One of our favorite things about music is the ability to tell a story that can evoke powerful emotions in a usually short amount of time. There’s something truly magical about the way a song can transport us to different places and moments in our lives, no matter the genre, artist, or album. And that magic is what Little Hurt brought into our lives when he released his newest album, Lovely Hours. With such a hard punch in the feels, you know we had to get inside the mind of Little Hurt himself to further explore this connection between music and emotions and learn what inspired him along the way.
Formerly a member of The Mowglis, Colin Dieden, AKA Little Hurt embarked on a new journey to explore different narratives in his music. With a profound attraction to words, he aims to evoke emotions in listeners and make them feel what he felt during the creative process. For Colin, it’s not just about saying things; it’s about immersing people in the story.
“…I feel like the point of all this is to get as close as possible to making people feel what you felt.. they get to exit the story when the song is over. It’s almost like watching a movie. You wanna like pull people as far in as you possibly can because otherwise what are you doing? You’re just like saying stuff.”
Reflecting on his musical journey, Colin recalls a transformative childhood experience, connecting his relationship with the lyrical aspect of his artistry that has now become a defining part of his craft.
“took a trip with my dad when I was really little…and we drove to Ojai…he put on the Beatles white album and apparently between the time driving to Ojai and the time driving home I had learned every single lyric. And I’m [now] really a lyric guy”
Jumping into the lyricism of his recent projects, we reflected on the running theme in both Every Second and Lovely Hours, the exploration of time. Using Lovely Hours to expand the story, Little Hurt was able to release the weight of unresolved issues from past relationships.
“My last record was called Every Second…[and] with Lovely Hours…they’re both measurements of time. I wonder what that’s about. I gotta talk to like someone else about that, like a, a therapist…no artist in the world has ever needed a therapist more than me.”
One thing in common with Little Hurt is that ‘Out Of My Life’ is one of our favorite tracks, so you know we had to get a little background on its creation! While some songs require grinding it out, this one flowed naturally.
“This was just me…and Robbie Heiser, who’s an incredible producer. He’s managed by Benji and Joel from Good Charlotte, their company MDDN. He’s an amazing producer and has done a lot of stuff with me. Very good friend as well. That was one of those songs that I feel like just came falling, like an avalanche. I mean, I sat down, I played those chords and it just like came tumbling out. It was wild. I mean, that doesn’t happen all the time.”
@littlehurtofficial
Digging more into the creation of the album, we love when there’s a title track on the list! We always feel gravitated towards it to get a feel for the whole project and Little Hurt set us up perfectly.
“It just sounds like an album [name] I think maybe every song on that record can fall into that… it’s almost like the color of the entire record.”
Collaborations are always a special treat and the Lovely Hours has some sweet treats on it for sure! ‘Buttercup’ featuring The Ready Set and ‘Down Bad For You’ featuring Stu and Matt Malas really stand out on the album and have been constant replays on our streaming queue!
“Jordan from the Ready Set’s been one of my best friends for a super long time…I showed it to him and he was like, yeah, this is sick… let’s jump on that one. We’ve probably discussed doing a song together like a thousand times. And so we just thought, let’s pull the trigger.
Stu also one of my best friends on earth. He’s one of the best writers I’ve ever met for sure. And he’s just like one of my main homies. We wrote ‘Down Bad For You.’
Matt Malas he’s one of my best friends on Planet Earth and we did it [‘Down Bad For You’] with him…Stu wrote that with me and him, he kind of sang his part and I was like, dude, we were talking about finding a different feature, and I was like, you just sound so good on it, why would we change it?”
We know how personal albums can get, but with different hands helping out in different areas of creating a song, we always wonder, how personal is this specific song to the artist? Little Hurt gave us some song recs off of Lovely Hours to really get to know him.
“The most personal songs on the record would be ‘Get Outta My Life,’ ‘I Can Do Better Than You’ and ‘Pineapple Pizza.’ Those songs are just straight up word by word,every single aspect of those songs came directly from my life. There’s not one thing that’s exaggerated or written to be more poetic or anything…they’re like pages out of a journal…re-listen through that lens, now that you know that, I would encourage that.”
@littlehurtofficial #fyp #yourpage #foryourpage #littlehurt #radio #popular #popmusic #alternative #rockstar ♬ I Can Do Better Than You
Having a mood moment with the artwork for Lovely Hours, it’s comforting to know that sometimes our faves don’t have it all figured out either. They’re just like us!
“That’s just what my life feels like, like if you were to reduce my life down into a sentence at the moment. It’s trying to act like everything’s okay while the world’s on fire.”
After telling us to go listen to his deepest thoughts, we’re reminded how vulnerable it can be to be a singer-songwriter, Little Hurt leaves a message to all those that come across this article, press into your authenticity, no matter what it may be!
“If I’m laying it out all on the line like this and focusing so hard on authenticity, I would encourage other people to live that way in their lives too and not be so f**king afraid of everything.
Getting to know Little Hurt a little better, we had to ask what he does when he isn’t pouring out his feelings on a catchy track. And yes, we got him to admit he has a Gucci problem, but in a super subtle way!
“I do have a bit of a Gucci problem…I’ll have like the Gucci wallet and the watch.”
Aside from fashion he also enjoys cooking! An artform we can all get behind!
“My mom’s a really good cook and I’ve traveled a lot. I went to Italy recently and took a cooking class and that was really cool…I don’t really have a lot of hobbies outside of what I do cause but I’m a pretty good cook.”
@littlehurtofficial
After getting to know Little Hurt more through our chat, we can not wait to see what he has in planned for us next! A new album? Some live shows? Can we check yes to everything above?
“Well you know, that’s a great question. We’re trying to figure that out over at Little Hurt Incorporated as well. I think that we’re talking about maybe doing a bit of touring… I think that I’m gonna start working on my next album… I’m gonna like figure out what it looks like, what it sounds like, who that person is or who I am now.
I need to take a little bit of time to figure out who I am now because like I just told all those stories about the past so I kind of think I got a lot of out of the way. Maybe it’s time to like change the time frame”
We are now dedicated Little Hurt fans, BRB while we go listen to Lovely Hours through a different lens. Yes, we’re ready to be punched in the feels. Do you have a favorite song off of Lovely Hours and why was it ‘Buttercup’? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us over @TheHoneyPOP! You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram!
Want more exclusive interviews? Check this out.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LITTLE HURT:
BANDSINTOWN | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | TIKTOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE
