It is not every day you get to interview one of your biggest
inspirations in music. Today, I got to do just that. I interviewed Lzzy from
Halestorm. The interview lasted over 30 minutes and it was 30 of the best
minutes of my life. Without further ado, here is my interview with Lzzy Hale.
How is the tour going
so far?
It's been fantastic so far. This past tour we've been doing
shows with Eric Church and in between we've been doing headlining dates. It's
kind of the, no pun intended, calm before the storm because we are about to
release a record.
How did the tour come
about?
They sought us out, actually. His band mates are all hard
rock and metal fans. His guitar player had our records and he said to Eric,
"Hey, you need to check these guys out." Eric, being the adventurous
guy he is, had his people call our people and he said "Hey, do you wanna
do a tour?" and thankfully we have very adventurous booking agents. We'll
play with anybody! I like the idea of blurring the lines a little bit because,
from what we've seen, from us playing in front of his crowd, there have been a
lot of his fans coming to our headlining shows because of our friendship now. I
feel like there is no real existence of genre. It's been really cool.
I know you've
collaborated with Eric on "That's Damn Rock N Roll."
Yes. That song is actually on his record. The female part of
that is actually his back up singer, Joanna Cotton. He called me after the tour
was already put in place. He said that the CMT's had asked him to play his single,
but he didn't want to do that. He wanted to do That's Damn Rock N Roll but only
if I would do it with him. I was like "Sure!" It was so cool. So I go
to the CMT's and it was my first real country experience. I'm backstage and I'm
like "OK, that guy looks like he is somebody. Who is that? Oh, that's
Kenny Chesney." I'm sharing a dressing room with Kasey Musgraves and
several other people. It was so strange. I'm leather clad and the country girls
are getting their legs rubbed down with makeup because that's a thing.
That is seriously a
thing?
Yeah. Have you ever looked at a country star and thought
they had great legs? They have special make-up for legs. It's kinda like what
we do to our faces. It was very interesting. But anyway, it was a cool experience
to be playing for an audience who had no clue who I was. After the CMT's we
actually wrote three songs together and it was really awesome. It was neat. It's
also a neat community. I've lived in Nashville
for a year and a half and the community there is so accepting of all things
music. If you play an instrument, it's like "Hey, come over to my house
and let's write a song! If something happens, great. If not, oh well. Let's do
it!" They are all very supportive.
I'm going to
transition into the new album. How is it coming along?
It's done! It's actually being mastered this week. We are going to be releasing a single very soon. And then we are pushing this record out into the world. We actually recorded it in
Before technology.
Exactly! It's interesting because Jay Joyce and his
engineer, Jason, ended up keeping us to that standard. We went into the studio
with this precedent and Jay was the one person who had the balls to do it with
us. I would be doing vocals and it would be beginning to end. It wasn't
"Hey we are going to go in and punch this." or "Hey, we're going
to go in and tune this." You have to actually hit that note. Like really?
we can't just use a little bit of tuning. NOPE! You actually have to do it.
No pressure.
[Laughs] I know I said this how I wanted to do it, but...
But really it was really cool and I am so proud of it. I don't know what the
rest of the world is going to think but either way, we are freaking stoked.
I'm excited. I try to
keep professionalism whenever I do this but it is hard sometime because I am a
fan, but I feel like you get better stories when you love the bands you talk
to.
It's totally real. I get it. I got to meet and perform with
my all-time favorite person in the world. He is the guy that got me into
guitar. I grew up on a lot of 70s and 80s Rock because of my parents, so I kind
of skipped a generation, or more so reverted back, so to speak. Tom Keifer from
Cinderella has always been "the dude" since I was like 11 and I just
got to perform and I was like "I gotta be cool. I'm a professional, but
inside my 14 year old self was like AHH!! and I was freaking out. So I know how
that is.
Oh yeah. But, back to
the recording process, you've touched on how it's different than previous
albums, but whenever you recorded the last two albums and the cover albums,
what did you want to be different on this album?
The bottom line was that we wanted to bridge the gap between
what people see in our live shows and what they hear on the record because the
way we've done our past two records with Atlantic
has been based on perfection and we would go in and do everything until we get
it perfect. We would go in and gloss it up and add fucking weird stuff to it,
not saying we didn't add weird things to this record, but it was based on
perfection, whereas our live show is based on imperfection. That's Rock N Roll.
We go out on stage and we have a great time and no matter what happens, because
ultimately, there is someone who screws up, and there is always going to be
someone saying "Haha! That was you!" and there are times when the
guys will come over and start screwing with my stuff and start throwing out my
picks and I'm like "God-damnit, guys!" So we wanted to capture more
of that on the record. Not necessarily making a live record but kinda like what
I touched on before. That's the reason we did all the basic tracks live to tape
- we actually played everything front to back. All the vocals were based on
performance, not on perfection because, no matter what, it's not going to be
live because it's not in front of an audience. It's not going to be the same,
so it's not going to be a live record but we wanted to make sure there was some
kind of moment. Some moments that you could not have created. They just had to
happen. There are a couple of songs on the record where you won't hear it until
you listen to it like three times, but there is something where Arejay is
yelling, or someone is yelling at someone and we are yelling at each other in
one of the tracks we ended up keeping and you can hear it through the mic. I
think they are yelling at me like "Sing it, Lzzy!" or something. I
can't quite understand it. But the guys are goofing off and it's such a neat
feeling in the song because it adds some type of personality to it, regardless
of it being like "Oh, this is the chorus, this is the verse."
