Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Hayden Ryann: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1777

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

In this 1777th episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike chats with Hayden Ryann, an artist and prolific songwriter from Toronto with over 100 original songs, blending pop, folk, and country. Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, Nick Ainis, Blue Sky Agency and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail].

Toronto, stay tuned right here with Toronto Mike, and it goes a little something like this. Hit it! 77. Seven's a lucky number, right? This is 1777 of Toronto-Miked. Proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, a fiercely independent craft brewery who believes in supporting communities, good times, and brewing amazing beer. Order online for free local home delivery in the GTA. Palma Pasta. Enjoy the taste of fresh. Homemade Italian pasta and entrees from Palma Pasta in Mississauga.

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Two podcasts you ought to listen to. Recyclemyelectronics.committing to our planet's future means properly recycling our electronics of the past. and Redley Funeral Home, pillars of the community since 1921. Today, making her Toronto Mike debut, it's Hayden, Ryan. Welcome to Toronto Mike Hayden.

Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. Ryan, you got two ends at the end of Ryan. I do. Okay, who's responsible? Is that a typo? What's going on there? I've never seen Ryan with the two ends.

No, I think someone already has that name when I picked out, like... Oh, so you added the N. Yeah, I added the N. Okay. I thought it would also make it look a little cooler, you know? Yeah. You know what?

Everything is about search engine optimization. Like when people search your name, they have to find you, so you need to have... Remember, well, of course, Lincoln Park, it's L-I-N-C-O-L-N, but they decided they'd change the name so they could be found quickly and be very unique. And that's what the extra N does for your surname. Yes, that was the plan. Well, it worked on me. Okay. Although, you know, I'm Gen Xer.

When I think of Hayden, though, I'm thinking of Hayden Desert, who gave me this hat you can see in the studio that says things are as bad as they seem. This is a cat. So you'll need to use Ryan to differ. So we don't get confused. Yes, absolutely.

What a pleasure it is to meet you. Yeah, you as well. Thank you for having me. You're a Toronto girl. I am, yes. So what part of this big, bad city do you hail from? I'm from the beaches. Okay.

And you don't, you're not going to say the beach, right? You're not going to be pretentious. You're okay with the beaches. Yes, the beaches. Okay, where are we at with that? Did we ever get a determination? Like, have they determined? Is it the beach?

Is it the beaches? I think it's the beaches, but all, like, my friends and stuff like that, they're always like, it's the beach or Scarborough. And I'm like, no, it's the beaches. It's the beaches. I'm with you. Okay, I'm with you. And there's a great band called The Beaches as well.

Exactly. They're one of my favorite bands. So, yeah. Well, maybe one day you'll join. them on stage. Oh, that would be a dream. Well, let's make that dream a reality here. Speaking of dreams that are becoming a reality,

are you at all a Blue Jays fan? I am. To be honest, though, I don't, okay, I'm going to be very honest. I don't watch baseball. I like the Blue Jays. It doesn't sound like you like them very much. Well, you know, going to games is fun for maybe like the two times that have gone.

And, you know, like the beer and the hot dogs is great. Right. But I'm not a big baseball fan. So not even if it's high stakes playoff baseball. That doesn't even draw you in. I hate to say it. Do you know what's happening? Are you aware that yesterday the Blue Jays eliminated the Yankees and the ALDS and are on their way to the ALCS? I'm aware of like when they win and stuff like that through like Instagram or like hearing it from friends.

But I don't watch it myself. Okay. So I'm going to actually start us off. I'm going to play a little clip from the celebrations. because I'd like to ask you as a woman for your thoughts on a couple of things that were uttered on SportsNet last night. And we're going to start with that. Actually, let's do it right at the top.

Okay, so I'm going to actually play a clip from the celebrations yesterday. Then I'm going to read a comment from FOTM Terry Hart. And then we're going to get your take. And I think it's going to segue nice into one of your singles. When I listen to the single, I thought I need to have this young woman on the program here. So let's listen to this. every single one of you fucking bullpen game Nathan Lucas

Mom Straw all you motherfuckers It takes everybody every day Start spreading the news, bitches All right, that's the manager John Schneider So that's a pretty happy man Celebrating yesterday The big win over the Yankees

We beat him in four games And a best of five So I'm going to read the Terry Hart Comment and then I'm going to ask for your take on this, okay? Absolutely Terry Hart who is probably best known from her time

at breakfast television and she did work with the movie network and listeners of this program no Terry. She's lovely, but Terry Hart writes I'm glad the Blue Jays won but your dad's in the room so I have to swear dad okay. Motherfuckers

and you bitches is horribly misogynist language and it's not okay. So like I heard the celebration last night and I was kind of pumped up up. Like we beat the damn Yankees. I hate that team. I felt pretty good. And John Schneider let a lot of emotion out. And then Terry Hart put this comment on and I realized I have a woman coming over and I'm going to play her single. No room for bitching. Okay. So as a woman, as a human

being, I'm curious, this is kind of like misogynist language that we sort of, it's casual misogyny that we almost don't even recognize for what the root of these words are. But I suppose upon further review, thanks to Terry Hart, that motherfuckers and bitches are rooted in misogyny. Like, what say you, Hayden Ryan? To be honest, like, I feel if you own

what you're maybe being called or something where it's like, motherfuckers, sorry, dad. Or bitches. Dad, can she swear? We're going to get blessing. Dad says you can swear. Dad says I can say, you know, I got a cool dad. um i think for me personally if you own it and if you take it in a way where it's more

badass then like so even if they're dudes though because these are men using these terms right yes i think if they're it's difficult because you don't want to be put in a situation where you feel like maybe you're offending people um like a gender only because because i will admit like I feel like I don't want to do any even this term I'm about to use might be rooted in misogyny

like pearl clutching right you've heard this clutching your pearls like I was not offended by this language but I don't really stop to think down on like what do these terms mean

motherfucker and bitches right like we sort of use them so casually now but Terry Hart just got me thinking and then I thought maybe I'll bounce it off you because you use the word bitch yes okay so but it comes It sounds different to me when you, a woman, used the word bitch,

than if, you know, a bunch of guys playing a sporting event, you know, guys on guys, and it's all men, it's a sausage fest there. And then they're dropping it. I just wondered if it would hit differently coming from these men. Well, to be honest, like, when you put it that way, it absolutely can, right? Because I think when a woman calls herself a bitch or calls other women, like, you know, a bitch or something like that, I think we take it. a little bit, like, less at heart, but when, like...

