Lzzy Hale wants to clear the air. Backstage in Birmingham on her band’s first headline arena tour of the UK – an achievement 15 years in the making – she’s been animatedly discussing the band’s many achievements. Among them: Grammy nominations and wins, massive gigs with bands like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden and Slipknot, and bringing sex positivity back to metal long before Baddiecore was stirring in the sheets. Now Hammer puts our foot in the door by asking if the band will make it big with songs like Bite with love (I do too), Do not disturb and I’m leaving fall under the “christian rock” banner.
Lzzy gives us a ‘Really?’ look, shrugs and clarifies: “Halestorm were never a Christian rock band. We just got marketed that way for a while.”
“My brother and I grew up Presbyterian, went to church all the time, and my first time singing in front of people was in choir,” Lzzy explains. “But when we started getting into rock’n’roll in middle school, our teachers would berate us – ‘Where is Jesus in this?’ It made me realize that religion, this man’s idea of what Christianity should be, is not the goal. The goal is to be the best person that you can and go after what you love, see people for who they actually are and not judge them. Our team was the last act of resistance. ”
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Halestorm was never a Christian rock band. We’ve just been sold that way for a while
Lizzie Hale
Although formed in 1997, it wasn’t until 2009 that Halestorm released their self-titled debut. By that point, Lzzy had been in the band almost half her life. The Hale siblings were the only constant members until guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith joined in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Joe remembers his first meeting with Lzzy as being… intense.
“You came to me!” He laughs. “She was shaking my hand really vigorously and I was amazed because her speaking voice was really low. It was like, ‘This is very aggressive, it’s intimidating…’ Arejay was like 15 by that point, so he was basically bouncing off the walls.”
Like the Hale brothers, Joe aspired to be a music star for years. While growing up in Wisconsin, he had heard Nirvana and decided he wanted to form a band. After a year living in the UK (“I’d go to the market in Worcester to buy cheap CDs,” he fondly recalls), his family moved back to the States, and he formed his first bands.
“We found out, I played my first ever show in mid-August 1997, the same month Lzzy played her first gig a few counties away,” Joe reveals. “We were on a collision course.”
But like everything in the Halestorm story, it would take time for things to come together. To secure a record deal, the band played showcases for just about every major label that dealt in rock. They were facing a fierce battle.
It paid off. In June 2005, the band signed to Atlantic Records. The first recording attempt, at Johnny K’s studio in Chicago, did not produce any usable material. However, they continued to work at their crafts. Halestorm songs were written with the live experience in mind, every song built around “moments that could make the crowd scream,” Lzzy says. In 2006, they went on their first major tour, opening for Flyleaf, Shinedown and Seether on the 2006 SnoCore Tour. It was a learning experience.
Some of those early trips were debauched
Lizzie Hale
That trip may have saved Halestorm’s career. Although their only release at that point was a live EP, fan enthusiasm was such that they could shift up to 500 copies a night.
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Although their Chicago gig had not worked out, Atlantic invited Halestorm to Los Angeles to try again to record their first album. Rock’n’roll nerds that they were, Halestorm delighted in spending nights on the Sunset Strip, retracing the steps of their favorite bands. They ended up staying in LA for a whopping 19 months.
“We lived through it all – the floods, the floods, the fires… It was the full LA experience,” Lzzy recalls with a laugh.
First class time, I’m Leaving it was written in an LA hotel lobby. Playing a weekly residency at the Viper Room, Halestorm had been roadtesting material and quickly recognized that they wanted something bold as their opening statement. I Get Off was that. Anchored on a powerhouse vocal from Lzzy, the song’s lyrical content appeared to relish in exhibitionism. But as Lzzy admits, the meaning was less about sexual themes and more tied to her experiences as a vocalist.
“The phrase started out as something really dumb – I love the fact you love me,” she reasons. “That steadily devolved into ‘I get off on you getting off on me.’ It’s funny, the reaction, even from management, went from like, ‘This is amazing!’ to say, ‘Are you sure you want to say this?'”
As far as bold opening statements go, I’m leaving did the job. Released on March 10, 2009, it quickly climbed the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay chart, peaking at number six. It was the first indication that all of the band’s hard work had paid off, and for Lzzy the first real validation that speaking openly about her sexuality could be celebrated.
However, not everyone agreed. After the hedonist heights of the 80s, sex had become a surprisingly dirty topic in heavy metal and some reviewers denounced Halestorm’s debut for its “unappealing” sexual themes, one site decrying it as “low-grade stripper music.” However, Lzzy has no regrets.
“It makes a lot of people uncomfortable… I like doing that!” He says with a cheeky grin. “It’s your problem, not mine.”
It makes a lot of people uncomfortable… I love doing that!
Lizzie Hale
The haters were quickly overtaken by new fans. Among them were the members of recently-resurrected metal legends Heaven And Hell, the Ronnie James Dio-fronted iteration of Black Sabbath. On August 29, 2009, they invited Halestorm to open for them. It turned out to be Ronnie’s last party.
“I remember seeing Ronnie and Geezer [Butler]
“Geezer wrote about it in his book,” Joe adds. “They wanted to take us on a journey with them.”
He says: “We ended up spending the night with them, spending some time until two in the morning. I remember saying, ‘Thank you for taking the time for us – I’d have understood if you were too tired.’ He turned and wagged his finger in my face and said, ‘Lzzy, this is a moment in time. You won’t remember all the places you play or all the people you meet, but they will remember you for the rest of their lives. So make it good for everyone.’ At the time I figured it was just advice for my fans, but afterwards I realized he made that moment for us.”
I’m leaving remains a staple of Halestorm teams today. It was a big, bold declaration from the band that announced their arrival to the world, and a song that still holds a special place in Lzzy’s heart almost 20 years on.
“We’re going down!” He smiles. “For as long as we’ve had that song, every time I play it live it’s new for me. We start the song and look out, and not just the front row but everyone is singing their heads off. It’s amazing how different people react to it differently.”
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