Walk the Talk with Hayden Scott

I'm Hayden Scott. I’m a knife maker, a chef for 25 years and knife making was kind of a hobby, but now it’s my full-time deal. I think this walk is called the Cascades.

I love things that are like decomposing and falling apart and rotting, as an aesthetic, you know. The colours are beautiful.

Do you kind of have this influence your knife work?

100%. I’m trying to do as little to the stuff that I have as possible and trying to showcase all this kind of natural things that are happening. You know, like the steel will oxidise and change colours. But then if you sand that all off, it's bright shiny steel again. But I’m like, it’s so boring!

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How would you describe your knives design compared to all the other knives on the market?

My knives are sort of classic-looking. They will be familiar when you look at them, but I take it in a different direction with materials, with the rawness that I try to keep where I can. It's a real, I guess, way of expressing myself and things that I like through these objects that everyone’s familiar with. But I kind of want people to look at them and be like, “I’ve never seen something like this before”. But they have, everyone's seen a knife. 

A big part of being a knife maker for me is being creative, which is really important to me. To make a living being creative is something that I always dreamed of as a kid. Connection to people is really important to me.

How did you get into making knives and was there a pivotal moment where you were like, this is it this is what I want to do?

I met a knife maker in Hobart. I had never really thought about making a knife. I started seeing them all differently after watching him make one. Being a chef, you’re always working with your hands, and so I had a little workshop at home. I tried to make a knife, and it was terrible.

Do you still have that knife?

Maybe… It was an oyster shucker. So, not even really a knife, but the making of it was so enjoyable, it didn’t matter that it didn’t work. It was the making that I loved, and that’s still how I feel. Now what I make is way more complex and way more elements to it. But I just love all the steps. I love the parts that most people don’t get to see, and that's why I try to share on my Instagram. The mistakes, the raw parts, the knowing how much things have to transform is important to me. When we can slow down a bit and open up our view, you know, start to be curious about different things, the world gets way more magical. All the mundane stuff is actually fascinating. 

Have you made any oyster shuckers since?

I haven’t. 

Do you sometimes find it hard to detach from the knives you’re selling?

I don’t really need to hold on to them because I can just create more. And I love the making part the most. So, actually, moving them along to someone else that’s going to enjoy them brings me joy. And then I get to make another one.

I love imperfection. I think it's the most interesting part about stuff. And some people don’t get that. They’ll send a photo to me, and they’re like, “Hey, there’s a thing on the handle here, do I need to worry about that?” and I’m like It’s there for a reason, and I wanted it to be there. If it compromised the knife, I wouldn’t have left it.

So nature's obviously a big inspiration to your knives, where else do you draw inspiration from?

Kind of anywhere. I look at the world as if it’s a knife. Like I’m always looking at things that relate back to what I do.

If you can make a knife for anyone who would it be?

I don’t idolise people. Generally, I would love to make a knife for anybody that wanted one.

How else do you balance your personal life and your work life, and even just taking care of yourself?

It’s a great question and one I ask myself quite frequently. I go to therapy once a week, work on my brain a bit, you know, my thoughts, my feelings. And I do that to better understand myself. Honestly, it's really valuable for me. I spend a lot of time alone in my head, thinking about stuff. It’s on my mind that I want to exercise more, but then I also need time for everyone in my family when they need me. So I’m just conscious of all that and try to slow down. 

I think people probably interpret me in a particular way because I’m covered in tattoos, and I love hardcore and heavy metal, and I love decomposing things. But actually, I feel like really energetic and I’m very sensitive. I love connecting with people. And also being a knife maker and looking like I look is sending a message that’s not what I want people to get from me. I want them to experience this part of me, the part that my family know. Don’t worry about all this, get to know me, hear what I’m about; there’s some nice stuff in there.

Do you have any favourite memories from being a chef?

Tons. I used to work with Al Brown, so we would do TV shows, cookbooks, open restaurants, fly around the world and do special events. One of my favourites was airline catering in China in this massive kitchen in rural Guangzhou, in this facility that did like 50,000 meals a day. And it was just like another world. Looking down the kitchen, and there's just like steam billowing. It’s kind of part Breaking Bad, part Mad Max, you know? We’re just like, where am I? This is crazy that this is my life!

We always talk about death row meals. I’m a real simple guy. Meatloaf, fried chicken maybe like a strawberry shake or something like that.