Pun intended, because it's Terry Hart who wrote that. Exactly. But when it's, like, a group of men, I think it, I think it may be a little bit, like, not needed, but at the end of the day, I feel like a lot of people sometimes do get quite emotional over certain things. Well, it's, obviously, it's passion spilling over, but it is interesting maybe to think about, like, these terms we yell out in anger and maybe, like, what do they mean or whatever? because you can just say

fuck yeah we kick some Yankees ass yeah absolutely you get your swears in you're passionate but you don't have to invoke that kind of language so do you mind

if we roll right into one of your songs and then we'll talk about you know your lengthy career are you even old enough to consume the Great Lakes beer in front of you I am 21

okay you're you know what I have a 21 year old daughter too oh yeah so yeah and she's I need to well she's currently in Montreal because she's going to McGill but she's coming back

for the Thanksgiving I think she's back I think she's back tomorrow she's taking a train in from Montreal tomorrow and I think she'll be here for about a week they got like a reading week or something like that so let's get to no room for bitching and then we'll talk about the song

and then if you don't mind I'm going to find out more about your lengthy career at 21 years old and how you got here and what's next and all that so here we go I found a boy had to let him go he didn't like the way I didn't do as I was told so I told him off it's what I do best

Because I'd rather go to hell Than change for a man So you don't like me When did I ask Don't get caught up on me Because I ain't gonna do it bad Say what you want Go on

I'm not listening Because I'm a hell of a girl In a hell of a world That's got no room for bitching All right, Hayden. Tell us what inspired this song. What is no room for bitching about? Okay, so when I was about, I was 14, 15 years old,

I actually wrote a song called I'm a bitch. And I took it in a more positive way. But the song never ended up getting released. and a few months ago I was sitting in my basement which is where I normally write all my music and I have my studio down there and I was kind of just looking back at the past few years growing up and being in high school and university and realizing that I've been a people pleaser and I've taken a lot of crap from you know certain people that like I felt like I didn't really deserve and need to go through and so I kind of was a little down and

wanted to write a song that empowered me not realizing then that I would take this song that would then maybe hopefully empower other people and that's kind of how known for like bitching came along because I was like oh bitch is one of my favorite words it is my favorite word and so I didn't want to write or rewrite I'm a bitch so I was like screw it you know what I've grown it's been many years I'm going to turn it in from I'm a bitch to no one for bitching No one for me. I knew I had the right person to ask about the John Schneider. You bitches comment.

I had the right person in the room here. So I've now heard this song several times and I'm digging it. So when exactly was this song released? This song was released September 26th. Oh, it's fresh. Yes. It's fresh. And what's the response been like so far?

You're a couple weeks deep into no room for bitching. You know what? It's been great. All my friends and family love it. um and it's been getting some traction with some like articles and um it's been in like a few magazine articles and stuff like that and i feel like i've just been getting positive response like towards it there's a bit of a girl power vibe going on there more like you're not putting up with this shit anymore no because why why would you that's a great question why would you well

now there's like a like an anthem you can yeah zero room for bitching no room for bitching. Okay, you mentioned you wrote a song called I'm a bitch. I did, yeah. Okay. I was, please tell me if this is correct, you've written over 100 original songs. Yeah, probably. So I see you brought a notebook with you. Yes. Are there, like, do you write, like, do you get inspired anywhere and you just take a note? Like, I do. Um, my, can I read that notebook or no? Oh, this, this isn't my song notebook, actually. This is just my, you know, for today because I was a little nervous. Are you nervous to be on Toronto Mike because I would love somebody to finally be nervous to be in Toronto well I mean this is my first ever like interview podcast like I've never done this before

this is like the first I don't know this I'm learning now okay so you're making your debut yes this is my debut and out of the gates I had to hit you with the tough misogynist language during the blue I thought you were a season pro I said let me hit it with this one that's baptism by fire right there hopefully I gave a good answer well it was it's the fact that we're even talking about it I think is a step in the right direction instead of just like accepting it for a bunch of bros drinking. They're not drinking, by the way. I noticed no Great Lakes beer in the dressing room at Yankee Stadium yesterday.

But I just want you to know, I am sending you home with some fresh craft beer from Great Lakes of Beer. Don't let your dad drink at all. No, my dad won't drink any of it. I'm a beer girl, so this is like right up my alley. Well, this is hyper-local, man. They brew that in South Etobico. I love this. This is awesome.

Thank you. Yeah. So you chose the right place. to make your broadcasting debut because the other places don't give you anything. Yeah, no. Well, not that I've been to other places, but I'll find out. But I'll find out. And then I'm going to tell them that I came here and I got beer.

Okay, so on the heels of that, I'm going to tell you. You can share this one with your dad, okay? I have a large frozen lasagna in my freezer upstairs that is for you, courtesy of palma pasta. So you're actually, like, I'm telling you now when you eventually get on CBC or whatever, that'll happen soon, you're going to be like, oh, that was fun, but they gave me nothing. Like, they won't give you anything to go on CBC, but you're going to leave here with this lasagna. And then one last invitation before we move on here.

I have an event in Mississauga. Do you ever get out to Mississauga or is that too far west for you? No, I've been to Mississauga a few times. You've been to Mississauga. Okay, because Palma's Kitchen is in Mississauga. And on November 29, which is the last Saturday of the month at noon, I'm recording live from Palma's Kitchen, and you could pop on the mic, and you have two options here. One is, you could sing a little something for us, or you could just wish everybody happy

holidays. Oh my God, I would love that. And because you can bring anyone, friends, family, whatever, and everybody who shows up is going to get fed by Palma Pasta, delicious Italian food, and I'm going to bring cold Great Lakes for you to drink. Oh my gosh, yes, please. Just don't get used to this. I'm worried, Hayden, you're going to think all podcasts and all radio shows.

are like this and I just want you to know they're not like this. No, because this one's special. This one's the best one, right? Right. So you're very young to have written 100 original songs, over 100 original songs. So when did you start writing songs? Like, I'm just curious, what age are you when you realize I can write a song?

