✦hini✦
hini: Hello :) My names Ian aka Hini, I'm 19 and I'm originally from Brazil and I moved to canada when I was 13. Id say I'm an experimental artist when it comes to my production and singing, I don't stick to one genre but I do have my favorites lol. I love pluggnb and shoegaze.
->When did you first get into music?
hini: I got into music when i cracked FL studio 20 in mid 2021 when i was listening to a lot of underground music with covid happening i started to spend a lot of time on my computer and really getting into the underground music culture on soundcloud and stuff and back then is when i found some of my friends that i still talk to nowdays, shout out them.
->Who are some artists that have inspired you?
hini: Off the top of my head these names come to mind; Mental, Blxty, summrs, xangang, kiryano and all of my friends especially shiyou and loran. They all inspired me to make the music that i was listening to at the time, but in my own way and im super happy i got to collaborate with many artists that got me into making music, its very fulfilling coming full circle.
->What’s your music process like, and what’s your favorite part? Least favorite part?
hini: Its very different between making beats and recording vocals, with beats i start with the main melody like piano and the leads then i move on to drums and 808. When I'm recording i rarely write lyrics before start recording, i "punch in" line by line. My favorite part when it comes to making beats is adding all of the effects and transition to the beats, it makes the BIGGEST difference and it makes it sound muuuuch more full. And recoding is the actual recording process and mixing my vocals to sound the way i want to, over time i developed my own mixing style that im very pleased with and its always evolving, shout out tj for showing the most insane plugins LOL. My least favorite part, honestly is when i have a beat block or im just not happy with anything i record. (more on beatblocks later)
->I remember your hyperpop tracks and your J-Rock flips. Compare yourself now to when you were first starting out. How have you progressed stylistically?
hini: I think my style changed A LOT since then, from the way i hop on beats and my production. Whats funny is that lately ive been getting into hyperpop and jrock/alt rock/shoegaze again, i always loved it and i definitely want to make more. I've experimented a LOT of different genres and you can definitely see it in my discography and thats what i think helped me be more versatile. I think if i stuck with only one genre from the start it would not have helped me evolve as a musician.
->What were some challenges that you faced, how did you get through them?
hini:Finding my own style was difficult but i just kept experimenting and trying new things and it all fell into place :)
->What are your thoughts on the current Ottawa music scene, if you have any? Is there any change you would want to see?
hini:Honestly I am not really into the local music scene, I never connected with people from Ottawa that also do music, mainly cause i started out in covid and we couldn't really go outside and stuff but i am definitely interested in collaborating with more local artists in the future :). As for a change id like to see is smaller artist having a platform locally to advertise themselves.
->Do you go to shows here?
hini:Rarely, last show i went to here in Ottawa was Joeyy's show at the brass monkey in Nepean. that was sick and I got surprised with the amount of people that showed up. Crowd was fully nodded out. I am going to slowdives show in janurary tho, thats gonna be sick.
->I see you’ve only ever released music onto streaming services. Have you ever played live? If not, would you?
hini:I have never performed live, I am a very shy person so the thought of performing live with an audience that doesn't really know me is very nerve racking LOL. But i 100% want to in the future when I'm more comfortable with it :)
->When you tell people you make music, what’s a reaction you usually get?
hini:They always ask to listen to it LOL. I've never had a bad reaction from telling people i make music.
->What motivates you to keep creating?
hini:Making music is very therapeutic for me, its a way to express myself and a channel to pour my emotions in to, and the fact that people actually enjoy my music means the world to me <3
->It’s very inspiring knowing that you still make music, even after all these years. If you were talking to a young kid starting out, what would you tell them?
hini:If a youngling is interested in making music i think this is the best time to start doing it since it is so accessible, max you need is a phone and a microphone. I see so many people making great music with just their phone. And of course always experiment multiple genres and try to make friends that do the same thing you are doing, having people to discuss music with is the best and it helps you learn so much.