Halestorm - Interview with Arejay & Lzzy

ROCK IS BACK FROM THE DEAD!

Hey Freaks! Rock is Back From The Dead and Long Live Rock Amen! Because Brendan The Blind Guy had the honour of chatting to the most Vicous siblings in rock, drummer Arejay and lead vocalist Lzzy Hale from U.S rock heavyweights, HALESTORM! The chat that emerged, was a fun, relaxed yet insightful conversation between three music lovers sharing the same passion for music! The trio covered topics such as team building skills, down time from relentless touring, coming home after a tour, the bands live shows and so much more banter filled hilarity! Want more? Scroll below for a bonus chat with Arejay

Bonus interview with Arejay

Brendan : So just on a personal level, how have you been since February when I last saw you?

Arejay : Great, so great. I've been writing a lot mostly with chemical fire, mostly with Taylor Carroll, my band mate in that project. And just really, I feel like we're really like hitting our stride, I'm really excited, we have a single coming out at the end of April, this project-called Chemical Fire that we started working on during the pandemic.

Again, like one of those projects where we were just looking for something to do, something creatively when we were just kind of not touring, not playing shows and it felt very weird. We were like oh, but we have to get creative and do something with music, otherwise, we're going to lose our minds. And we had been friends for a while, he plays drums with lit, but he also played drums with pillar and devour the day, he's incredible drummer, but also, a great singer and guitar player and songwriter and producer.

So we put our strengths together, and we started this project during the pandemic called chemical fire, and we've been just writing and working on it. And now, it's three years later, we have finally have something to show for it, we're finally going to release a song. We're going to play a show in Nashville on “Star Wars Day”, May the fourth be with you. We did a show in LA a while back and that was kind of our debut, kind of our introduction to the world and it went so good. We were just so excited.

It's a totally different type of thing. It's more like, it's a two-piece, but it's also kind of got like more of a punk kind of thing, it's a little bit more modern sounding. But really aggressive, but also really melodic, and just very genuine and honest when it comes to the writing and the songs and all that.

So been a bit of a passion project, so I'm excited for that to finally come out, so that's what I've been doing mostly.

Brendan : I was saying to Lzzy before you jumped on, I've actually been practicing my own cover of Heart of Novocaine on the piano and vocals.

Arejay : So cool, can’t wait to hear it 

Brendan : I do songwriting as well, one of the songs that I've written the lyrics to, and just starting to  recording in my home studio, the opening line is ***************

Arejay : That's brilliant, I love that. Oh my God, can I write with you? That's awesome.

Brendan : Well, I mean, oh God, it would be incredible if I could, if I had you doing the drums and co-writing with me.

Arejay : That's just a cool line, I didn't want to cut you off or stop you, I just thought that was a really great lyric, really awesome.

Brendan : Thank you .t’s so personal for me, because it's both figurative and literal. 

Arejay : Interesting, wow.

Brendan : *sings next few lines of original song .

Arejay : Oh, wow, that's solid. Any chance you might be releasing this song? Because I'm intrigued so far. Like coming from, like yes, from experience, like those are solid lyrics dude, those are great.

Brendan : Oh, thank you.

Arejay : It's right to the point.

Brendan : Yes. i love lyrics that can be taken multiple ways. my writing style is based around my own  personal experiences and circumstances. I like to express my lyrics in a way that it can resonate with everyone to suit their own  personal circumstances .  

Arejay : Dude, I hope you keep at it, because you got, it I see a lot of real potential with these ideas that you have. So I hope that you continue and pursue, continue sharpening your gift, because I'm really impressed, honestly.

Brendan : Yes. So that's basically what I've been doing in the past time since you've been in Sydney.

Arejay : Nice. I hope that you stick at it, because I like what I'm hearing so far, and I like these ideas.

Brendan : That is a massive inspiration for me.

Arejay : Oh. Well, that's awesome, man.

Arejay : If you think about it, a great example I always go to is Lizzo’s, Truth Hurts ,when the most memorable line in that song is “I took a DNA test, turns out I'm 100% that bitch” Like in a way, that's even more memorable than  the main chorus. I feel my mentality is like if you can hook them in the very first line, then you got them.