I probably started writing music when I was around eight, nine years old. Which, you know, is pretty young. But to me, yeah, but to me it was more like my way of communication and my way of telling people how I felt like when it came to certain things.

And I probably wrote like eight to ten songs a day growing up as a kid. It's all I did. I used to, in high school, my teachers used to give me a pass because if I was in the middle of a test or in class or something and I had an idea for a song, they would allow me to go sit in the hallway and write. And just so I understand, I'm not a songwriter, okay? I can barely press play on this CD player over here.

But, like, you're writing lyrics and music. For the most part, for a lot of years, it was just music because I couldn't play an instrument. And then, I believe I was like 15. Oh, just lyrics, you mean? Yeah, just lyrics. Oh, yeah, sorry. And then when I was around 15, I started learning guitar. And then it became guitar and lyrics.

And when does the basement studio show up? The basement studio, oh, gosh. Like, COVID? It's a COVID thing. It's a COVID thing because, you know, you couldn't really... Is it as nice as this beautiful studio? I look around, I'm like, oh, God. Yours is probably much nicer than this one.

Well, you know what? It's... I'm so grateful for my parents because anytime I need something, they are the first ones to be like, okay, we got this. Like, here you go. But, you know, it's not just them giving me things for free.

You know, I got to show that I can put some used to it. And when, like, COVID hit, I believe I was like, it was my 16th. birthday and they got me like a bunch of speakers and like a whole little setup and it's awesome but the problem is is i don't really know how to produce music um i've tried to do the whole prologic learning tutoring all that stuff so it kind of just sits there unless i'm recording with other people so but you can you can do like an acoustic jam you got your guitar and you got your voice and you can record something and then and then when it's ready like i guess i'm curious on so

You're eight and nine years old, you're writing songs, and then at 15, you're introducing the music, and then shortly thereafter, there's a studio in the basement. But I was, in addition to reading that you wrote over 100 songs, that's over 100 songs more than I've ever written, okay? Although I did write a rap song once, but I'm not going to, don't ask me to wrap it, okay? No, no of your dad here. I'm too embarrassed, okay? But I was reading, you've recorded in Nashville, Toronto, and Montreal. I have, yes. So you kind of cook the songs up in your basement, and then you bring it to a, like a producer? well so when I recorded in Nashville that was the first time I actually ever recorded or was really like in a studio um I was 14 15 years old I want to say um and basically I worked with a man named Louis who I got introduced to by a guy that was managing me at the time and we used to songwrite together because I didn't know a lot about songwriting and I was you know younger and he

me and him would literally sit down for hours in the summer and just write and right and right and we got the opportunity to go down to Nashville and we recorded we did three songs in three hours which was insane what are the names of these three songs um okay it was relapse i believe or no no if i get high oh god have you ever been high um no comment you know you're pleading the fifth I'm paying the fifth on that one. That's fair. But it was bitter if I get high and space. I heard a whisper in the room.

Yeah, my dad had to help me out there. Is he your official biographer? You know, this man is on top of everything. He knows everything. Who paid for this trip to Nashville? Like, is this your parents again? Oh, yes. My parents...

You're a very lucky woman. You know what? I'm very, very lucky, but my parents wouldn't pay for things if I didn't show them, you know, that I was actually working for it. You know what I mean? And I'm going to guess. I don't have your dad on a mic right now, but I'm going to guess, like, if you sucked,

they wouldn't be taking you to Nashville. Like, yeah, you're writing songs. You love music, but you're also very good. I mean, I'm a, I'm humble. You know what I mean? Like, I get a little nervous because it's like, yeah, no, like my parents wouldn't put in half the money or the effort or the time into doing this

if they didn't believe in me. They're nurturing your gift. Yes. It's like if your kid was really good at soccer or something, you'd pay for them to go to. like a development year-round thing or whatever to nurture their talents. And my parents have paid for a lot of things with that music. I'm doing that now for my 11-year-old, the soccer thing.

So I'm trying to, you know, I'm doing that now for my 11-year-old because he's a, he's gifted there. But where did you record No Room for Bichin? No Room for Biching was actually in my basement. So all the songs. That came together in your basement? I feel like playing it again now. It sounded really pro.

Oh, no. It was just in my basement. All my songs, Mindless Words, which was my first single. um that came out earlier in the summer um no one for bitching and then all the rest of the songs that are going to be on my album are all just in my basement when is this album dropping it's like spring okay so you're so you got you we just heard no room for bitch and that's the latest single yes there is a single i've got to load it up so i'm going to play it in a moment but there's a single called mindless words where was that recorded that was also recorded in my basement so why not

Okay, so what are we doing in Nashville? Like, you got the, you're producing great music in the basement. Yeah, well, so. We don't need Nashville anymore. No, like, to be honest, I think it's, I take it as one of the coolest experiences I've had. Sure. It's the home of country music. Oh, well, like, record, and we did at Ocean Way Studios, which is insane.

And I had such an incredible time getting to experience that. And then I've also recorded a bunch in Montreal. But it gets to the point where, one, it's, extremely expensive, especially when you are a new artist and you're just trying to build a platform. And I've met people that I trust very well and that I feel understand me and my music. And, you know, just doing it in your basement, you can make music anywhere and you can make music on anything. It doesn't have to be this luxury, you know, in this super expensive kind of thing. Well, I'm about to play mindless words and I want the listenership to keep in mind

recorded in the beaches in a basement studio which is wild to me but one of my big questions is when I'm listening to these two singles here your Toronto girl where does the love of country come from like you mentioned Nashville that's where the country musicians go right

and these songs to me that song I just played no room for bitch in particularly sounds like a country song like where did the love of country come from oh I've loved country forever which isn't that long really which isn't that long really

Which is not that long, but I was a huge Shania Twain and, like, Miranda Lambert fan growing up, like, as a kid. And, you know, I, I don't know, I feel like country music. I wasn't a, I was a fan when I was a kid. And then I kind of went more like pop and rock. And then I got really back into it when I actually went to university, because... Which university? I went to Western. Okay.

