Halestorm have been smashing it out of the park for years now. They are consistently top of the tree playing live and are always a huge draw at festival time. Bass player Josh Smith (on the left in photo with drummer Arjay) joined us for a chat ahead of the band’s Opus stage headlining set.
We’re at the legendary Download Festival here in the UK. How do UK and European festivals compare to the ones in the US? What are the differences?
“The states have a lot to learn when it comes to festivals. They are getting better. Download though, it is a machine. It is so well run, it is a proper festival. UK fans are the best fans in the world. They make a place for people to come and rock and have fun together. I think that is coming back in the states but it has been lost for a while. Over here it’s in your blood, rock is in your DNA, and you can tell people here are proper music fans.”
You’ve come such a long way over time and this last year has been mega for you with the Ozzy tribute, playing the London Stadium with Iron Maiden and playing a huge headline tour as well. What does it mean to you to play to those audiences?
“It’s crazy. It’s what we want to do and to see it happening, especially here and to play the 02. We went there the night before to watch Radiohead and it was like, damn we’re playing here tomorrow night! I’m blown away at how it continues to grow and that the UK fans continue to support us.”
As a band you’ve done something many bands don’t do, for over 20 years you’ve retained the same line up. Presumably that stability is a key foundation to the strength of the writing?
“Absolutely, I think we created a base where the four of us can be totally honest with each other. We are family, we’re so close. We have always said it’s the four of us against the world and we’ve kept that mentality. We’re very fortunate for the four of us to still be together, and we still don’t have a back-up plan, and that’s what helps too. If you’re with people long enough you get to know the buttons you can push to upset someone. We know how we all tick. I could piss my wife off if I wanted to but I don’t, I want to make her happy, and it’s the same with the band. I love them.”
Your latest album Everest really saw you progress your sound. Do you see that as a sign that you’re musicians still pushing themselves, still hungry to create?
“Yes, with this album we went with a different producer because we wanted to shake up our routine, our pattern and get uncomfortable. Our producer Dave Cobb was very helpful in shaking it up. I mean we came in with ideas as we do and he was like, I want a new song right now. And that’s what happened every day, on the spot, a melody idea, a guitar riff, a lyric, drum beat, whatever it was, a piano part, that got us excited. That pushed us to create on the spot. It’s an album of first and second takes. There are mistakes in there but we captured something, and we bottled it. If we weren’t excited we’d move on. If the drums were taking too long to set up we’d work faster, because we didn’t want the excitement to leave the room. We had to capture it and it was really exciting. It was fun to be put under that kind of pressure, it was really special.”
Do you ever get any time off and if you do what do you like to do that isn’t music?
“Yes, in fact we’ve had quite a bit of time off this year which is a one off for us. Lzzy and Joe are going to hang out and play some acoustic shows in the UK and Ireland. But I’m going home. We have one more tour at the end of the year and some one offs here and there. Otherwise we’ve got time off. We still work at home. We’re together three or four times a week. When I’m home though I’m a husband and a dad. I have kids, and two dogs and a cat. We have a house that you know, I’m constantly fixing things. When I’m home I really prioritise family, for the time when I don’t have that, when I’m on tour.”
Download has a bit of a reputation for its mud and also for its sunshine too, it can get extreme in lots of ways over just a few days. What is your personal festival survival tip?
“Gosh, I can’t give you guys a tip on how to survive in the rain because you’re professionals. I feel like we’ve bought a lot of wellies and left them here. I’m not taking these mud caked things and putting them in my luggage. So yeah, bring wellies.”
Interview and photo by Gary Trueman