Following the band’s fracturing, Hay found himself navigating a new path. “I must say I was happy to be on my own. I just didn’t have to deal with anything else that had gone on,” he shared. His transition to a solo career in California also coincided with a major personal milestone. “When I finally really thought ok I gotta really do something about this was towards the end of the 80s,” Hay said regarding his battle with alcoholism. “I finally stopped in January ‘91 which coincided with me really committing to coming to live in California, in Los Angeles so that really was the start of my new life.”
His solo work gained a massive second wave of global recognition after catching the attention of actor and director Zach Braff. “That was a big thing for me… it was a very important thing for me and helped me a lot when I was out there on the road, still til this day,” Hay remarked regarding his music featuring heavily on the hit television series Scrubs. The enduring legacy of his catalog even surprised his contemporaries, including System of A Down’s Serj Tankian. “That was a shock for me, it was a very pleasant shock I must say,” Hay reflected. “There was something ecstatic about our music in a strange way. It wasn’t like anything else and I think a lot of people recognized that.”
The songwriter also addressed the devastating six-year copyright lawsuit over their signature hit “Down Under,” which deeply impacted those closest to him. “It was horrible and it went for so long as well,” Hay stated. “At the end of the day the sadness for me was the fact that Greg, who wasn’t in great shape anyway at that particular time, felt a sense of guilt about the fact that he played the line and yet he wasn’t sued… And it had a great effect on my father… he knew the song was clean in terms of composition so smoke would come out of his ears…I’ll never forgive them for that.” New episodes of the podcast launch every Thursday.