It's a party university. Oh, yes. And everyone was really, really into country music there. And it got me right back into it. And I was kind of like, you know what? It would kind of be fun, you know, being from the city to do something kind of country. Well, that's why I was so surprised because there's not a lot of country stars coming out of Toronto. Now, there's country rock.

I'm thinking now of like Blue Rodeo, right? Like Blue Rodeo is a Queen Street Toronto band. And they have a country slant to them, no doubt about it. but pure country doesn't typically come out of the big city no it doesn't and you know what the thing with the country community in Toronto is there's not a lot of us but so we're very very tight knit and it's like a little family which is so great who else is in this community um there's people like jade helton um there's people like jade helton um there's notes over here myself i need one of those nice notebooks you've done here um josh venson um haley mcneal like there's these are people that i find extremely talented and i'm very lucky to know them Okay, I'm going to play a clip of somebody. A real short one. Hey, y'all, it's Samantha Martin, and you're listening to Toronto Mikes. Is she at all in this community, Samantha Martin?

I would say so, yeah. Okay, I'm just collecting them all here. Okay, so I'm going to play mindless words. I just remembered when I brought up your song, I'm a bitch. Big hit in the 90s for Meredith Brooks was titled, I'm a bitch. Oh, yeah? Or maybe it was just called bitch. Okay, so it was called bitch, and it went, I'm a bitch.

Yes, okay. I know exactly what song you're talking about. Meredith Brooks. You know, the thing is, is whether it was called bitch or I'm a bitch, I feel like any song that has the word bitch in it is like kind of iconic in itself. I feel like there's one by Carol Pope.

Do you know Carol Pope? She's a local, she's a legend. Yeah, I know. She's an absolute legend here. Your dad knows Carol Pope. Okay, so I'm going to play some mindless words and then I have a lot of more annoying questions for you here. No, go for it.

Let's listen. Recorded in the basement in the beaches. That's you You're playing this Is that you playing? Oh, absolutely not Okay, to be discussed I know that voice on

It's not something that I hate admitting I guess some could say that I've been blind They don't know the things that you were given How can I let go? when I've been wandering this road You could take me home and I wouldn't fight it

You could kiss me and I wouldn't pull away You could tell me that you've changed and I would listen Mindless words aren't so mindless when they come from you I like it's a whole, it's a whole different than no room for bitch and it's a whole different vibe. A completely different vibe. Honestly, all the songs that, you know, hopefully you'll listen to very soon, when the album comes out, they're all so different.

Do you hear from fans like, oh, like that prefer the mindless word style or some fans that prefer the no room for bitchen style? I feel like I haven't really because they're so different you know I feel like it just depends on like a mood and stuff

and I feel like when I get responses from people you know whether it's like they prefer this or that I think it's more just like a certain like you know what you're going through. This song's less country. Yes. It's got that that kind of

kind of poppy almost like a little Rihanna type kind of this whole there's a whole yeah yeah it's very cool yeah it's kind of funky so when you're making this in the basement I'm curious about the details here like so who's playing what who's like who's making it sadly you have a producer involved so this is really cool actually so I work with two boys who are brothers who are also artists and we've gotten super close I feel like they really understand like I don't have a music background like theory-wise or anything so when I'm trying to tell them what I want it's not I don't do a very good job at it but they seem to get me and they are super they can play any instrument they're super talented and so they're the ones actually playing on my tracks I have the

chords and initially you know come to them with the guitar and everything but then they play it because I don't want to mess up and I want it to be perfect and so we record together and we hang out and it's a great time in the basement and yeah okay so they're they're playing on that they're producing it too they do yes right and you're kind of trying to explain what you're looking for and then you're singing your heart out yeah like i'm very i can picture exactly what i want the song to sound like and how i want it to go in my head before the songs even being like before i'm even done writing it. And so when it comes to recording, I know exactly what I'm looking for and exactly what I want. And even though I'm maybe, I don't do a very good job at explaining that

in like music terms, they immediately can pick it up and can tell by like my facial reaction if I'm giving them a smile or if I'm giving them like a face of disgust. Well, it's interesting. Like it's, it's, it's, you have this gift that you can hear it in your head and then you just need to communicate it. Yeah. No, it's, it's definitely a process. trying to get it from my brains from now. I guess I'm curious in the process. Like obviously you're right in the notebook and everything. But at what point is it fully formed in your head

where you can close your eyes and hear the song before it's actually produced? You know what's kind of crazy? I can picture a song in my head exactly how I want it to sound before the songs, before I even write the song. I can picture a song in my head and immediately figure out what vibe I'm looking for as far to like how

visually I want it to look once the song's done and everything and from there I'll just write and by the time it comes to recording immediately I'm like hey this is exactly how I that's amazing I'm blown away by this so was this the case at 8 to 9 years old

yeah this was the case like for a long time because they're going to Nashville they've got a little Taylor Swift in the beaches they're like let's go let's nurture this oh god that would be awesome but no it's been like that forever, to be honest. I've always, because I didn't start with playing an instrument. I didn't start with like knowing what melodies were and all the stuff. So whenever I pictured it in my head immediately from there, like I knew exactly what I wanted. And that's how I wrote my music. And how do you decide

what songs will appear on this debut album? Honestly, the songs that I've picked, I feel the storyline of what the album's about and how the songs blend into each other, I think just fits so well and kind of, you know, shows growth in such a beautiful way. And that's kind of how I knew like the certain order, what songs I wanted to be on there. Okay, do you, Dick, do you say that your dad, which is your favorite, you know, 10 songs or whatever? Like, does your dad get a vote and what he likes best? No. My parents are, that's a hard know. You know, they, well, this is the thing. They love my music and they've always been very honest. Sometimes I'll write something and be like, guys, guys, I want to show you. And they're like, oh my God, it's amazing. And then sometimes I show them

music and they're like, that is terrible. Like, dear God. And I'm grateful for that because it comes to a point where I don't really let other people's opinions influence me. But to some things, it's, you know, also good to get other people's opinion. It's always good to get feedback. But I've heard so many stories from rock and roll bands where they'll have a saw somebody will bring a song to into the room for a band for example i know you're a solo artist but then a some key member of the band will say oh that's terrible we're not recording that and then somebody usually the songwriter will argue a long enough to say let's record it and see how it goes and inevitably that becomes the band's biggest hit and then somebody's like oh i was wrong no absolutely and i think for me personally um

There's been times where, like, there's one song that's going to be on this album that I wrote when I was very young. And it's a great song, if I'm going to be a little biased here. But when I initially recorded it, I immediately hated the song. I lost all love for it. And after, like, all these years, I was like, no, you know, I went back and I was like, this is a song that I truly love the songwriting and everything. but I hated the way it was recorded and I want to redo it and see if we can

you know make it come back to life and it's now become one of my favorite songs that is going to be on the album. Okay give me the name of that so when it comes out and I hear it I can remember this story. It's called relapse. Okay, that's relapse.