Like you obviously need a great hook, and I mean, for me in my experience of songwriting, it's gotten so scrutinous to the point that like every word, every line, every syllable should count. You shouldn't just settle for coming up with a line that vaguely is saying what you're trying to say, but you use it because it's a placeholder and it Rhymes, and it works rhythmically. Like no, make sure that every line means something, really important to you, that's something that I strive for anyway.

Brendan : Good, definitely. So you write lyrics as well?

Arejay : Oh yes, that's like kind of probably my main thing, especially in the Chemical Fire world .Taylor is such an incredible guitar player, and has a great ability to come up with great melodies that really work with his voice, and he's also encouraged me to do more singing and get more involved with that, because he was one of the first ones that saw that I had a voice in me. So yes, with the Chemical Fire stuff, it's both of us singing.

We're kind of like co-lead singers, I wouldn't call it that, because he's definitely the, I guess you would call the ''lead singer'', but like it is very much an equal partnership, which is really cool, it's a really cool dynamic in that sense. But I love words, I love lyrics, and that's always been my way of getting personal problems up, personal frustrations, is putting it into words.

I find that more fulfilling than just coming up with like an instrumental track or something. I would much rather come up with a story first, and then find music that also matches that story. But there's so many different ways of accomplishing that, there's no right or wrong way.

Brendan : Yes, that's really cool.  Any of the Halestorm lyrics yours? 

Arejay : You know what, Halestorm is another example of a very collaborative effort, which is great. Honestly, like the fact that the four of us have been doing this so long, and we can all do this together. I mean, we found out, especially pretty early on that the best way to make records is for us just to be in the room together, and just to come up with ideas and just have it be there.

But I mean, there's a million ways to do it. There's songs where I'm heavily involved, but there's songs where I'm not involved at all. There's songs that are really heavy on the co-writers, and songs that are 100% equal between all of us. So there's really no one way to do it, and it's really hard to even explain, because we've been doing it so long, we just know how to fall into that. I guess we don't really think about it, we just kind of do whatever feels right in the moment.

So yes, I mean, it rarely ever happens the same way twice with Halestorm, Chemical fire with any outside writing with any other artists or whatever. Like literally, every time is a brand new pathway to get there. You just have to trust the song. Like my favourite place to be in when writing is when all of a sudden, you go from writing the song, to the song starts writing itself, and you're just following after it. But it's different every time, some songs come out in five minutes, some songs take years, you're just kind of chipping away at it little by little.

So yes, it's really hard to tell or to say, because it's just endless the ways to do it, and the way that it's been done for all of us. Like every single song has its own way of getting there, yes, it's crazy.

Brendan : Yes, definitely. All right, that's really cool. I bought myself a Roland electronic drum kit, because I just love dabbling with as many instruments as I can. So even though my focus is on piano and vocal, I just love dabbling with all sorts of instruments. So you're like my inspiration of where I would love to be with drumming. Because I love double kick drums, but my legs don't.

Arejay : Mine too.

Brendan : So what's the technique for good rapid fire drumming?

Arejay : Oh God, I mean, my feet are not really all that fast at all. I know drummers that can just machine gun that type of technique, and my hat goes off to them. But I was a single bass player for a long time, and started re-implementing double bass like literally like going into this album cycle. So I was like oh boy, it's like riding a bike.

But for me, it just took just continuing to do it, and just continuing to work at it, to where I could kind of get back up to where I was. I feel like I'm at a point now where I feel pretty comfortable like putting in double bass fills here and there  for some flavour.

One thing I definitely started doing though, and it really helped a lot, before every Halestorm show, we do an hour of warm-up just the four of us in the dressing room, and I have a little practice kit back there. And while we're jamming and I'm just playing, and my hands are like laying down the twos and fours in my kick drum is like providing that groove, I started trying to play where I'm leading with my left foot. So I'm just like trying to like work on playing the same K drum patterns I would with my right foot but with my left foot, and it's really hard, really hard. Because you'll go like da da da da but then with your left foot, you're like da da  da da it can be like so muddy with your non-dominant foot.

So that's something I've actually been working on, and something that I think is a cool technique for other players to try if they're trying to get their left foot up to speed, try playing like just normal a single bass drum pattern, but try playing the single Bass with your left foot, and seeing if you can, and I started out real simple. I would just go boom,  da da da da and then finally, I could get up to the point where like I'm like boom da da da da da.

