Haal

Words and Photographs by Cluny Powell

Settling down in Bristol’s oldest pub, The Hatchet Inn (whose front door has been rumoured to be made of human skin) with HAAL. We have our priorities straight: after a day of walking up and down Bristol’s steep hills and many stairs, we get our food and drinks orders in before we get down to business. Before we start, I get them to remind me of their names, because the immense amount of exercise had evidently affected my brain capacity. Swiftly followed by the question who are HAAL? 

After receiving some strange looks, Alfie Hay breaks the silence “It is us four - I do the guitars and the singing.” Going very respectfully around the table we’ve gathered round, Joe Collins introduces himself, “I play the bass, and do a bit of singing as well.” Ethan Jones chimes in, “I do some synths and some vocals” and Joe Frost says despairingly, “and I play drums”. 

No, you are not seeing things. HAAL band is made up of two Joes, an Ethan and an Alfie, (and we mustn’t forget their legendary manager George, who is one of the most organised people Alfie knows - besides his mum.) For those of you that haven’t heard or seen HAAL, I ask them how they describe the band. After handing the question over to George they reply, “I use post-industrial”, and everyone seems in agreement with this statement. For a more in- depth description of HAAL, Alfie suggests “bit of post-rock, bit of industrial, bit of math-rock sort of stuff. God, genre names are wanky, aren’t they? Post industrial. There we go.” So it’s decided. HAAL are a post-industrial band who dislike genre names, but who came here to read about music? Let’s get to know the boys. In the hope that the answer would be George, I asked the band who their role models are. A list of unaffiliated names followed: “You’ve got your Richard Walsh, you got your Jack Ogbourne, you got your Lawi, you got George, Miles Hastings... Bristol’s our role model.” I would like to clarify on behalf of HAAL that these are all people that have helped out the band in their many ventures. 

Politely interrupted by the waiter bringing over a chicken baguette, Joe F exclaims, “Ah yes, my role model is here.” 

I knew it was unfair of me to make four musicians try to think whilst in a pub, so I followed up with an easier question; what’s your favourite way to spend a Sunday? Alfie replies with, “Well this Sunday, we’re recording vocals for our new tunes... This is our part two at the Louisiana, with Tyson Brown - another shout out! He’s recording some vocals with us on Sunday. That’s a Sunday to be spent. Otherwise, get the train back to Devon and have Sunday roast with my Mum”. Bassist Joe agrees that a roast and a glass of wine is a great way to spend a Sunday. After a long chat about who is better at Mario Kart and who will win the Mario Kart lock in (Bristol isn’t all sex & drugs and rock & roll!), Alfie confirms, “that’s how we spend our Sunday”. 

It is evident that HAAL are big fans of Lawi and Mario Kart. I obviously have some deep set contempt towards these boys as I have now decided to ask them to count words: describe yourself in 3 words, no more no less. After using many more than three words to clarify how this was going to work, Joe F steps up and states, “I got mine mate; Rock. Driving and when I’m not driving, Beers”. With one out of four answers locked in Ethan looks directly in front of him and jokingly says what came to mind “Sriracha Chips... baby?” Luckily this is not a game show so we don’t have to take the first answer and he clarifies that his three words are “cooking, tunes and cigarettes”. Self deprecating Joe comes in with “lazy, boring and stupid” so at least HAAL are relatable to the many. Alfie suggests that that represents the whole band. I would have to disagree, although many more than three words have been said by now. In the hope of redeeming it we turn to Alfie, who suggests that he’s had an ego death over the past few years, lovely. In fact those are his chosen words, “lovely ego death”. 

If HAAL ever rebrand into lovely ego death, remember you read it here first, and I suggested it! While we’re on the topic, where did the name ‘HAAL’ come from, Alfie? “Ahh. We’ve got an answer! We wanted to be HAL with one A, cos we like films and it’s from Space Odyssey, but then we Googled it and it was already a band that signed to Rough Trade in the mid naughties called Hal. So then my friend who I was with when coming up with the band a couple of years ago put another A in it. That’s what bands do. I googled it to see if it had an actual meaning and it’s like a pillar of Islam, and it means creative, divine purpose and we’re like; fuck it, cool. That sounds good”. So it turns out we have Hal and Google to thank for the creation of HAAL (which can be pronounced hal or harl, I checked). So as it turns out HAAL is not a word that is made up of the first letter of their names, HEJJ or JEHJ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. 

Imagine, I suggest to them, that you’re stuck on a deserted island in the early 2000s with no way to escape, no food and no water, but there does happen to be a CD player there. Which four CDs would you take with you? 

HAAL pondered this scenario before suggesting: 

Alfie:
• Rage Against The Machine’s first album.
• Fantasy Black Channel by Late of The Pier.
• Biffy Clyro, Infinity Land.
• Atoms of the Peace, Self Titled
Joe:
• Fantasy Black Channel by Late of The Pier.
• English Riviera by Metronomy.
• Television, Marquee Moon.
• Funeral by Arcade Fire.
Ethan:
• Rust In Peace by Megadeath
• Superunknown by Soundgarden
• Evidence from a Good Source by Doms & Deykers • Wiggles, Self Titled.
Joe F:
• Queens of the Stoneage, Self Titled
• Hail To The Thief by Radiohead
• Surfer Rosa by The Pixies
• Choose Your Weapon by Hiatus Kaiyote. 

Do not fear, HAAL are not actually stuck on this very strange island so you still have a chance to see them play live. A HAAL gig is unlike any other: when venues permit it, they hang a mesh screen in front of them, and have their visuals guy up on stage with them, projecting the interesting visuals outwards. Having personally seen them play live at Outer Town Festival, I can confirm that they are quite loud but also an incredible, immersive experience that I would highly recommend. 

Three quarters of the band used to share a house and would often head out to gigs to check out the wealth of talent in the small city of Bristol. This inspired them to put together their own band and give it a shot. Outside of the Bristol music scene, they are inspired by “Prodigy. Nine Inch Nails. Biffy Clyro early stuff. Slint with Synths (we’re Slynths) and Scalping”. 

And now the all important question that I assume you’ve all been waiting for, what would you take out of a BLT? Both Joes are in agreement that it’s blasphemous to take anything out, Ethan would take the lettuce out, and Alfie would have a BL.