You recorded that in Nashville because I'm taking notes over here. Okay, so when you write these lyrics how much of it is autobiographical and how much is just simply like fiction that you're creatively coming up with? You mean like what's like all this stuff? So relapse like yeah like I mean relapse typically that means somebody is like on the wagon and they fall off the wagon.

Which is not the case because I was probably around like 12, 13 years old when I wrote that song and I immediately told my parents like, guys, it's not about drugs. I promise that it's a song about love. It's a song about liking someone and. falling in love with them and you know they are absolutely terrible for you and you got to get away and you're writing that at that young age you have uh you have that perspective at such a young age well you know what like it's it came from i wrote it about a boy that i was like madly just had the biggest crush on for years growing up as kids and he was so terrible to me he was not

nice it was like you know picking on a kid in the sandpit in the playground right and um I don't know. I kind of just took it like from there and was like, I'm going to write a song about this boy. And I love it. Well, that means now I have to ask you, no room for bitching. Is that about a particular boy? I think, you know what? Okay. It's about every, it's about every boy that I've either, like, dated or had some stupid situation ship with. It's just for all men that have been in my life. Okay, what's wrong? You know, I had a woman over here very recently named Bree Taylor is her name. Okay.

And she's a lot older than you, but most musicians are. And she's had, she was, she writes about all the bad boys in her life. Like, it's just one after another. It's like, where have all the good people gone? Shout out to Sam Roberts. Yeah, you know what? Like, there's a lot of great guys in my life. Like, you know.

But you can't write about them because that's boring, right? You know, I've written so many songs about, like, heartbreak, obviously, and guys, because I'm 21, and that's what I'm going through in my life right now, right? If I was, you know, a little bit, maybe older in, like, the next 10 years I might be writing about something different that I'm experiencing and going through. But when you're 21 and you just went through, like, high school and university, dating and relationships are, like, a big part of that time line. So, and also it's just fun.

And then you grow up and you're writing about your mortgage, and your kids and it's like who wants to hear that adulting exactly right who wants to hear that yeah can I ask you about Montreal so okay so we've established you're a Toronto girl from the beaches and you did that one recording in Nashville which is very cool but you also record in Montreal and I was reading you spend a lot of time in Montreal so like how well do you know Montreal and why do you know it so well I don't know much about like downtown um like Montreal or anything like that But my family grew up in a very small town called Hudson. And it's absolutely beautiful, but it's super small.

Everyone knows everyone. How far is that from Montreal? Like, is that a suburb of Montreal? Like 40 minutes, an hour. It's not too far, but it's a very, very small town. It's, you know, all my family and friends grew up there, and I used to spend my, like, any holiday summers I would live up there with my family. and it was great and I loved it and yeah

and you have like I mean you've recorded in Montreal so where did you record in Montreal? I recorded at Studio Piccolo in Montreal which was super cool really cool little studio and yeah okay very cool so I'm going to shout out a couple more partners and then I have more annoying questions

before I set you free but I want to shout out and this is for everybody who's looking to looking for dynamic and creative work environment. So you're a musician, Hayden. You don't have to worry about the office life and people in their return to do yourself a favor. Maybe you have one.

I should be careful what I say here. But if you have a job that says you've got to be in this office four or five days a week, run in the other direction. Run away, okay? That's my life advice for you. Okay. So Blue Sky Agency. Blue Sky Agency is Doug Mills

and he's eager to chat with any. and all Toronto mic listeners who are looking for dynamic and creative work environments. So you can write Doug, he's Doug at blue skyagency.caiagency.ca, write them today and let him know you're an FOTM and he'll help you out. He's got great advice. He's a good guy. You can find out that assembling a sylon, I always say that name wrong, assembling a siren pod takes less effort than finding the last free meeting room on a Monday morning. So that's for all you cubicle heads out there. I have a measuring tape for you.

You're a lucky woman. It's not just lasagna and beer on this program. Oh my gosh, I'm getting spoiled. You're getting a measuring tape, and that is courtesy of Ridley Funeral Home. And Ridley Funeral Home are pillars of this community, and just yesterday, Brad Jones dropped by, and we recorded a fresh episode of Life's Undertaking, which is his excellent podcast, and you can listen to that conversation now. Awesome.

Although there's a little Jay's talk off the top, you might. He might, you might want to skip that here. Your dad, is he a big Jays fan? You know, baseball isn't really, like, big in our family. Is there a sport that is bigger in your family than baseball? My dad, like hockey, football. Oh, yeah. So the Leafs played last night, too.

So Leafs beat the Canadians. You're not conflicted when Toronto plays Montreal, are you? Okay. Anyone who's listening right now, like, I'm about to really out myself, and I'm probably going to get so much hate for this. I am a Habs fan. It's over. It's over bringing this.

down. I should have been tipped off. But this is the thing, right? Like, happy dad, especially when it comes to sports and families, happy dad, happy life, you know. Is your dad from Montreal? Well, yeah. Well, he's from Hudson. Yes.

Okay, which is close enough. They were going to call it Montreal. Yes. Although it ticks me off, though, because I'll talk to somebody from Markham, for example, and they'll talk about being from Toronto. And I'm like, well, you're from Markham. Well, exactly, right. Just say I'm from Hudson.

