{"id":26442,"date":"2015-04-21T07:30:50","date_gmt":"2015-04-20T21:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=26442"},"modified":"2015-04-19T12:05:51","modified_gmt":"2015-04-19T02:05:51","slug":"lzzy-hale-of-halestorm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/04\/lzzy-hale-of-halestorm\/","title":{"rendered":"Lzzy Hale of Halestorm"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cInstead of thinking about that we just went in and had a great time *laughs* and made some music that got us excited and put it together, so it was a different mindset, again I think that the only rules in place were we\u2019re not going to record the record in the same way that we did the last two, and is it good or is it not?…\u201d<\/p>\n

Halestorm burst onto the scene back in2009 with their infectious debut album, followed it up three years later in 2012 with \u2018The Strange Case Of\u2026\u2019 which heralded the single \u2018Love Bites (So Do I)\u2019 which, oh you know, won them a Grammy\u2026 now another three years on we get to head \u2018Into The Wild Life\u2019 with one of the most fun and friendliest bands I think in recent musical history. This band plain and simply kicks some major ass\u2026<\/p>\n

In Nashville getting ready to start rehearsing for their upcoming tour we had another great, fun chat with Lzzy Hale of Halestorm about the band\u2019s new album \u2018Into The Wild Life\u2019, its sound and creation, the shaping of the band, what keeps them together and of course the question of when we\u2019ll see them in Australia\u2026<\/p>\n

First thing\u2019s first, congratulations on the album, it\u2019s marvelous.<\/strong>
\nOh thank you so much, we\u2019re very proud of it and it\u2019s been really fun to just see the roll out and see a lot of the responses and hear the opinions on it I appreciate it very much.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Now what are your feelings like around new album release time?<\/strong>
\nOh it\u2019s like Christmas, it\u2019s awesome, it\u2019s still the same as it ever was and anytime that you release anything to the public and especially when you work so hard to put together a piece of music and you\u2019re expressing yourself in a lot of ways, and personally for me it\u2019s my outlet for rebellion and my output for therapy, so it\u2019s always a little nerve wracking, not necessarily nervous but just anxious to get it out, again, not unlike Christmas morning it\u2019s like argghhhh here it is, what\u2019s going to happen? *laughs* what are people going to think. So we\u2019re excited right now, we can\u2019t really wipe the smiles off our faces.<\/p>\n

Now, it is of course called \u2018Into The Wild Life\u2019 can you tell us about the title, where it came from and what it represents?<\/strong>
\nYou know it\u2019s a couple of different things, we ended up titling the record because look, we\u2019ve been a band for a long time, a lot of dreams have come true, a lot of things have happened to us that we never would\u2019ve thought would have happened, a lot of accomplishments, a lot of things, so we\u2019ve actually been living it up a lot *laughs* we\u2019ve been saying yes to trouble a lot more often than we should I think. Just able to own this idea of Halestorm and this I don\u2019t know, we\u2019ve been a band for so long and it\u2019s just been amazing to enjoy all of the things that have been happening to us but in a more specific way and we\u2019ve been talking about this a lot. The theme of the record really is that ownership of who you are and everything that makes you tick and that really is the crazy part, that\u2019s the wild part, is being able to be yourself unapologetically, to get to that point in your life where you\u2019re able to say that and all four of us are happy to say\u2026 now this could all change in like a week or so and we could be all weird again, but we\u2019re happy to say that we\u2019re confident in who we are as people and as friends and as a band and I don\u2019t know, we were able to make this record in a very free way and just chase after whatever got us excited, go back to our roots and do it like I said very unapologetically and say hey, this is who we are and screw everything, throw everything out the window and not try to be something you\u2019re not type of thing. So we ended up titling the record \u2018Into The wild Life\u2019 because it was very much stepping into this area that we really hadn\u2019t before, just being ourselves.<\/p>\n

The album to me has such a sense of maturity to it, how do you feel you\u2019ve grown as a band over the last six or so years since your debut release?<\/strong>
\nWell we\u2019ve done a lot of touring *laughs* hopefully we\u2019ve learned a thing or two about each other, that can go either way I guess\u2026 you know it\u2019s part of growing up, we\u2019ve done so much, we\u2019ve toured the world together, there\u2019s nothing more rewarding than doing what you love with the people that you love. It\u2019s been absolutely amazing and so many things have happened that we never thought would have, so I guess, I don\u2019t know\u2026 it comes with growing up and all these experiences that we\u2019ve had and all these things we\u2019ve had to go through, the ups and downs together I think helped give us that confidence to really take a good look at ourselves as a foursome, a four piece and go with another producer and with another method. We ended up doing this record so much differently than we did the last two, we ended up doing all the basic tracks live and as a performance, so it was just the four of us standing in a circle in the middle of this reformed church made into a studio here in Nashville and it didn\u2019t eve feel like making a record, it felt like we were just creating and we just so happened to be recording and a lot of these intro and outros and a lot of these parts we added into these songs were very spontaneous and like \u2018ok we just wrote that, let\u2019s put it down\u2019 and one of the most rewarding things that I hear on this record just because I know these guys and I know ourselves that I can hear that hesitancy, I can hear that excitement of \u2018oh my god we just wrote this and now we\u2019re recording it and this is the take\u2019 *laughs* I just can hear it, and to me I hope that just showing that energy and erring on the side of performance and making a moment, and riding the same wave on a song, I hope that growth shows through. In a lot of ways it was taking a step inward in to ourselves and maybe a step back to our roots in order to take that step forward. So I appreciate it.<\/p>\n