Everything isn't shiny.
Y'all have been
playing new songs live. How has the response been to those? I know you're not
technically on a headlining tour, but how has the response been?
On our headlining shows, everyone is stoked and trying to
figure out what I'm saying through Youtube videos, which is so funny. There are
these two super fans in Germany
and they have been trying to take the Youtube video and put it into some program
so they can slow it down so they can hear what I'm saying. And it's not even
close and I'm not going to give it away yet. They were like "can you just
give us one hint?" Well, you got the first line right. Then they were
like, REALLY? But the rest of it is wrong?" Yep. There's been a lot of
speculation of what is on the record, or what isn't on the record. Like
"is she singing the right lyrics? Is she singing all of the song? There
was actually one girl last night, we are kind of hinting at two songs. Tonight,
I am going to be starting the set a cappela, and singing a piece of something
we put on the record and then we start in with a new song called "I Like
It Heavy" because it's kinda old school, and has this 70s groove to it and
it's a little easier to digest than me just coming out screaming everyone's
heads off and then easing into it. But, it was weird. Last night for the first
time, there was this girl in the front row that was singing to my a cappela
part. Somebody must have gotten it on Youtube and she was singing along to it and
she was pretty good and I was like "Oh my God, that's awesome!" But
yeah, it's strange because the people at the Eric Church shows, some of them
are aware and, depending on the region, some of them don't know who we are. So,
it's kinda hard to gauge. But it's about when we get to the third song, we're
like "Yeah! We got 'em!" and some are like "What is this?"
for a little bit.
I get that. Switching
gears again, for personal reasons, I want to ask about the cover albums because
my radio show is called Crimson Covers with Kinsey. So every week, I always do
a Halestorm cover, except for the week I did bad cover songs, I didn't play a
Halestorm song. But it was like the Brady Bunch doing American Pie and then Big
& Rich doing the Beastie Boys song "Fight For Your Right To
Party."
Oh, God bless them. Now, I have to hear this. Jesus. They
did that song?!
Yes! I wanted to ask
why you picked the song you did to cover. I played "Out Ta Get Me"
and forgot to censor it.
OOOps. [Laughs] Hopefully, no one was listening when that
happened. We actually do those covers very selfishly. For two reasons: number
one, if we like the song and we've never played it or even if it's a different
genre, we're like "Let's try this" but for the second reason besides
just loving the song, it's a simple and safe way to try some new stuff, new
genres, or take a different approach to a song that we've never tried before in
our own original songs. For example, our first cover album we did "Bad
Romance" and "Slave to the Grind" which were two songs that the
tempos and the type of attitude in each song we had never really delved into
before. So, technically if we hadn't done, after we did Slave to the Grind, we
decided we needed a song with this tempo because we had never done that before and
it was so crazy and the attitude made me feel like a dude singing it. It's
kinda hard to see yourself from the outside, so we are always kinda trying to
take the out door in sometimes, eww, that sounded horrible. [Laughs] Sorry, I
live with a bunch of boys so everything I say is like a sexual innuendo. But
anyway, we try to reach outside of what we think is cool and go with it.
Technically, we wouldn't have "Love Bites" if it weren't for covering
those songs. We wanted to try and write a song kinda of like those. With the
last one, we did Gold Dust Woman.
I play that on my
show every week. It's my favorite.
That's funny because it got such a huge response. I have a
problem with not doing anything less than 110% so by showing out, we have a
song on our new record called "New Modern Love" that was inspired by
that type of groove and idea. It's different when you have to cover and
breakdown somebody else's song that you love and build it up as your own. You
learn so much as a song writer and it's different when you have to sing it
rather than just listening to it and being inspired. When you sing it and
perform it, you're like "Wow, this feels good. We need to have a song that
feels like this." If that makes any sense. So we do those covers selfishly
for that reason.
I noticed that Out Ta
Get Me is not a very popular GNR song because on my show I always do other
people that have covered the song and no one else has covered that.
That song in particular, I always envisioned like, Pat
Benetar would have done that song. Axl isn't really doing those crazy
acrobatics in that song that he usually does [Imitates Axl Rose]. It's just a
down and dirty punk rock song. It's always overlooked because it's not really
flashy but man, it's fun to play live too.
I know you said
selfish reasons, but I also wanted to ask why you covered that cheesy Heart
song. [Laughs]
I know it's cheesy. I never actually listened to the radio
version. It was very Pop radio at the time they put that out. The first Heart
CD that I ever got from my mother was On The Road Home. It was this live CD of
theirs and they do that song very much like what we did on the record, but it
was slower paced with piano and guitar and more soulful. Back-story: the reason
we did that song was because I struck a deal with the guys. I would always cover
that song in karaoke. But the first time I covered it, or maybe the second, way
before we were signed to anything, we would go to bars, sometimes when we were
underage, and the guys would get free beers because I was singing it well.