But then you have to explain where the hell Hudson is. I know. No one knows where Hudson is. but not even people from hudson yeah no but we are our habs fans like you know i was the kid at jersey day in school when everyone comes in leifs and you have the one red jersey like stick out like a sore thumb but you come by it on actually i'm fine with this because you come by it honestly like if i now move to montreal i'm going to stay a leaps fan because i'm from toronto like that's the way to go what bothers me are the people born in toronto with no roots in montreal who root for

the HABs just to be contrarian, like just to piss off Leafs fans. No, it's not about pissing off Leafs fan. Like, I don't hate anyone who's a Leafs fan. I don't think it's a bad thing to be a Leafs fan. It's just more like, that's how I grew up and that's how I, like, that's how I stay. In that studio in the beaches, in the basement, do you have a drawer full of like cables and stuff? Do you have a bunch of old, like, some tech, some old electronics that simply you don't use anymore? They've either broken or they're, obsolete? There's some like broken wires. Done, sold. Okay, because, Hayden, this is what you're going to do.

You're going to go to recycle my electronics.ca, and you're going to put in your postal code and find out where you can drop all that wireage. Is that a word? Wireage? It should be a word. And you're going to drop it off to be properly recycled so those chemicals don't end up in our landfill. Honestly, that's a smart idea. I should do that. One of my smartest. And last but not least, I shouted out Life's Undertaking for Ridley Funeral Home. also like to shout out a couple of great podcasts from Nick Aienis that is, that is, I almost called it Recycle My Electronics. It is called Building Toronto Skyline and Building Success. I'm fascinated by both, but building Toronto Skyline, you hear about this industry, the condominium industry,

particularly, which is completely frozen. Like they're, you're going to notice in this city projects that we've talked about for years, like, okay, there's a big condo thing going here. there's a big tower going there. They're all being paused or canceled because nobody's buying. Well, yeah. It's expensive. It's expensive. And they're tiny little shoebox things and they're highly priced and people are just saying no more.

Well, right. Because like why, first of all, it's kind of claustrophobic and two, like things are expensive. It's hard enough to get a job like these days, to be honest. A lot of friends and people that I know, they graduated with university degrees. They went to go get a job and they still can't find one. it's been like two, three years. My son's going through this right now. It's ridiculous, right?

And I think it's unfair. And I think that, you know, a lot of people that I know as well are moving back in with their parents. I still live with my parents. I'm 21. You know, when I came back from Western, it was, okay, well, this is really your only option because you're not making a lot of money right now. It's expensive to live on your own.

Exactly. It is. And I think also I just wasn't ready, which is not something that you should be ashamed of, you know, even if you're like 21 or 25, sometimes you're not ready to live on your own. And you don't have, you know, that ability to do so just yet because you're still learning how to like adult and everything and you know it's just it makes no sense why people who are like maybe 25 or older or younger are expected to be able to fully afford living on their own so let me ask you this if let's say uh

Sony music or somebody comes up to you and says here's a million dollar advance so we think you're the next taylor swift i'm just pulling this out of my ass but Do you move out on your own? Absolutely no. That money will go to, like, you know, I will probably stay with my parents. So you're just wondering, are you living at home purely for financial reasons because it's so expensive to live in the city? A lot of it is financial, absolutely. But some of it as well is it's just easier, you know.

I love my parents. I love my family. We have so much fun together and everything. And like I would say 90% is financial, absolutely. But a little part of it as well is it. percent is that you like them yeah you know like I don't mind living it could be worse I'm only 21 lonely I got to say I my 21 year old couldn't wait to get out like uh I think she would live under a bridge I think rather than at home but my 23 year old still lives at home because of the same

reasons you're living at home yeah well it's just easy and honestly like yes there's times where I'm like oh my god I want my own space or like you know I would like to have my a little bit more independence but my parents are super cool they're super chill they're like you know what you're 21 this is your life you can do what you want okay we're gonna drill it so we've kind of set the table here and at 21 thing about 21 is

there's not a lot of experience under your belt in terms of being a musician so it's all kind of coming again now so just to recap and just to fill in some of the cracks here so you clearly you're gifted in the realm of songwriting in that you have written over 100

songs you you've been writing early and often since you were like eight, nine years. I have a nine-year-old daughter. Oh, yeah? She loves music. I'll be honest. I haven't seen any songs coming out of her. Like, I'm going to have a long chat with her tonight.

I'm going to say there's a woman who came over, Hayden, Ryan. Two ends in Ryan. I'm going to make sure I say that, right? And I'm going to say she's putting you to shame. Like, I'm going to have a stern conversation with Morgan when she gets home today. No, because then she's not going to like me. She's like, who is this girl? Oh, I'm kidding.

I'm impressed when she could tie her shoes. Like, I'm like, oh, God, you can tie your shoes, that's amazing. Okay, so Hayden, okay, so eight and nine, you're writing songs. At some point, your parents finally wise up and say, oh, this girl needs a guitar lessons or something. Yes, well, we were actually told that because when I kind of had, like, a little bit of a manager and everything when I was like 13 and whatever, they were like very much on, you need to learn an instrument. Because if you ever want to go into music and continue to write music or perform or anything, is just something that you need to know. It's a good idea. Yeah, and you did. You learned, you learned guitar. But how come you're not playing your own guitar on mindless words?

It's more of just like a comfort thing, to be honest. Like I sometimes, I have trust in myself, but I wanted it to sound as perfect as possible. And I didn't, you know, we didn't have a lot of time when it came to recording this. So it was very much like, okay, how can me shortcut certain things? So how do you hate and make the jump from It's COVID times I remember what that was like It's COVID times I'm in my basement I'm recording stuff in the home studio I've got a bunch of songs under my belt

How do you go from there to I just released my second single Which has a cool video you can watch on YouTube right now And I have an album coming out I can't believe it to be honest I could not be happier And I could not be more grateful Like it's really really cool

I never thought because some of these songs I've had for like eight years like more than that right so it's incredible for a 21 year old so so it's like the and waiting all this time being like oh it's never going to be released or I'm never going to release music and all the stuff and then it happening because it took so many years to get to that point and then once we had like the day that it was going to come out it went by so quick that I was like I can't even believe this right now like what I have a song out and now I have a second one and now I'm working on a an album like it's crazy and what's it like the first time one of your songs is played on a radio station oh i bawled my eyes out i'm not going to lie like i just it was the coolest thing was it mindless words it was mindless words yeah mindless words has been played it's gone actually quite a lot of radio traction like throughout canada and stuff like that and i'm i could not be more grateful and happy about it is there a toronto station that would play hayden ryan Um, I don't think so.