It is also somewhat of a softer album compared to your previous two, did you set out with an idea of how you wanted this one to sound or was it something that just came together as you talk about going back to your roots?<\/strong>
\nWe didn\u2019t really set out to do anything other than to chase after what got us excited, and this is what the result was. Also I think we had a different view of what heavy meant to us this time around, when we were talking about making songs heavier, it didn\u2019t necessarily mean stacks of Mesa Boogies and a lot of crunch and layers and walls of guitars, it means the weightiness of the heaviness, the Sabbath, the Zeppelin and I guess the Judas Priest aspect, a lot of those kind of classic rock weightiness that we ended up just kind of following on this record and we didn\u2019t really plan on that happening that way, again we were chasing after whatever got us amped up, and those sounds were what was in our heads at the time. It\u2019s funny, we were talking about this the other day, the idea of an album and actually the word album obviously because that\u2019s exactly what it is, it\u2019s a snapshot or a collection of images or in this case sonic images that are a part of who we are right now in our lives and where we\u2019re at, and what makes us tick and so again instead of going into a record thinking, oh my god is our fan base going to like this, is this gonna work for rock radio? Where is the space, how can we label this? Instead of thinking about that we just went in and had a great time *laughs* and made some music that got us excited and put it together, so it was a different mindset, again I think that the only rules in place were we\u2019re not going to record the record in the same way that we did the last two, and is it good or is it not? *laughs* does it get you excited or does it not get you excited? Those were the only things we were following on this record.<\/p>\n

Well it got me excited, I reviewed it<\/a> and I think it\u2019s your best work to date\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh thank you so much, that means a lot darlin\u2019<\/p>\n

You worked with Jay Joyce as the producer on the album, who has leaned more towards the country side of music in the past, why was he the right choice for the new album and what did he bring to the band?<\/strong>
\nAgain we wanted to shake some things up and he was actually suggested by our A&R guy at Atlantic as kind of an odd choice, Jay Joyce is this crazy rocker dude *laughs* he\u2019s like this cool, chain smoking, he\u2019s just a creative ball of energy, and his bread and butter because of circumstance and the area that he\u2019s in in Nashville, his bread and butter has been a lot of country artists and a lot of alternative. I believe we were the first hard rock band that he\u2019s recorded, and so it was just a\u00a0 really neat perspective to have, having somebody that loves rock and roll that hadn\u2019t really had the opportunity to show that. So Jay Joyce was fired up about it and he was also the only one brave enough to do this record the way we wanted to do it which was a very challenging way to do it, like I was saying we did all the basic tracks live when we know we have the technology at our fingertips to make it a lot easier *laughs*but here we are doing forty takes all four of us of the same song trying to ride each other\u2019s wave and sometimes doing a song without even a click track and just following wherever our internal tempos go. So to err on the side of creating a moment and performance is much more difficult for anybody, for any producer to reign in and to really capture, so Jay Joyce was crazy enough to do this with us and I\u2019m tellin\u2019 ya I\u2019m so glad he did, it was so much fun with that guy.<\/p>\n

It comes across and what I love about you guys is that you can tell you work together as a band and it shows, you\u2019re not four people doing it because you have to, you\u2019re doing it because you love it.<\/strong>
\n*laughs* Well believe me if we were doing it because we had to, we probably wouldn\u2019t have lasted this long *laughs* thank god it\u2019s fun, and like I said, we still like each other which is funny too because I was telling some people the other day that we get teased sometimes on tours, we\u2019ll go out on tour with a band and they\u2019ll ask me \u2018so what are you doing on your day off?\u2019 and I\u2019ll be like I don\u2019t know, the guys and I were thinking of maybe going and having a beer, maybe doing some bowling or something cheesy like that, and they\u2019re like \u2018wait? You\u2019re all going to hang out together?\u2019 and I\u2019m like yeah, don\u2019t you? And there\u2019s a lot of people that we met on the road just have a business relationship, so we\u2019re very lucky to have A) not killed each other yet and B) to still be friends and still enjoy each other\u2019s company, so that\u2019s definitely a huge accomplishment on our part *laughs* beyond anything else.<\/p>\n

