By Nadine Lindberg
The raw, guttural growl of Halestorm drowns out the weak whimpers of other contemporary rock bands. Bandmates Lzzy Hale, Arejay Hale, Joe Hottinger, and Josh Smith, have been touring nonstop since the recent release of their self-titled debut album, which includes the catchy single “I Get Off.” And they don’t plan to stop anytime soon.
Although the chaotic lifestyle of the road offers band members little in the way of amenities, their must-haves include coffee, baby wipes, and the energy of their fans.
Halestorm’s dedication to its supporters is one thing that sets the band apart from other groups. When not playing a concert, Halestorm fills its schedule with meet-and-greets, posing for photos and signing autographs for fans.
After Halestorm’s Sept. 26 show with Chevelle at Atlanta’s Tabernacle, the band sat down for a Q&A session with the Connector. A session that proved just as energetic as the band’s powerful stage presence.
Connector: Can you describe your song-writing process? Who writes what and where do you find inspiration?
Lzzy: For many years we used to do it the same way. I would come up with an idea for a song and bring it to the guys and help make it cool. Since this record has come out and we had done a lot of songs that had been “Frankenstiened” together from old songs that we had. And we wrote new songs. I think we had 428 songs that had to be whittled down to 15.
Arejay: We’ve written so many songs that we pretty much know where certain parts of the song have energy. We all do our part on putting songs together.
Connector: Do you ever get creative blocks? How do you find motivation to get out of it?
Lzzy: I forget who said this, but someone said, “Happiness is the most useless emotion” for song writers, or writers in general, because when you’re happy and having a good time it’s really hard to sit down and be inspired for a song. As far as writer’s block goes, I like change. A lot. If things get too monotonous I don’t feel like sitting down and writing a song. Usually when something big happens, or being on the road helps. So, don’t sit around in your room, get up and travel somewhere. It could be like that for painting, song writing or whatever.
Connector: You mentioned before that you were writing some new songs. Are there plans for a second album?
Lzzy: We are going to squeeze the life out of this record.
Joe: Maybe like 2011.
Lzzy: Maybe. We have no idea. We are still on our first single and just about to release our second. So, we’ll see. Just have to keep going on this one for a while.
Connector: How did you get by before the band started making money?
Arejay: We’re making money on this? [laughs] Well, we have had a lot of parental support growing up. Our parents were very supportive.
Joe: There was a time when Lzzy and I would play acoustic shows instead of getting a real job, just entertaining a bar.
Lzzy: I think we made more money doing that.
Arejay: Oh, totally.
Lzzy: And we are scavengers. We don’t own houses. We don’t own cars. Keeping everything to a minimum. Right now, I have to say we are just comfortable. We’re not millionaires, but right now for what we are doing we are right in the middle. Before that, you just make it work and balance everything out. Also, make your own clothes and jewelry.
Connector: Who designed your logo?
Lzzy: It’s evolved. If you’ve ever watched the news and there are hurricane warnings, it started out as a drawing that I made as a mockery of that. It started a little more elaborate. I think there was an eye in the middle of it at one point and it was simplified. It’s changed from looking like a sea creature.
Connector: Is there a meaning behind it?
Lzzy: We sometimes say because there are four pieces now, it’s like each one of us. We all have the logo tattooed on ourselves. We should have all picked a side and everyone would be like, “What’s that weird banana shape.”
Joe: Then when we’d come together it’d make the logo.
Lzzy: Yea, there’s that and throughout the years we’ve grown into our name. … Now we can say, “We are the freakin’ storm” or “our songs are like hail storms.” [laughs]
Arejay: We will blow you away! Hit the cellars, Halestorm is coming!
Connector: Do you have any funny stories from the tours like, say, practical jokes?
Arejay: Our sound guy is usually the butt of all our jokes.
Josh: Yeah, he definitely gets a lot of flak.
Arejay: We have a rule that if anyone passes out drunk on the couch with their shoes on, its fair game. That’s the deal. So our sound guy does this like three times a week. He’ll end up with crazy stuff written on him. I’ll get a Sharpie out and just write the most random things like, “Eggplants are for monkeys.” And he’ll walk around the venue the next day with this written on his face.
Connector: If you could have one super power what would it be?
Arejay: Supersonic hearing!
Lzzy: What, so you can hear everything everyone is saying about you?
Arejay: Ahh! Keep it down!
Lzzy: Yeah, um, that would be annoying.
Arejay: I want everything I touch to turn into cupcakes!
Lzzy: Maybe if you could absorb someone else’s power just to see how they do things from their perspective.
Arejay: Maybe if we traded powers for a day …
Lzzy: Our set would suck! [laughs]
Connector: If Joe, Josh and Arejay got into a fistfight, who would win?
Arejay: Ha ha! Probably Josh.
Lzzy: Yea, Josh. Just because we were at my parent’s house one day and my dad had this axe and tried to have them chop down a tree, well, more of a stump. They were all taking turns. Josh was the only one with good form. [Joe and Arejay] were completely worn out.
Arejay: I wouldn’t want to get in a fight with him.
Joe: We would never get in a fight though.
Arejay: Yeah, we would never get into a fight. I’m a lover not a fighter.
no images were found