We had a few in like Halifax and, um, just like other like little areas. And we've had some like university radio stations. And I know you got airplane in, uh, in Australia. I, I, I've been, uh, scoping out your Instagram page. Yeah. No, that, when I saw that, I was like, shut up. I was like, no. But they love country music in Australia.

Yeah. I was like, honestly, I texted, um, I texted my manager right now, and I was like, the second I saw that, I was like, so when can we go to Australia? Like, can we please do something, Australia? And he was like, you know, it's been like played once on a radio, like, relax. And I was like, did he say slow your role? Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'm very much like, I love working. I'm a workaholic. I'm very much like the second I see something happening, I'm like, jump on it and like, let's go, come on. And he was just like, relax. And what about playing live? Like, where and when could somebody, you know, see you perform live?

Well, I just did a show last Friday at the Painted Lady downtown, which was awesome. We sold out and everything, which was so cool. And then I will be playing next Friday at this cranberry festival thing. I feel like somebody else I talked to recently is playing at a cranberry festival. It's very possible. Yeah, I wish I could remember. I wish I had the wherewithal to remember who the heck it was. Somebody was just here playing at a cranberry festival.

Oh, well, it's, you know what? It's a small community, right? Where is it again? You know what? I'm going to have, uh, bala. Okay, so, okay, so my goodness, I'm going to, after this recording, I'll look it up and realize who it was, and I will be very disappointed in myself that I couldn't come up with the name in real time, but I do, in my defense, I record a lot, okay?

Yeah. And you're not my first Hayden even, even, okay? You shout out to Hayden, Dessor, but, you know, he's a lot. He's older than... I'm the first girl Hayden. You're the first woman Hayden to be in the basement without a doubt. So now on our way out here, what's next? Like, obviously you're eager, you're passionate, you show great initiative.

So remind me again, what date does this album drop? It's going to be like spring 2026. Okay, so you didn't give me a date. Yeah, we don't have a date yet. Okay, so spring 2026, how many songs on the new album? There's going to be eight. Eight songs. And what's the name?

of the new album? That is to be determined. Okay, you know what's funny if you just named it to be determined? Like that should just be the freaking name. Okay. So in the spring 2026, you'll have an album out and are you going to be dropping singles along the way like breadcrumbs sort of? Yes, absolutely. We have maybe I think one more song that we're going to be dropping just before the album comes out. What's the name of that song? That one's going to be called cowboy. See, if we had our shit together, Hayden, you would have sent me that song and we would debut it right now. oh okay who someone's gonna get fired actually on that note do you mind if I ask you about I'm always interested how the sausage gets made okay absolutely how does the great Eric Alper uh how does he play into your

career in the promotion of this new music that's a great question well funny enough I met him three years ago at my first ever juno's and you've been to the junos I have uh three years in a row which was super cool but I met him I had a meeting with him my first ever juno's and And I couldn't even tell you what our conversation was about, to be honest. I think he was just kind of telling me about what he does as a career. And it was just like a quick little introduction. Did he mention Andy Kim? Do you know this name at all?

I feel like 21-year-olds won't know the name Andy Kim. I don't think, you know, I couldn't remember. But sugar, sugar, bump, yeah, okay. But, and then kind of like lost contact for like the past while. and then was kind of I had a call with him a few days ago and he was telling me about today and how it was going to go and yeah. Okay, because your dad drove you here.

My dad did. But Eric confirmed with me via email that he would be joining you here. But this is the thing. I wasn't told this, like, at all. And then I get a text like this morning. Actually, I'm just as happy to see your dad as I am to see Eric Alper.

But I thought it was kind of a, I was going to tell Eric a full circle moment because I remember he drove Colin James here years ago. Eric Alper drove Colin James, who had a bunch of big hits in this country. And he's a hell of a guitarist himself, by the way. Stevie Ray Vaughan was his mentor, and that name is, that's a big name in Guitar Land.

But your dad drove you, and that's fine. But I find it exciting that you're working with Eric Alper. Oh, I think it's awesome. I think, honestly, he's hilarious. He's super smart and he's super funny. And just getting to work with all these people is so cool. Yeah. So what are you doing at the Juno's exactly?

It's more just like setting up meetings and trying to, you know, talk to other artists, look for like, you know, collaborate and stuff like that and just put yourself out there. See, you're going for it. Like, I think your dad should be very proud because at the young age of 21, you've already been to three Junos making connections and networking and learning the game. I think that's everything. Oh, yeah. I'm the girl walking around with the business.

cards being like hi like okay now that's a great point you mentioned the business cards so on our way out here uh you mentioned this is not this notebook i'm looking at now is not the notebook where you write your songs no no it's not are they digital like i'm just wondering like what if there's a fire i have like oh my gosh i couldn't even count probably how many songbooks i have from when i was like younger writing music because it you know i was trying to be like taylor swift and put it all into like little notebooks and then it went onto my computer from there and and I started just because it was like... Because it should just be a Google document.

Exactly. Like I couldn't even... The amount of docs I have in my computer of just songs is insane. And I just also find it easier because I can just like voice memo it, put it into my computer. We're good.

It's set. So then that begs the question. What is this notebook exactly? This notebook is a random one that I found in my room. But what do you use it for? Like you opened it up before the recording. Do you have answers to questions? And then is there any questions?

I should have asked you that you were ready to answer. I'm interested in why you opened up the notebook before we started chatting. Well, because when I spoke to Eric Alper a few days ago, he was like, these are going to be all the examples of questions that you're going to get asked. Okay, we have five more minutes. What kind of questions did Eric Alper tell you

you might be asked on Toronto mic? He asked like funny things that happened, like that might have happened in the bitching music video or like what, like influence binging, which I already kind of spoke about and then three things about like mindless words and just stuff like that. Well, is there anything you want to like just

maybe this is a free for all before I played the closing theme where you have an opportunity to share things you were kind of anticipating that this dumb host failed to bring up. No, well, okay, one thing I will share is for anyone who's listened to No and for Bitching but hasn't seen the music video yet.

