Musicians Featured: Hayley Orrantia
August 12, 2022
Cover Photo Credit: Brett Erickson
Hayley Orrantia on her exciting new single, Gasoline
August, 2022
Earlier this week, I spoke to multi-talented creative force Hayley Orrantia. From playing Erica on The Goldbergs to performing in Kinky Boots at the Hollywood Bowl, Hayley’s passion for music shines through all of her work.
Hayley’s latest single, Gasoline, perfectly describes that twin-flame feeling of loving someone so passionately that you think you might burn each other to the ground. Gasoline’s lyrics will transport you back to that relationship that you never fully let go of, while its upbeat sound will have you blasting it for the rest of the summer.
Keep reading to learn about how Hayley wrote Gasoline, the moments in life her music is made for, and her passion for ensuring arts are a priority in schools.
Emily Weatherhead, Founder
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EW: How did you first get started in music, and how did that lead you to where you are today?
HO: Music came about for me in a little bit of a funny way. I was nine years old and riding with a family friend in the car, singing along to the radio. She stopped the radio and said, “You have a good voice,” and when we got home she asked me if I would sing for my parents. I sang them an acapella version of Amazing Grace, and my parents said, “Oh, there’s something there!” They asked me if I was interested in starting singing lessons and music lessons – and I was.
So I did choir in my public school, and I took music lessons outside of school where I learned piano and stage performance, vocal lessons, and song-writing as well. It was probably when I was first starting high school that I started taking it seriously as a possible career. And so I started taking as many classes as I could, and I performed at local festivals in my town to get that live performance experience. The rest is history.
“My music is for those moments that need healing.”
EW: What moments in life is your music made for?
HO: As a fan of music, when I run to it the most is when I’m feeling a certain way – specifically sad. I will actively pursue music that hits the feeling or experience I’m going through, and I cry it out.
I like to do that for other people. And I know it sounds like I want to make people cry, but it’s in a good way! A healing way. I’ve heard stories of people listening to my songs and relating, and it helps them in some way. And that is, to me, the greatest gift. So I feel like my music is for those moments that need healing.
EW: Sometimes it’s not even making people cry but letting them cry, too.
HO: Yes, exactly. I have kind of a juxtaposition to that in my songs that are really sassy and upbeat and fun. At the end of the day, I have so many aspects of myself that I just play into depending on what the song needs.
“I wanted to challenge myself, as an artist who usually gravitates toward ballads, to do something upbeat.”
EW: I feel like Gasoline has both of those aspects too, where it’s really upbeat and catchy, but at the same time you’re listening to the lyrics and thinking, “I’ve been in this relationship before, and it’s not fun!”
HO: The fun, interesting part about this next single, that I plan on doing with a lot of the new songs I’m releasing, is that I’ve been writing a lot of them with just me and a piano as a ballad. That’s how Gasoline started. But I wanted to challenge myself, as an artist who gravitates toward ballads, to do something upbeat.
In that context of the relationship that this song’s about, there are moments where it feels lighthearted, and you think, “We can keep doing this because it’s not that bad, right?” So I kind of wanted to play into that element a little bit, too.
“I’ll get behind the piano…and then I just fuss with the lyrics until I feel like it’s telling the right story.”
EW: Gasoline has a lot of hard-hitting lyrics – one of my favourites is “I want a love that’s real, but I want you more.” What does that line mean to you?
HO: I think it’s knowing that whatever this relationship is, it’s probably not the healthiest. If you’re looking for that fairy tale kind of love, where it’s supposed to be easy and it’s supposed to just make sense, this on-again-off-again relationship wouldn’t be that kind of love. So it’s this idea of “I want a love that is real, but at the same time, there’s something about this person that I can’t seem to let go of.” That’s kind of where that line stems from.
EW: What does your song-writing process usually look like?
HO: I have to be feeling a certain kind of way. In the case of Gasoline, it started when my fiancé was talking to a friend of ours about a relationship they were in. He said, “You know, you can’t burn a bridge when you’re standing on it!” And I was like, “Wait a minute – I need to write that song!”
I’ll get behind the piano, and start plucking at keys and shape what I want it to sound like. I’ll hum over something until I have a melody, and then I just fuss with the lyrics until I feel like it’s telling the right story.
“There are things that I write in a room with a piano that I just don’t have the ability to say out loud in any other format.”
EW: Getting into the community side of things, how do you think that music can build community and connect us?
HO: Some of my favourite moments in life were when I got to bond with people over music. I remember when I was auditioning for X-Factor and I was at the Bootcamp round. I got to be in a room with a ton of musicians that were just jamming and singing. It brings people together that maybe have nothing in common but music. It’s incredible how it draws people together. Music has really created a community for me in my life – I think it’s incredibly important.
EW: Is there something about music that lets you express yourself in a way you might not otherwise?
HO: Definitely. There’s a JP Saxe song that I was listening to the other day – “Line by Line,” with Maren Morris. There’s a line - “There are things that I sing that I’d never have the confidence to say.” Listening to that song, I’m like, “You’re right.”
There are things that I write in a room with a piano that I just don’t have the ability to say out loud in any other format. It’s a safe space to be able to share those vulnerable things. Music is the place where I feel like I can start conversations that lead to more vulnerable conversations – with a complete stranger even. So it’s definitely a place I feel like I can share more.
EW: I love that – seeing music as a conversation starter. Do you have any final thoughts on the importance of making music more accessible to communities?
HO: Absolutely. I had a very interesting experience growing up in Texas – I grew up in Dallas and went to public school my whole life. During high school, I was already starting to travel and trying to actively pursue music and acting professionally. Even though my grades were all up to date, they kind of kicked me out because I wasn’t physically in school enough.
I had to do online schooling and my education actually suffered. It always bothered me that just because I knew early on that this creative outlet was something I wanted to pursue, my education suffered.
“I had a safe space to express myself. I feel like that is so important for young people to be able to experience in their schools.”
That’s something that I would love to see change. It’s crazy to me how certain things like sports, while they’re equally important, get a lot more value in schools than creative outlets like music and acting.
Our musical theatre program got completely pulled out of our school, and that was devastating to me because I got so much out of that experience. I grew so much as a person and I had a safe space to express myself. I feel like that is so important for young people to be able to experience in their schools.
EW: Definitely. Even for me, growing up in Canada, we had the same thing where they really prioritized sports. Students were allowed to “buy out” of class to watch sports, but we tried to do the same thing for one of our theatre performances and we were told, “You can’t just skip class for that!” But they should be just as important!
HO: Yeah, I don’t understand! I think there’s this idea that if you’re taking these classes, you’re just trying to be an actor or performer, and the statistics of you doing that are so slim. But the more I’ve been in this industry, the more I’ve seen that there is a wide range of career options if that is something you want to actively pursue.
Even if it’s not something you want to pursue professionally, it feels like there is such a narrowed idea of what the value is. Whereas with sports, I feel like it’s the same thing – if you’re trying to be in the NFL, statistically what are your options? But the value is the same. It should all be considered equally important in our education systems.
EW: Absolutely. Is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience?
HO: My music is something that truly means the whole world to me, so getting to talk more about it is very fulfilling. So thank you.
