- Words Notion Staff
- Photography Tom Nicholas Lewis
Hallie chats to us on the day of her single release about all things “Love!”, life and future plans.
Singer, songwriter, and producer Hallie has really nailed the indie-rock anthem. An artist ever inspired by their life experiences, Hallie’s music explores the fluidity of their emotions, identity, sexuality and gender in tracks like this years’, “Do It”.
New track, “Love!”, is quintessential euphoric pop, and comes as the Australian newcomer announces a debut EP due early next year, ‘This Is Love’. Nostalgic and brimming with noughties goodness, heartfelt and relatable lyrics bring the track very much into the present.
Hallie’s already toured with Spacey Jane, Mallrat, Stella Donnelly, and Didirri, and their previous single “Babysitter” was nominated for Queensland Music Awards in Best Rock earlier this year. Set for bigger things as 2022 draws to a close, we caught up with Hallie to find out the story behind the single, creative direction behind the video, plans for the future and more. Dive in!
Hey, how are things? Huge congrats on the release of your latest track “Love!”. You just announced the news of your forthcoming debut studio EPs, how are you feeling for the releases?
Thank you so much; I am so so so excited. The EP is called ‘This is Love’ and it’s all about exploring myself and the relationships and dynamics in my life. I’ve never written a body of work that feels so authentically me and this EP has been helped me grow and reflect so much. Being able to share it so soon feels surreal and honestly I’m just itching to get it out. I couldn’t be more proud of it.
With the new release of “Love!”, would you say this track is a bit of the first taste of what to expect on your upcoming full-length project?
Definitely, “Love!” was the first demo I wrote off of the EP and was such a big inspiration sonically and conceptually for the rest of the writing. This song introduced this 00s/90s vibe that kind of seeped into the rest of my songs from then on. It was also the first song I had written in a while that I felt really passionate and excited about.
As a singer-songwriter and producer, which of the two do you find comes easier? The songwriting process or producing?
Historically I would say the songwriting. I grew up listening to folk and storytellers, so the lyrics and melodies have come quite naturally. For this EP I definitely pushed myself when co-producing it with Oscar Sharah, and really thought about how I could further tell the story sonically. I feel much more passionate about production since the process of making this EP.
“Love!” was written and produced with Oscar Sharah, what was it like to collaborate with them?
Incredible. I’ve never felt so understood creatively before. As an AFAB in the industry I definitely felt like there wasn’t a place for me in production and found it hard to trust myself when collaborating, but Oscar was such a safe space where I could explore my sound and trust my opinions, or know when to trust his. Working with him helped a lot with my confidence. He also just got the Hallie sound straight away. He’s also a genius. I love Oscar.
You’ve also released a cool music video for “Love!”. What was the creative scope and direction like for this release?
When initially writing “Love!” It was a romantic love song, but recently in my life I’ve had a lot more focus on my platonic relationships, so I got all my besties to join me in the video! It was a really fun and challenging creative mission – I’d directed my videos before, but writing a script and choreographing a dance was all very new to me. It felt really inner child to be able to be silly and dance around with my friends. I’m super grateful for the experience and I hope everyone feels nostalgic watching it.
How would you describe the personal aesthetic of Hallie?
I would describe the Hallie world as nostalgic currently. I’ve been healing and connecting with my inner child a lot as of recent, and it’s definitely affected the music I listen to (hence the 2000s inspirations in my music) as well as my aesthetic, my visuals and writing themes. It’s been really fulfilling doing what my eight-year-old self would have loved to do.
Who are some of your musical influences?
At the moment Beabadoobee and Maude Latour – it was similar when writing the EP but I went further into the archives – I was hitting Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, The Veronicas and lots of other 2000s classics.
You released the track “Babysitter” at the beginning of the year, which was nominated for Queensland Music Awards in Best Rock. That’s great, how are you feeling about the current reception for your journey in music so far?
I feel really proud and excited that it’s connecting with people! I think the more authentic I feel making music the more I notice others receiving it well and I just love the feeling of connecting with people so much. I just hope I’ve made someone feel seen by writing openly and honestly.
Bringing it back to your debut EP, what themes and emotions can we expect throughout this project?
To put it simply, it’s about love. ‘This is Love’ touches on being in love, falling out of love, feeling heartbreak and then finding yourself again and exploring connections, specifically queer ones, with a new found perspective. It’s basically a condensed journal entry from a year of my life.
You’ve previously toured with Spacey Jane, Mallrat, Stella Donnelly, and Didirr and not long ago supported Alex Lahey on her nationwide tour. How has your previous touring experience been? Are you excited to embark on your own touring experience once your debut EP is out?
I really do love touring and performing! I find it hard, like lots of musicians do, just because of the intensity of the job, but there’s always something new and I always feel like I’ve learnt so much about myself when I come home. I would love to do a debut EP tour, hopefully we can make it happen.
Having toured with a handful of artists already, are there any musicians, or bands who you’d love to work with in the future?
I would love to venture out from Australia and play with Holly Humberstone, Beabadoobee, Ryan Betty, Maude Latour, Wolf Alice and so many others. These are all artists who really excite and inspire me and to play alongside them or work with them would be a dream
What’s next for Hallie?
I have been gathering some of my demos and I’m going to go finish and produce them very soon. This EP has sparked something in me and I just want to keep writing more so, be ready!