So like with every step, I would try to challenge myself to be a little bit faster with my left foot. So I don't know, it's funny because no one's asked me that, this is the first I'm actually thinking about it. Like oh, I forgot I did that. So that might be something to help if someone feels like their non-dominant limb is lacking, try leading with that limb. It's very similar to like if you have a muscle imbalance, if you're in the gym or something, it's good to like start with your non-dominant side, and match the reps with your dominant side.

So that way, you're kind of developing evenly. So I think the same thing can be done with your limbs when it comes to drumming, and when it comes to developing more of a balance with speed and velocity in those senses too.

Brendan : Yes, fair enough that’s great advice. Thank you so much. I absolutely love you guys,  and please, pass on my love to Lzzy.

Arejay : Oh, I'll be at rehearsal tomorrow, I'll definitely pass on the message for you for sure. I got your back, bud.

Brendan : Thank you so much, Arejay, it has been an absolute honour and take care.

Arejay : Thank you. And I can't wait to hear these songs, when you put them out, you let me know.

Brendan : Will do. Thanks again, Arejay.

Arejay : All right. Mwah, take care down there, down under. Give my best to everybody.

Brendan : Thank you so much, and see you next time.

Arejay : Well, see you soon, Brendan man, take care man.

Brendan : You too.

Arejay : Thanks bud.

Brendan : Thank you.

Switchfoot 'Interrobang' - Interview With Chad Butler

“LIFE IS SHORT, LIVE IT WELL”

I dare you to move out of your lockdown blues and join Brendan the blind guy as he has an in-depth chat to Chad Butler from multi-platinum rockers SWITCHFOOT, about their powerful 12th album 'Interrobang'!.

Chad and Brendan talk about the writing process of the album during the pandemic/lockdowns, where their minds were at writing and recording the songs, Chad's mad cooking skills and so much more that Bon Jovi himself will try to rip-off surely!

Harper Bloom 'Mary' Q&A

HOLY MOTHER OF MARY!

HARPER BLOOM SHARES DEBUT SINGLE & VIDEO MARY 

Upcoming folkster Harper Bloom (otherwise known as Hayley De Pledge) has today announced her debut single Mary, a gorgeous, empowering romp about taking control back over your life, out April 2.  Harper Bloom has also announced a moving clip to accompany the release, directed by David Hansen (notable for his short film Anija).  

For fans of Alex The Astronaut, Courtney Barnett and Paul Kelly, Harper Bloom’s Mary is a wonderful example of brilliant Australian songwriting from beginning to end.  Deeply personal, affecting and sweet, Mary shines with acoustic guitars, driving percussion and Harper Bloom’s wonderfully unique, gentle vocals.  Working alongside Benjamin McCarthy (G Flip, Thelma Plum, Megan Washington) to bring Mary to life, Harper Bloom is sure to impress with this brilliant single.  Speaking on the inspiration behind the track, Harper Bloom enthuses, “The single is essentially about not being afraid to be vulnerable and take risks, no matter who you are or how old you are.  It’s about having the strength to leave a comfortable, mundane existence behind in search of enriching experiences and a new lease of life.  The idea really came from observing people on trains and buses…some of the verses came from overheard conversations or things I saw on public transport, and watching  the body language and expressions of people doing a job they didn’t really want to be doing.”

The clip for Mary is so well done, so touching, that it will absolutely stay with the viewer for hours after viewing.  It follows the story of an elderly wife, who finally liberates herself from the hum-drum nature of daily life, bucking all expectations for what elderly people should and shouldn’t do and having a ball all throughout.  It’s a beautiful, cinematic clip – every freeze frame looks like a spectacular photograph.  Reflecting on the narrative of the video for Mary, Harper Bloom says, “The story begins in Mary’s run-down suburban home – which was my sharehouse at the time – with her husband drunk and unresponsive on the couch.  After moments of taking in her life over the past 60 years, she gains clarity and decides to finally leave.  The story then follows Mary on her journey of rediscovery.”

Mary is set for release on April 2. 

