiler ahead but when I’ve realised later (and I might be wrong but this is my interpretation), that they are meant to symbolise veins connecting her body to heart that is simply too big to be homed within any longer, I was in pieces. This was such a modern way of expressing vulnerability and the highest form of creativity, I’ve experienced to date. Additionally, her tearing vocals and soft sax as a lead in this song served as a big time inspiration for my track ‘Earthen’ and it’s Polish version ’Syneczku’, from my new album, in which I’ve addressed my future son. I wrote it back in 2013. Who would have thought, I’d need to wait a decade before I actually became a father and I had Bjork ‘helping’ me craft the first words I wanted to share with my Sonny Boy."
Listen to 'Good Kind (To Me)'
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