From playing stadiums with Iron Maiden to popping up at Back To The Beginning, Halestorm have climbed to the kind of peaks most modern bands can only envy. But while Lzzy Hale’s talent is undeniable, the rest of the band are just as charismatic – a testament to the strong bonds and easy rapport they’ve maintained, even after decades of hard graft on the road.
Just weeks after the band’s stellar performances at Sonic Temple and Download festivals, Lzzy and guitarist Joe Hottinger embarked on an intimate acoustic tour amid a stifling heatwave. Hammer grilled the pair with your questions until the conversation dissolved into workplace bullying…
Too long, not gonna read? Watch the full interview below:
Apart from Back To The Beginning, what is your biggest achievement?
Mandy Handforth, Facebook
Joe: “The fact we still like each other.”
Lzzy: “We’re still together after what, 23 years? Nobody’s strangled anyone yet. It’s quite the feat.”
Joe: “And we still like to hang out too. That’s better than any other show – though the Grammy [for Love Bites (So Do I)] was pretty cool.”
Would you ever do a Halestorm ‘By Request’ setlist tour?
Alcojoelics, Instagram
Joe: “We’d have to do some prep. If I don’t play a song for, like, a month, it leaves my brain and I don’t know it. So it’d take some rehearsal. We’ve been taking requests on this acoustic tour, and I don’t remember most of them.”
Lzzy: “We could get one of those bingo ball machines with the songs on it!”
Which artist outside rock/metal would you like to collaborate with?
Malli Malpass, Facebook
Lzzy: “Pink would be cool – we could bring her to the dark side. One of the albums we love that is way, way outside our genre is Prizefighter by Mumford & Sons. It’d be cool to work with them.”
What’s the story behind [2010 single] Familiar Taste Of Poison?
Erik Von Trussdell, Facebook
Lzzy: “It’s interesting how songs can change over the years. I was 19 when I wrote that, so it meant something different to me then. It was kind of a love song, but an anti-Valentine’s Day love song. We do that a lot – apparently it’s our thing.
Some fans tell me they see it as talking to their addiction, some people it’s their ex or someone they cut out of their life… For me, what’s beautiful is that I get to sing that song to an audience every night and it becomes a love song between myself and them. You guys are the special sauce!”
Will we ever get a fourth Reanimate covers EP? Vxlloria, Instagram
Lzzy: “Maybe a full album. I don’t know. We have a long-running list of covers we’d like to try our hand at.”
Joe: “Now we have our own studio too.”
Is Like A Woman Can about Joe?! [Sample lyric: ‘Why can’t you love me, like a woman can?’]
James Lee, Facebook
Joe: “Yeah Lzz, is it?!”
Lzzy: “It is not about Joe! Not yet, anyway. But there’s still time. Like I said, songs mean something different every year, so you keep behaving yourself and you won’t get on my list.”
How is Arejay [Hale, drums] not bald after all his hair colours?
Leahslastbreath, Instagram
Lzzy: “I don’t know! There was one time where he went way overboard with bleach and he showed up at rehearsal with burns on his scalp, so we were worried for a while. But he still has his hair. He’s talking about growing it out.”
What song would you give to someone who’s never heard Halestorm before?
Metalcorequeens90, Instagram
Joe: “I don’t know! Would we go with our biggest song on the streams?”
Lzzy: “I don’t think so. I always tell people to go from our latest album backwards. Love Bites is a good one. That or Rain Your Blood…, or Fallen Star off our latest record.”
Why do you favour Shania Twain over Wendy O. Williams?
Gutierrez Estevez, Facebook
Lzzy: “Maybe it’s because I heard more Shania Twain than Wendy O. Williams.”
Joe: “Shania’s Man! I Feel Like A Woman is such a well-written song from top to bottom.”
Lzzy: “As a bi woman, that was a very confusing time for me [circa 1997]. I’m like, ‘Why do I think she’s hot?!’”