People would be like "That girl can sing! You guys get a round of
beers!" So they would make me sing that song because it was only ever if I
did that song. So they would make me do that song all the time. Our first time
in Nashville ,
we broke down and we ended up going to a karaoke bar and they made me sing it
again and they got free drinks because of that. I was like "I'm getting
you fuckers free drinks." And so they were like, "Lzzy! We are doing
a cover CD. You have to do this!" I was like "No! I am NOT doing that
song!" They were like, "We'll make you a deal: you do it on here and
we won't ask you to sing it in karaoke again." So, sweet. They have yet to
ask me, but I feel like it's going to happen.
It totally will,
eventually. I meant to ask this question earlier, so it is sort of out of
place, but how has the band evolved over the last few years. I remember the
first time I heard "I Get Off" on Octane. I was like "Ooohhh I
like this."
Aww! Thank you! We live life kinda fast. Mentally, I don't
think we've evolved at all. We are perpetually 14 inside. We are very immature.
Even last night, sorry guys I'm going to embarrass you, but there was this huge
fart in the freaking bunk hall and everyone just busted out laughing and I
thought everyone was asleep and all of a sudden I was like "Ahh!"
Like, Jesus, guys!" We still have the same fire that we did when we were
teenagers and coming onto the scene. Truth be told, I've been in this band for
17 years with my little brother. None of that has changed. The view hasn't
changed. The goal hasn't changed. The maturity hasn't changed. I think
musically, because we are just out here all the time, I gauge how many years
have gone by our fans bringing their kids. All of a sudden, the kid that was
this tall is now this tall [shows height difference with her hands] and I think
"Oh my God, it's been four years!" I think because we travel a lot
and meet so many different people, there is always something to write about
because of that. There is always music to be heard. And no matter what genre, we
do a lot of this stuff. We're listening to Country all the time now on this
tour and a lot of stuff seeps in. We keep chasing after what gets us excited
and that leads you down the rabbit hole. I think we have definitely evolved
musically and for the better. I think we have a very wide view of what our
future could and could not be. It's kind of freeing right now. I am feeling the
same type of freedom right now that I did as a teenager. You go through a
phase. I was writing about mythical people and stupid stuff that no one could
ever relate to and then you get signed to a label. And even though our label
and management have been incredibly supportive but, just by having that type of
responsibility as a writer to think "Oh, this has to be good for radio. Is
the label going to approve this record? Will it even make it past management?
Are they going to like it? Is everyone going to be digging this song? Are the
guys going to be ok with me actually saying this in a song?" You go
through a phase where you aren't thinking "Do I love this song?" Some
of that stuff starts seeping in and it becomes less about you and more about
everybody else. I feel like we are finally over that hump. Especially from
making this last record. We were just like "Fuck it. Let's do what we
want." So we did. We did everything we wanted to do. Right now, I would
say with the upcoming record, we didn't stray from who we are. It's just a lot
more of who we are. So, I warned you. [Laughs]
Anything else you
want to add?
Just a big "Thank You" to you, obviously, not just
for talking to me, but actually listening to our music and enabling us to do
what we love every single day. It's crazy to think about. It really is. I was
talking to my mom about this the other day and I was like "Mom, do you
remember when we were in grocery stores or restaurants and I used to remember
saying to my little brother, we would leave picks or little things that said
our name, in the napkin holders just in case somebody would check out our band.
And now, more times than not, people know who we are and it's just so weird to
think about. It's strange and very humbling. And the whole reason for that is
it takes a village, man. A lot of people talk and we are spiraling outward and
I get to say I do this for a living now and that's thanks to everybody.
[We bantered about
college football and the phrase "Roll Tide." Then, she did a stinger
for our station which leads into the next bit of content]
I was writing this song with Eric [Church] and it's funny
because when you listen to the song that we wrote, it didn't make it on the
record because it was a little too country, but it was awesome. It was like
this stomp song. I still think we should put it on an EP or something, but you
can tell what lines are mine and what lines are his because I remember asking
him something like "What's jump and rally? Like what is that?" It was
me being schooled in the language.
[I talked to her about
Will Hoge, and my journalistic dreams and she was extremely understanding. We
talked about freelancing and traveling for our lines of work and Hanson.]
The only pictures my
dad has in office are a picture of me with Hanson and of you and him. Hanson is
my favorite band.
Oh my gosh! That is so funny! I can honestly say that, by
them coming out at that point in time, in '97, that is when we started our
band. Because we saw them, my brother and I were like "We can totally do
that" and that's when we started playing in our living room and in talent
shows and we were like, "MOM! They're doing it!"
That is the best
thing I have ever heard. They are my all time favorite and I want to interview
them so bad.
Yeah, them and their 20 something kids!
Yes! They have 11
between the three of them. But now we are just rambling. Thank you so much for
allowing me to do this.
Of course, darling!