“Loving this debut release from Harper Bloom.  Good luck resisting this song’s stirring pull and Harper Bloom’s storytelling nous” Dave Ruby Howe, triple j unearthed

“Fans of Alex The Astronaut should keep an ear out for your charming, stream of consciousness, observant songwriting and the fun-as-hell musical bits and bobs that accompany it” Abby Butler, triple j unearthed

Listen: MARY

Watch: MARY

   Q&A WITH HARPER BLOOM

What’s the inspiration behind your new single ‘Mary’? 
”It’s a narrative about an older lady who is living a mundane existence who finds the courage to leave in search of enriching experiences and a new lease of life. I think subconsciously the initial idea came from working with a few middle-aged women who weren’t happy with their lives and had a lot of regrets about avenues they didn’t pursue. So, its just about having the courage to move forward and make a change, which is scary because change is uncertain. The song was then glued together by things I had seen or conversations I had heard on public transport between New York, Perth and Melbourne.”

 Who are your greatest musical influences?
”I would say artists whose music has longevity and resonates with multiple generations. A huge influence has been Bob Dylan because of his ability to take observations from the world around him to convey thought provoking messages about society in his songs. Then there’s the metaphorical writing style of Stevie Nicks. I think by being more symbolic in lyrics, their meaning can be inferred differently by different people and in that way the songs can be more personal. Also, the Beatles and their ability to push out catchy hooks that resonate with people. They also got me into arranging fingerstyle melodies.”  

 What do you bring to the live stage? 
”I have formed a full 4-piece band early this year, which I am really excited about. All the band members are extremely seasoned and talented musicians (Keyboardist- Jack Saward, Bassist- Joe Kniepp and Drummer- David Quested) and I am stoked to have them on board. As I was formerly playing solo or as a duo, it’s nice to have a full band as it helps bring the single and debut EP to life. The live show is pretty energetic and upbeat with acoustic-pop driven songs and a couple of open-hearted ballads in between.”

 How was the recording process? 

“It was a lot of fun. I was lucky enough to work with an amazing producer called Benjamin McCarthy! He has worked with a bunch of talented artists such as G-flip, Thelma Plum and Alex The Astronaut. He has a studio set up at his Carlton house which is where we recorded the track. Ben arranged keys and the driving drum beat which really made the song pop.”

 What was the inspiration behind the music video? 

“I think the narrative of the song inspired the foundation of the music video. I also worked with an amazing director called David Hansen who was able to generate a storyline that didn’t follow the lyrics so literally, instead he used the general message of the song to form the story-line in the video. So, we came up with ideas of scenes that represent freedom and then ended on a scene that was symbolic of moving onto a new chapter in life.”

How would you describe your writing process? 

“Most of the time I catalogue lines in my notebook or phone. Maybe it’s something that I thought of, or read or heard somewhere. I am kind of obsessed with doing that. I won’t watch a movie or go anywhere without my notebook. Then when I am feeling inspired, I write sections of songs or a melody. Most of the time, I write a little bit then sit on it and let it stew and then come back to it. Then other times, but not as often, a whole chorus or verse can come out of no-where.”

 Give us an interesting personal fact!

“I worked as a beach lifeguard for 4 years and was lucky enough to work and live on an Island off the W.A coast!”

Nic Rollo 'Monster' Q&A

LET THE INNER MONSTER OUT!

  NIC ROLLO ANNOUNCES NEW SINGLE & VIDEO MONSTER 

Perth based producer and songwriter Nic Rollo has today announced his driving, eerie new single Monster, about identifying and quelling the monster within us all, set for release on February 5.  Accompanying the track is a dark, revolving film clip, directed by Alex Montanari (Cub Sport, What So Not, Khalid) and Matthew James.  Monster follows the 2019 release of Nic’s brilliant, iridescent EP What Happened to the Kid. 

Monster will feel familiar to anyone who has said something in frustration or anger that they regret after the fact – the track is an introspective interrogation of that remorse, and what it’ll take to tame the inner monster who is responsible for those biting remarks.  Reminiscent of synth-pop auteurs M83 and indie rockers The Wombats, and mastered by pop royalty Chris Gehringer (Harry Styles, Rihanna, Halsey), the track is buoyed by glistening synths, hooky guitar and driving percussion – while Nic’s gentle vocals and arresting lyrics take centre stage.  Reflecting on the inspiration behind the track, Nic explains, “Monster was written during a previous relationship of mine when things were a bit shaky.  There were a few times that I’d said something to my ex that had started to cause fractures in the relationship and unnecessary conflict.  Monster is about that side of myself that I don’t always like  - the part that is impulsive and lashes out when I should just hold my tongue instead.”