My mom's friend that she's known since, you know, they were little her son was in the music video and so it's kind of like a family friend who i've actually never met and he's absolutely gorgeous he's a great guy um perfect for the role uh for the music video but one thing i will say is when you watch the video there's not that much like romantic chemistry because we were so awkward because our moms are watching and giggling and trying to like make us hit on each other our like dad my dad Dad standing there, like, why are you touching my daughter kind of thing. And just like doing it, because this is only my second music video.

And this was my first music video that I actually did it with people. Right. So I was like, oh my God, this is so awkward. So if you ever want to watch the music video because I think it's super badass and you want to see a cute guy and me kind of be super awkward, then I think you should watch it. Okay. Now I'm still fascinated by this notebook on our way out here. We have a couple more minutes here. So can I see it?

Oh my gosh, yeah. Absolutely. So there's no private things in there? Okay. Nah. And if there are, you know, just don't make them out loud. Because I don't want to waste the fact. Okay, so like little, I realize now, I didn't ask you what got you into music.

Tell us what got you into music in the first place. Well, I've grown up around music my whole life. I was in sing, dance, and act from a very young age, except I can't act. And I was obsessed with Hannah Montana as a kid. Hannah, my 21-year-old was also obsessed with her. I'm still obsessed with her, but, like, I was Hannah Montana for, like, five years in a row for Halloween, loved her music, and I wanted to be a pop star. And then I would watch, like, Carrie Underwood and all these artists, like, music videos.

I had a guy on this show last week who co-wrote Jesus Take the Wheel. Oh, my gosh. Fred Malin, shout out to him. Jesus. Hannah Montana's in your notes here. I'm glad you brought it up. Are there any fucked up things I should know about you? What did I even write?

And dad, she won't fuck, okay? There's no star there. That's the fuck. You probably, uh, oh, if you, if I get on your bad side, it says you'll write a song about me, that's all I have to do? No, it's like if you, if you do something mean to me or, like, I'm going to write a song about you. I'm pretty open about that as a person.

Well, you write a hundred songs a week, apparently, so you can totally, I would love you to write a song about me. I would play it every episode. I'm interested in this. It says, I wanted to be an Olympian as a kid. I did. What sport? Honestly, you name it.

I was a swimmer growing up when I was like... Okay, because I should tell the listenership, I thought you were very tall. Yes, so I was a swimmer growing up. I was, when I was like 10 years old, I was like third in Ontario. And then from there, I actually went to volleyball for seven years competitively. Because you're tall. Yeah. And when I was, it was amazing.

I loved it when I was 18, we came fifth in Canada, which was super cool. But when I was a kid, I did every sport. Yeah, here it is. Fifth in Canada. Yeah. Third Ontario beach crawl? No. Back crawl.

Back crawl. Okay. My apologies. Your kids look like ages. But no, like name a sport and as a kid I 100% did it. And I used to, my mom would tell me that I would cry in the car because I didn't know what sport I should do at the Olympics. Always a difficult.

Always a difficult decision to make. Oh my God. Tennis, volleyball, soccer. Like all these things that I was. like, Jesus, that's just, yeah, never made it to the Olympics, which is fine, but sports were definitely my thing growing up. Okay, and what was the first album you ever bought? First album I ever bought was the Taylor Swift 1989 album. Of course. Yeah. Okay, and you said you were nervous heading into this podcast, your debut. I'm very honored that you made your debut

here. Was it nerve-wracking? You seem very comfortable to me. You know, it was nerve-wracking a little bit when I like at the start but this has been awesome that was glaring at you exactly no but this has been awesome I had a lot of fun and there's nothing in this notebook you're gonna regret not sane if you start uh I don't think so hey you know if anyone is interested in learning a little bit more about me you can always like send me a text or something and I'd be happy to share okay I feel like there's songs in this notebook too like I feel like some of this I see like you're just a creative uh person who likes to express them themselves with words and these could be songs or poems or just random thoughts.

Yeah. You never know. Hayden, I love this very much. Have you decided if you're just going to come by on the 29th of November to say Happy Holidays to everybody or are you going to sing a little something? Have you made a decision yet? I'd love to sing a little something. I wish everyone a happy holiday.

Okay. Would you do acoustic guitar while you sing this something? Yeah, absolutely. Easy. Okay. Noon, Palma's Kitchen, November 29th. Awesome. Talk about flirting with Taz?

That's the boy in the music video. Okay, that's the guy. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I got to stop reading this because I got to wrap up this show. But, uh... Okay, there was a lot of wind, too. Oh, yes, it was very windy. You can see my hair flying everywhere.

Everyone, go to YouTube and watch the video for No Room for Bichin. It's okay when Hayden Ryan says bitching. But maybe, according to Terry Hart, and it's flea, for thought. Maybe the Jays don't have to talk about motherfuckers and bitches, which is according to Terry Hart, and I think she's right. That is misogynous language. Maybe that's not okay. But go Jays go. I'm just going to say go Leafs go. We beat your habs last night. And thanks for

dropping by. We're going to take a photo by the tree and I'm going to get you some lasagna and you got your beer and I'll see you on November 29. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me. And that brings us to the end of our 1,777th show. Do you care about numerology at all? To be honest, I don't know what that word means. Okay, well, that means you don't care about it.

But you have three sevens in this number, which some, I don't actually believe in numerology, but some people think seven is a lucky number, and you got the number of one seven, seven, seven. Oh, well, I'll take that. You're going to win a Juno one day. I hope so. I haven't recorded.

I don't know when. Hopefully so. You're going to win a Juno. because of these sevens. Hey, I will thank you in my acceptance speech. Go to Toronto Mike. You better do that because I recorded this. Go to Toronto Mike.com for all your Toronto Mike needs.

Much love to all who made this possible. That's patrons like you. Go to patreon.com slash Toronto Mike. Become a member today. Great Lakes Brewery. Hayden's got her fresh craft beer. Palma pasta. There's some lasagna.

The whole family can eat. Nick Iini's. Recycle My Electronics.C.A. Blue Sky Agency and Redley Funeral Home. See you all. I've got to go to my calendar for this. My goodness, I'm not prepared at all.

Oh, I have a special episode tomorrow. This is very interesting. His name is Steve Teakins, and he's been working with the marginalized and homeless sector in Toronto since 1995. We're going to have some real talk about this off-day- and overlooked sector of our city.

So join me for Steve Teakins tomorrow. See you then. Thank you.