Taylor
Hi, how are you?
Lzzy Hale
I’m good thank you, how are you?
Taylor
I’m great! Thank you for taking the time to speak with me, you’re a huge inspiration to me, so this means a lot.
Lzzy Hale
Aww of course, thank you!
Taylor
To get started, with each new Halestorm album comes a new era of Lzzy, how do you feel you’ve grown, both as a musician and as a person, between the release of Back From The Dead in 2022 and now?
Lzzy Hale
I think with all the different lifetimes that we (Halestorm) have kind of lived, each one is its own small entity. Not to beat the metaphor to death, but it’s an album. It represents a collection of memories and a true snapshot of where you’re at in your life. It’s digging in and evolving and sometimes it’s hard because I go through ups and downs. Sometimes I’m in a more low point or gray area which is even worse because you’re like I don’t think I’m sad but I’m not excited about what’s going on and then you have to figure out who you are and what’s bringing you joy but the music is always extremely helpful with that.
Taylor
I went on tour last year for the first time last year as a photographer and I feel like I came back as a whole different person, so I totally understand.
Lzzy Hale
Oh yeah, absolutely. When I get home I’m like give me a spreadsheet of who’s divorced, who has kids now, who got together? Everything that happens in real life. It’s like we’re astronauts. You go out to space and we’re living this weird life and then you come back to earth and you’re like what happened? This amount of time went by? It’s crazy.
Taylor
When writing the track Everest, did it become an instant decision to name the album that as well or were there other ideas in the mix as well?
Lzzy Hale
I don’t think it was an instant decision but I think I was in denial of it because I’m like that’s too easy. I was trying to overcomplicate it and usually those initial spark ideas become the be all, end all. It’s like the music telling you what to do, not the other way around. You want to be in control, but you’re not in control. The song was born from a conversation we were having about why do we do this? Why are we still doing this? What got us into this? My parents got me into this music but to make the decision of we’re gonna do this for real and see how far we can take it. It’s truly crazy, we’re trying to do this and maintain this life. We started likening it to people that climb Mount Everest because they’re just as crazy.
The song was written in about an hour and half purely on piano and then the guys helped me make it cool. I knew it had to be rock and drudgy and when we all started jamming on it together it had such an epic feel. It’s exactly what we want to say, it’s about the struggle and the tiny rewards. We’re really lucky to have each other, I’m so grateful for my guys. When the wake gets a little too much for me they remind me that we’re a band and we have each other’s backs.
Taylor
I’ve had the opportunity to hear the new album already and I think it’s fantastic. It’s the perfect blend of heavy and melodic rock in my opinion. Shiver, Broken Doll and How Will You Remember Me, are my favourites of the currently unreleased tracks, is there a specific track off of the album that hasn’t been released yet that you’re most excited for fans to hear?
Lzzy Hale
Thank you so much! There’s so many. Some of them were super last minute additions, “I Gave You Everything” was added at like the eleventh hour. We had the record done and then it came at the very last minute, the song just came together we’re not even quite sure why. I’m super interested to see what people think about that one. “Shiver” was really special to me because of the verse cadence and the keyboard that we wrote when we were fifteen. It was like going back to those roots and I feel like that’s very apparent on this album. There were little moments that made us feel like we were kids again. I’m curious to have everybody listen to it and take these songs as their own. I know what they mean to me but I feel like there’s going to be a lot of people that follow us that are going to be able to see themselves reflected in them as well. That’s what I’m most excited about.
Taylor
I see myself a lot in your music, so I’m excited to delve more into the album.
Lzzy Hale
I’m so glad, that’s awesome.
Taylor
How has the fan reception been to the new tracks live on tour so far? I know you’ve thrown in a few unreleased ones into the set.
Lzzy Hale
Yeah, we ended up throwing a bunch of new ones into our set in Europe and now we’re out with Volbeat and we’re doing that again. It’s a completely selfish move on our part, but it’s crazy how many people really dig deep and start singing along before they even know what the lyrics were. I ended up floating them over to our freak fam, our fan club situation, just to see how many would bite and pay attention. It’s been really freaking crazy, there’s been a crazy response. It’s kinda like we’re in line with where our core fanbase is at the moment, in their mentality, in our collective existence right now because I don’t think that would’ve been possible any other way. It was really surprising and I’m really grateful for it. It’s always shocking when the album isn’t out and the song hasn’t necessarily been a single, but then there’s somebody in the front row singing every word and I’m analyzing them like do you actually know the lyrics because that’s awesome. They’ve been studying YouTube videos which is hard to do.