The video for Monster feels like the beginning of a horror film – there’s a sense of suspense, as though the calm atmosphere of the night-driving scenes will not last for much longer.  It’s a beautiful watch, too – the lights passing in the night as the song plays out feels like a perfect representation of the moody nature of the music.  Speaking about the clip, Nic says, “The video for Monster is a narrative based video that features a lot of driving and aims to be aesthetically pleasing.  Matthew James, Alex Montanari and I came together to think about the video a few months back and we all had this vibe of the song revolving around driving and having dark colours. The story itself is supposed to be slightly confusing - am I driving to the burial or from the burial?  Am I burying the monster or is the monster burying me?”

The release of Monster is a killer way to kick off 2020 for this exciting young artist, as he enthuses, “It feels fantastic to finally be releasing Monster.  I wrote the song over a year ago and have been sitting on it for what feels like forever now.  To date, it is probably my favourite song that I’ve written, and I’m super stoked to finally be able to share it with people.”

Monster is out February 5.

Listen: MONSTER

Watch: MONSTER

Q&A Interview with Nic Rollo.

Q; What’s the inspiration behind your new single Monster?

A; I wrote Monster during a pretty turbulent time in a previous relationship where it felt like I kept saying things that would damage it, and inevitably caused fractures in the relationship itself.  The song is also commenting on how often, we shouldn’t be worried about other people, we should be more cautious of our own monsters.  I think the song came from the guitar line that goes throughout the song - I vaguely remember coming up with it whilst in the studio with a band I play in and instantly knew I could write something around it.

Q; Who are your greatest musical influences?

A; I used to listen to so much Radiohead when I was younger that I’m sure they’re still impacting some of my musical decisions today.  I think there’s something exciting about having weirder elements in pop music, so Radiohead definitely helped a lot there.  In terms of synth sounds and all of that, bands like Tears for Fears, Fleetwood Mac and Tame Impala all gave me a look into that world about 5 years ago (starting with Tame).  More recently artists like The Weeknd, Drake, Charlie Puth (and many others) have been really big influences on me as I’ve gotten more and more into writing pop music.  

Q; What do you bring to the live stage?

A; Aside from INCREDIBLE musical prowess (I’m kidding), I feel like the live show is pretty fun.  We’re all just up there having a good time, trying to not mess up too badly.  I’m planning on upgrading the live show over the next few months with another member and potentially starting to look into incorporating lights and visuals, which I’m super pumped about.  I’ve always been so fascinated by lighting and visuals in music.

Q; How was the recording process?

A; I love the recording process, I feel most comfortable when I’m in the studio.  Working on Monster was good fun since I had been so fond of the song in its demo form.  I was really excited to polish it up and see how it sounded.  I recorded it at Blackbird Studio in Perth with Dave Parkin, and had Felix Parker with me (who played those ripper guitar solos).  Some songs have historically been an emotional rollercoaster in the studio due to a number of reasons, but luckily Monster was pretty easy going.  

Q; What was the inspiration behind the music video?

A; I caught up with Alex Montanari and Matthew James, who both worked on the clip, a few months before we were planning on beginning filming to figure out the story and what we wanted to achieve.  Alex and I both had this idea in our heads about the film revolving around driving… something about Monster had a ‘driving a car’ kinda feel.  After that point the hard part was figuring out how to incorporate driving into an interesting story line and keep the video interesting over nearly 4 minutes.

Q; How would you describe your writing process?

A; Sometimes it’s manic, sometimes it’s relaxed.  I’ll typically just shit down at a keyboard and start playing chords until I come up with a chord progression or melody that inspires me to keep working on it.   At that point I’ll begin to build a track from there.  Sometimes I’ll write the bulk of the song in 20 minutes and be done with it (spending the next month or two producing it), other times I’ll spend 3 weeks trying to finish the actual songwriting (the chords, melodies, lyrics).  I guess it can be hard to put a method to being creative, so to an extent you just have to let it happen as it does.

Q; Give us an interesting personal fact!

A; I’ll give you two - I’m a literal caffeine fiend, like I drink enough coffee to be considered ¼ coffee myself.  It’s in my blood now.  I also get a stupid amount of nose bleeds during summer, I think I have really weak nose lining or something, but damn does it suck.  I’m surprised I’m not dead yet from blood loss.