For over a decade, Gus Seyffert has spent his time on the road with Sia, Norah Jones, The Black Keys, Beck, Roger Waters, & more. In between tours, Seyffert has honed his skills as a producer, working in the studio with artists like Michael Kiwanuka, Beck, Jenny Lewis, Dr. Dog, and more. Now, after years of working behind the scenes, Seyffert has released a brand new 7-inch, the psych-folk track “Hold On” b/w “Make It Out,” is now available to stream.

Gus Seyffert on “Make It Out:”

“When I started writing ‘Make It Out’ I wasn’t sure what it was about, but I was feeling frustrated that I didn’t have more time to spend on my own music. It became a song about that frustration and being stuck in my old ways—wanting to change bad habits or the direction my life is going, but also feeling like it’s not gonna happen. The video is a simple and hopeful metaphor of the song. It was shot on super 8 in a home movie kinda style to try to capture the analog vibe that was used to record the track.”

Though the new singles are the first tracks to be released under Seyffert’s name, he’s no stranger to writing and recording his own music. For years, he performed and recorded under the name Willoughby. With these tracks Seyffert decided it was time to present himself as a solo artist. “The lack of distance that comes with using my name as the project name makes me a little uncomfortable and very precious,” he says. That extra pressure is really motivating—even if my music’s not for everyone, I want it to be well-crafted enough to be respected.”

Seyffert began studying music and production as a child growing up in Kansas City, MO, and began playing professionally at 15 years old. Music quickly became his life, in no small part as a response to his struggles with dyslexia. “I went to a performing arts school that had a recording class,” says Seyffert. “Since I’m dyslexic, I was really terrible in all of my other classes, but music made sense to me. So I just took all the music classes I could and learned how to work with 8-track tape machines and pretty much immediately started building a home studio.”

At age 17, Seyffert left Missouri for Los Angeles to study jazz bass at California Institute of the Arts. Once in the city, he expanded into different styles of music; meeting and working with the high-profile musicians and producers that would eventually lead to a full-time touring schedule. In fact, Seyffert’s success as a sideman delayed his own artistic endeavors for years. “For the past decade or so I’ve been trying to do my own thing, make my own records,” he says. “But when you get offers from folks like The Black Keys and Beck and Roger Waters, I mean, You don’t say no.”