Taylor
It’s definitely hard to pick up on certain lyrics when just watching live videos.
Lzzy Hale
I know, I have so much respect for it. I’m like you go, that’s awesome. I’m very impressed.
Taylor
A couple weeks ago you had the opportunity to perform at the Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning event, not only as Halestorm, but you also had the chance to perform The Ultimate Sin with Jake E. Lee, Nuno Bettencourt, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin and Adam Wakeman, what was that whole experience like for you?
Lzzy Hale
It was crazy. It was a complete whirlwind because there was so much buildup over months with back and forth and preparation. There was a lot of stuff that moved around timewise and set wise, so once it hit two weeks out everything started to really come together and we were getting actual schedules. The day before we did some rehearsals, it was a crazy mix of emotions. We were hanging out with Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) and we were walking among rock gods that we grew up listening to, but everybody had this childlike wonder about them. It was like there’s no head higher than the other, everyone was there for the same reason. We were all there to celebrate Black Sabbath and say goodbye to Ozzy (Osbourne).
The show day was a mix of emotions, it was a screeching sprint to get to everyone’s set and then we got to enjoy everyone performing and see Black Sabbath and Ozzy play. It was a mixture of oh my god I’m terrified but also I’m so freaking ready to do this, but also so emotional and grateful to be here. It was a crazy mix of emotions but then you realize that everybody there, including the audience were all there for the same reason. You know, at a rock concert, everyone goes for a different reason. Some people want to see one certain band, others go just to casually be there and others go to be strictly at the barricade, but everyone was for the same reason. Once Ozzy came out and he started clapping, everyone realized this is the last time we’ll clap with Ozzy and they all started crying. I’m still trying to find the words to describe exactly how it felt, but it was totally incredible. So absolutely to have been a part of it.
Taylor
I got goosebumps just hearing you talk about it. I think you were the only woman to perform as well?
Lzzy Hale
That’s true. It’s so funny because when we first got asked to do this, we weren’t sure who was on the lineup and then all of a sudden it was announced and I didn’t even think about it until people started talking about it. It’s interesting, especially being in a band full of guys the majority of my life, I don’t always put that as the first tick on the box you know. I usually forget until I’m surrounded and then I’m like oh yeah, I guess I am the only woman here. That being said, during Gojira’s set they had a female opera singer make a guest appearance, so I was like aha, see I’m not the only one, but what an honor. I got to briefly talk to Sharon Osbourne about it and she was very grateful to have me involved and representing. It’s just one of those things where I’m like let me do my thing and show everybody why I’m here.
Taylor
You’re always representing women in rock and who listen to rock and I really appreciate it.
Lzzy Hale
Just by existing and doing your thing and not giving up, that’s the biggest thing. You need to keep the train moving however you can. I was talking to Amy Lee (Evenescence) about it a couple years ago when we were out on tour and she was like when we were younger we felt such pressure when we became these role models for young girls coming up but you know what even if we’re a little messy, even if we’re imperfect, being unapologetically ourselves is just as important. Nobody can be perfect but you can be authentic and I feel like that has been the goal these past couple of years. For most of us things are going to get weird and that’s kind of the superpower, thrive in the chaos.
Taylor
Your authenticness is what inspires me a lot. I feel like I can embrace being weird and be myself and it’s okay, it doesn’t matter.
Lzzy Hale
Thank you so much.
Taylor
Top 5 desert island albums?
Lzzy Hale
Hmm, let’s see. I love the new Turnstile record, NEVER ENOUGH, that’s been floating around in my brain. Probably Wild Flowers by Tom Petter, you can’t really go wrong with that. One of my childhood favourites, Love It To Death by Alice Cooper. I usually go with Holy Diver by Dio, but I think I’m going to end up going with Black Sabbath, Mob Rules because that’s an amazing record. And just for the hell of it, because we were talking about Ozzy, I’m going to choose Osmosis, that’s one of my favourites from the nineties.
Taylor
All great choices!
Lzzy Hale
It’s so funny because it’s such an impossible question because there’s so much more than five but then you’re like, okay, desert island, you can only bring five. That why it would suck to be on a desert island *laughs*.
Taylor
I always try to answer the question myself and I’ll pick five, but then I’m always like but oh this album and that album.
Thank you so much again for taking the time to speak with me, I really appreciate it.
Lzzy Hale
You’re welcome! Thank you for doing this and I hope to see you soon.
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