What advice would you give your younger self? Dramaries, Instagram
Joe: “I would just shut up and let it happen. ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, you little idiot!’”
Lzzy: “Less advice and more encouragement: ‘You’ve got this, kid. You’re doing the right thing – keep following your gut and have fun at all costs.’”
Who rips the worst farts?
Jason Owen, Facebook
Joe: “Definitely Arejay or Josh [Smith, bass] because they’re not here to defend themselves!”
Lzzy: “I’d say Josh because he’s vegetarian and/or pescatarian. Sometimes, if there’s too many lentil beans… It’s very distinct in the bus.”
Who was your first crush or obsession?
Angeline Burton, Facebook
Lzzy: “I have a weird one! My first crush was this little Amish boy. He did not notice me at all, and that would not have worked out at all. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania, so there were a lot of Amish. My first celebrity crush was a contemporary Christian artist called Michael W. Smith – I thought he was dreamy. And/or Juliette Lewis. Like I said, confusing time!”
Joe: “I really liked Katie Holmes.”
You have to add Buzz, Conflicted, Painkiller or I Come First to regular rotation: which do you pick? Andy Hoffman, Email
Lzzy: “I’m gonna have to say Buzz – I really like that one.”
Joe: “I might change the arrangement a bit, though.”
Lzzy: “Too many choruses?”
Hammer: I Get Off, Love Bites or I Miss The Misery. One has to go: which one?
Lzzy: “Miss The Misery. I feel like we’ve played that too much over the years.”
Joe: “We’ve probably played I Get Off more.”
Lzzy: “OK, I’ll give you that… for now.”
When will Lzzy bring back the keytar? Marty_666666, Instagram
Lzzy: “I feel like it’s gonna be soon. The wonderful people at Sweetwater sent me a new one and I’ve been dabbling with these new sounds. It has all these new things. Keep your eyes peeled!”
What’s your favourite song to play live?
Rick Kearney, Facebook
Lzzy: “Oh god, it changes all the time! Right now, I think it’s Shiver for me.”
Joe: “I enjoy anything where I can just be soloing. Lately everything we play I’ve just been going off, so that’s cool.
How does that guitar player keep his locks so luscious?
Thejoestorm, Instagram
Joe: “Whoever asked that, it was so nice of them to notice.”
Lzzy: “Do you prime and tease?”
Joe: “I don’t shower and I drink beer.”
Lzzy: “That’s kind of true. You shower and just don’t shampoo your hair.”
Hammer: Skullet or toupee?
Joe: “I’d rock a skullet – I ain’t scared. I’d start saying, ‘Hell yeah, brother.’ I don’t know why, it just feels right.”
Lzzy: “With the skullet you’re owning your own head like, ‘This is me now.’ With a toupee, so much can go wrong. Maybe it flies off, maybe it’s not fixed on right. I’d go skullet all the way, then add a tattoo on it.”
When will Arejay bring back the upside-down drum kit?
OfficialLzzyHale, Instagram
Lzzy: “As his big sister, I’ve been trying to persuade him to do that for years. As we’re getting older too, it might be really good for his back. It’s basically an inversion table, but as a drumkit.”
Hammer: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve done while Arejay is soloing? Pee breaks? Cups of tea? Play poker?
Lzzy: “It depends how much time we have. It can be really stressful if you have to go pee and you have to time yourself. You have to listen for the big sticks or something, that can add a bit of pressure.”
Joe: “I like to sneak behind him and scare the living shit out of his drum tech. Watching him jump is hilarious!”
Will that bassist ever expand beyond four strings? Thejoestorm, Instagram
Joe: “I doubt it! It takes a highly intelligent person to play more than four strings.”
Lzzy: “To Josh’s credit, he plays bass, keyboards and operates the pedals. So he does more than anyone else!”
Joe: “That’s why we make fun of him.”
Everest is out now via Atlantic.
(LouderSound)
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