HALLEY’s debut album, “From Dusk Till Dawn,” showcases remarkable quality and potential, delivering exceptional content. During this interview, we explore the genesis of this rich musical journey, delving into specific aspects of sound production and the philosophical inspirations from the five individuals reflected in the lyrics and the overall ambiance of the album.
In the album’s closing track, “Write Me a Love Song,” the lyrics convey, “I love you” isn’t enough.” What emerges from this interview is HALLEY’s fundamental aspiration as artists to convey “love.” Yet, love and emotions transcend mere words. Therefore, HALLEY channels the unspoken through the vibrations of sound. The resulting music by HALLEY embodies a beauty that can only be described as “musical.”
INDEX
I Believe Our Genuine Love for Music, for Each Other, and the Bond We’ve Built among the Five of Us are Clearly Portrayed in the Album. (Taehyun)
-I thought the album “From Dusk Till Dawn” was a wonderful work, and I think it will be the band’s most iconic work in the future, for sure. What’s great about it is that it’s just great as “music” anyway.
Nishiyama (Key): I am most pleased.
Shimizu (Dr): I don’t need anything else (laughs).
(From left to right) Kay Takahashi (Ba), Shin Nishiyama (Key), Taehyun (Vo), Naoto Shimizu (Dr), Haru Toyama (Gt) A five-member R&B band based in Tokyo. Formed in May 2021 after meeting at Waseda University’s Black Music Circle “THE NALEIO.” Strongly influenced by Jazz, R&B, Soul, Gospel, and Funk, their sound evokes the context of Black music while being pop-oriented. They released digital singles “Set Free,” “Whim,” and “Breeze” consecutively for three months from May 2023, followed by a digital EP, “Daze,” in September. On March 8, 2024, they released their first album “From Dusk Till Dawn”. They are set to perform at SXSW2024 in Austin, Texas, USA.
-In this interview, I would like to explore how this sound and the atmosphere that surrounds it was born, while verbalizing “wonderful music” more in detail. First of all, could you tell us how the theme “From Dusk Till Dawn” came about?
Taehyun (Vocalist): It also includes our background and origins, but I think the most important thing is “the time we spend doing music. I think the strongest meaning of this album is that we were really playing music from night to morning, and we put our music that was born during that time into this album.
Nishiyama： That was the time when we gathered. We gathered in the evening and worked until morning. It was very life-size.
Toyama (Gt): I always liked to think about the core concept of the band. Actually, I had been thinking about the third album of HALLEY for about two years, and I had decided to work backward from there and make the first album with the theme of “time”.
I have an image of the band itself as both a personality and a work of art, and when I thought about what I wanted to do first in the process of completing HALLEY, I thought, “Then, what is the time that HALLEY has? I wanted to expand and shape the “time of production,” as Taehyun said. As a starting point, I had my own experience that this time period was closely related to the moment when the band was going well. I thought that if I could anticipate that experience, it would work, and I also wanted to give it a form.
Taehyun: But what is strange is that the lyrics of “Whim,” for example, were already written by me before we shared about the album (e.g., “Till the sun lights the clouds in the east,” “The same morning light as yesterday,” etc.), and I had already written some of the lyrics in my solo work before forming HALLEY. There was also a song called “Shinonome” in my solo work before I formed HALLEY. There were many other times when we were all thinking the same thing, and our intentions were in sync with each other.
Toyama： We had an idea in our heads of where we wanted the 12 or so songs to be, and when we talked about how it would be nice to have a song called “Daydream” as the first song, Taehyun wrote a song called “Daydream”. I think it was one of those coincidences. I think this is one of those pieces where there were coincidences.
Taehyun: One of the kind things about Haru (Toyama) is that he leaves the initial concept sheet pretty much empty. He only holds back the framework and the igniter of ideas and makes room for the other four people. So it reflects the five of us equally.
-“In our current discussion, I’ve noticed you’ve touched upon the reasons behind our ability to create remarkable music. Firstly, it’s due to the convergence of our intentions and connections, forming a unified purpose. Secondly, it pertains to esteeming ‘the band as a cohesive entity.’ While each of us is mindful of expressing our individual lives and experiences through music, within HALLEY, we also recognize the importance of transforming HALLEY into a collective narrative through our music and daily experiences. Hence, I believe this is why the notion emerged to ‘incorporate the time spent creating music within HALLEY into our artistic output.'”
Taehyun: Yes, exactly.
Toyama: Not a sound of a gut (laughs).
Nishiyama：That’s the natural way.
Taehyun: Yes, naturalness is also an important point. My way of writing lyrics is the same, but I don’t want to be cool. I’m not good at making myself look big, and I don’t think it’s cool, so it was a matter of how beautifully I could show our true selves as we are. We couldn’t show everyone what we looked like five seconds after waking up from sleep, so we had to put on makeup. We put in everything we could, but not in a vain or pretentious way. I think the music really depicts our sincere love for music, our love for each other, and the love that we have nurtured within the five of us, if we can show it in the work as it is.
