Music / Feature
HAAL: The quartet adding post-industrial rock to the city’s musical soundscape
HAAL are Alfie Hay (guitar/vocals), Joe Collins (bass), Joe Frost (drums) and Ethan Jones (synthesisers/sampling).
Having met at school in Tiverton, Devon, they moved to Bristol in 2018 under the pretence of going to university.
“In reality we just wanted the loan to live off so we could move out of our mums’ houses and get immersed in Bristol’s music and art scene,” Alfie tells Bristol24/7.
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With no direct line into the music industry, the quartet moved from band to band, with two of the members, Joe Collins and Alfie Hay, performing in a shoegaze band before they disbanded.
Following the disbandment, there was a music shaped hole longing to be filled for the musicians.
“I turned my attention to forming a group that would perform songs I’d been writing on my own for fun and HAAL came as a result,” Alfie explains.
The band released their first single, Memorial, in 2021 followed by their singles Janus, Judy and their newest track, Platform 1, 18:19, which was released last month.
Combining elements of post-rock, trip-hop, and industrial music, Platform 1, 18:19 features heavy guitar sounds and Hay’s bleak vocals, an undercurrent of doom underlying the track making it haunting and atmospheric.
This industrial post-rock sound comes from the band’s childhood tastes: “We all come from varying musical backgrounds and I think that’s what informs our weird sound, as it’s very much an amalgamation of what we all grew up listening to.
“I’m very into metal and post-hardcore music, leaning towards Nine Inch Nails and early Biffy Clyro, whereas Ethan on the other hand produces house music and brings that electronic influence and knowledge to the band.
“Discovering what each other liked and finding an intersection of sorts between these influences led us to our sound.”
It’s a intriguing look into what’s to come for their debut EP, Back To Shilmarine, which is due out on May 10. Promising a snapshot of their formative years, the EP promises to be a continuation of the explosion of sound found in the EP’s first single.
Recorded at the studio in the cellars of The Louisiana, the EP was produced by Alfie Tyson-Brown, someone who Alfie claims is “nothing short of an audio genius.”
The band are keen to stress that they are a grassroots, DIY band and like many artists in the city, HAAL is a complete passion project for them, giving them the space to exercise their creativity and execute their vision.
The band’s music is intrinsically linked with their art and visuals. photo: @destructionmanual
The band excute this vision not only through their music but also through their art and visuals, collaborating with photographers, graphic designers and film makers.
“We’re not very interesting to look at when we play live, so if we can have artists accompany our music projecting their visuals behind us, it gives the audience something more interesting to watch,” Alfie tells us.
“We’re not personally a fan of taking press photos too much, as we feel it can really only satisfy a vague sense of narcissism that we don’t have, so to do a shoot that showcases our friend’s art and talent by wearing the costumes they made for us felt more fitting for us a band and people.”
Fusing art and music, genre with genre, HAAL are proving themselves to be an exciting new offering to the city’s music soundscape, we can’t wait to see them rise.
Back To Shilmarine is available for pre-save at https://haal.ffm.to/backtoshilmarine
HAAL will be performing at Rough Trade on May 18 for their EP launch show, tickets are on sale now at https://hdfst.uk/e105497
Main photo: Jess Agnew
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