Now you said before that you got better by touring the world, but um\u2026 you\u2019ve sort of missed somewhere out of the rest of the world being here in Australia, and I\u2019ll ask you again as I did when I spoke to you and Arejay last time back in 2012<\/a>, when are you going to come and see us in Australia?!<\/strong>
\nYes\u2026 *laughs* Oh I hope soon, we\u2019ve actually begun talking about that for this year, and this has been something that I wanted to do since I was a kind. I\u2019ve never even been to Australia to visit, so by hell or high water I am going to make that happen *laughs* if I have anything to do with it, and I do\u2026 *laughs* we\u2019re coming down there. I do have to warn you that if we like it there you\u2019re probably going to see a lot more of us, so you may be sick of us before long, so be careful what you wish for *laughs* but no we\u2019re definitely coming down there very soon.<\/p>\n

Also since we last talked you\u2019re now a Grammy winner, I mean that\u2019s gotta be pretty cool in terms of a highlight for the band\u2019s career thus far, right?<\/strong>
\nOh definitely, I think what we should\u2019ve won was an award for most genuinely surprised band that won a Grammy, because we seriously didn\u2019t think that was going to happen with us, we weren\u2019t banking on it, honesty, we just wanted to go to the parties *laughs*. The nomination was enough of an accomplishment considering everyone we were up against; the majority of these people are our idols you know? Some of them actually inspired the freakin\u2019 song that we were nominated for so we just didn\u2019t think that was going to happen; it\u2019s very cool that it did and we took it as kind of a personal triumph for us, we were giggling manically throughout the entire rest of the day thinking \u201cha ha ha we just won a Grammy, who screwed up?\u201d *laughs* it was awesome, we made all of our parents cry, so yeah\u2026<\/p>\n

So you\u2019ve only been releasing major albums since 2009 but you\u2019ve been making and playing music since you were a youngster, do you feel that by being so musical from an early age that it helped shape who you are as an artist today?<\/strong>
\nOh definitely, I still listen to a lot of the music that I was when we first started the band and also I don\u2019t know, I don\u2019t think the fire has changed at all, the drive and the goal still hasn\u2019t changed and just from where we were at, we\u2019re still kind of a simple rock band, we\u2019re not trying to reinvent the wheel, we\u2019re just trying to be the very best Halestorm that we can be *laughs*. I don\u2019t know, the goal has always been to continue, what\u2019s the next fork in the road? Where do I go, left or right? Let\u2019s toss the dice and see\u2026 so a lot of that stuff has remained the same. I grew up on a lot of my parent\u2019s music too, so a lot of classic rock, a lot of Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Van Halen and Dio and all that good stuff, and I still listen to those records and can learn something new from them, so not much has changed. My sense of humour hasn\u2019t either, I still hang out with a bunch of guys and we\u2019re all quite immature, so haven\u2019t changed much *laughs*.<\/p>\n

Well you\u2019ll fit in perfectly here then\u2026<\/strong>
\nSee, I was meant to come to Australia. *laughs*<\/p>\n

So what\u2019s been the biggest thing you\u2019ve learned about being in a band that you never expected would be part of the whole thing?<\/strong>
\nOh wow\u2026 I think it\u2019s s been a series of lessons and we were just talking about this today, is I think that the biggest reason we\u2019ve accomplished so much so far in our career is because we didn\u2019t break up.. I never thought that the aspect of keeping a band a family, I mean literally my brother\u2019s in the band with me as well, but that mentality of you don\u2019t break up the family therefore you don\u2019t break up the band has always been there in our band. We never really talked about it, it\u2019s just this unspoken thing where this band is so much more to us than a career choice, it\u2019s an identity, it\u2019s a way of life, it\u2019s part of who we are as friends and part of who we are as individuals and I don\u2019t think I would\u2019ve ever thought that would have been pretty much 90% of the reason that we\u2019re still here and we\u2019re still accomplishing things is because of that mindset and that mentality, in a lot of ways you out last them all *laughs*. I say that to a lot of young kids\u2026 number 1: don\u2019t be an asshole, number 2: practise and write every day, number 3: just don\u2019t break up *laughs* because it\u2019s so easy to just say uncle and give in and because I have these amazing guys around me and we all know each other so well I think that\u2019s something I\u2019ve been thinking about a lot lately as being a keystone as to why we\u2019re still a band and we\u2019re still here.<\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong>\u00a0Pennsylvania, USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Lzzy Hale \u2013 Vocals, Guitar, Arejay Hale \u2013 Drums, Josh Smith \u2013 Bass, Vocals, Joe Hottinger \u2013 Guitar, Vocals<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/www.halestormrocks.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong>\u00a0Into The Wild Life (Out Now \u2013 Warmer Music \/ Roadrunner Records Australia) \u2013 Check out our review of the album HERE<\/a><\/p>\n

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