HALLEY: Delving into the Philosophy of Loving Each and Every Individual

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).

-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.

“A Band Embodies a Fusion of Reality and Fantasy. HALLEY Engages in a Form of Mutual Validation.” (Toyama)

-What was your idea of “the flow of time,” and how did you express it in this work?

Takahashi (Ba): In music, time flows from the moment you press the start button until it ends. In the artwork for “Daze” (1st EP released on September 1, 2023), I expressed the moment when the concept of time began with the Big Bang and the birth of the earth and light. I think there is an affinity between that and the kind of jam-like music we like to do, such as sessions, where one piece of music starts to flow and everyone converges on it. I took the liberty of overlapping those meanings.

Taehyun: That’s very nice.

-Music is a time art, and I think HALLEY is very particular about how to create a cathartic flow from the beginning to the end of each song, and how to create a groove while adjusting the unit of 0.1 second or 0.01 second. I think they are very particular about how to create a groove by adjusting the units of 0.1 or 0.01 seconds.

All: Yay!

Shimizu: Indeed, music and time are inseparable, or rather, they exist together.

Taehyun: Where time flows, there are people, and when there are people, emotions are born, and people who are moved by emotions live again. The time period of “From Dusk Till Dawn” is ambiguous, so there are times when we are lost, times when we experience joy, sorrow, and happiness, times when we can clearly express our self-statements, times when we take a little detour and sing about our love for others, and times when the songs tell their own stories. I think that the twists and turns depicted in each of the 12 songs is what makes this album worth listening to. So when I am asked, “What do you think of time? I would say that time is the trajectory of our lives up to now, and that is what this album is about.

Shimizu: It is the trajectory of HALLEY’s personality from the time we formed the band to the release of the album.

Toyama: “From Dusk Till Dawn” is “time” as an abstract concept, the previous EP is a unit of “days” by intertwining “Daze” and “Days,” and the three singles are separated by one more unit: “day” (1st Sg “Set Free”), “night” (2nd Sg “Whim”), “morning” (2nd Sg “Whim”), and “night” (2nd Sg “Whim”). ), and “morning” (3rd Sg “Breeze”).

Toyama: I think the band itself has a real but unrealistic aspect to it. For example, people you meet in college come to our live concerts, but just by being in a live music club, things change a little, don’t they?　I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a fantasy, but I feel that the …… band is real, but in a fantastical way. I had this image of the band to begin with, and I feel like I’m trying to answer that question with HALLEY. I also wanted to express that kind of unrealistic nature of the band in my work.

That’s why I decided to make the last song “Write Me a Love Song” a time to come back (to reality), so I decided to make it a song that I play along. When I was making this album, I used “Spirited Away” as a reference. I was thinking that it would be nice if I could make a piece about the time spent walking through the tunnel.

Emulating Overseas Musicians: Recreating the Atmosphere of Recording in a House Studio

-There is an aspect of “great as music” that simply means that the “sound” is very good, how did you proceed with the production? Goto Ichikawa is credited as both engineer and arranger. You are from the same generation, right?

Nishiyama： Actually, I met him the same day I met HALLEY.

Toyama: The demo sound was made in Logic Pro, but the final master was created in Ableton. In the process of that work, I get opinions from Goto saying, “Maybe we should do this a little better,” and he gives me ideas like a member, so his name is also on the arrangements.

Shimizu: He is like the sixth member of HALLEY. To begin with, he is a drummer, Eisyu. He is a good drummer, and he also plays behind Eishu-kun. He is a good drummer and also does track making. Again, he did everything from drum tech to recording, mixing, and mastering. He generously shares his knowledge with us. When asked, “How did you create this sound?” I am asked, “It’s just Goto and his house (laughs).

Nishiyama: The name “STUDIO HALLEY” is listed in the credits, but that is actually Goto’s house. We all went there and recorded all night long, except for the drums.

Tayama: I stayed there for about 6 nights in a row (laughs).

Taehyun: I almost lived there (laughs).

Takahashi: We wanted to do something similar to the environment in which overseas musicians record in a house studio.

Nishiyama: It was quite significant that the musicians and the engineer were very close, and we were able to communicate with each other easily. The songs that have been released up to now were all re-mixed and changed at the time of the album.

-What songs did you find particularly responsive?

Shimizu: “Lemonade” I think.

Toyama: I was thinking of “Lemonade” too.

Nishiyama: I was thinking of “From Dusk Till Dawn”.

-What do you feel about “Lemonade”?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmgmNpKbFcA

Shimizu: In the recording stage, we had a few conversations about “Isn’t this song cool? Shimizu: In the recording stage, we were excited about this song several times. The drum sound, piano and guitar sound, mixing, and mastering were all completed with this song. This song really opened my eyes to the whole album. After completing “Lemonade,” it was inevitable that “Comfy” and “From Dusk Till Dawn” were also completed. I could see that if I used these plug-ins and mixed them in this way, I could get a good temperature. My sense is that when we finished mastering and listened to them, we were all like, “This is cool, isn’t it?” I remember being like that.

All: It was cool, wasn’t it?

Shimizu: The vocals, of course, but also the guitar, bass, keys, drums, and all the performances were so cool. Referring to Robert Glasper’s “Black Radio III” and RR=NOW, I had an image of “battle” against the artists I admired. I spent a whole day listening to “Black Radio III” and comparing it to “Lemonade,” and thinking about how well the kick, snare, and hi-hat on the drums were winning, and how much the kick and snare were winning, while the hi-hat was losing. Hi-hat loses” (laughs).

Taehyun: There is a mix engineer named Cue Million, and he mixes most of the records we refer to. So in the end, I thought I was in a tie with Cue Million the whole time (laughs). (Laughs.) What’s great about his sound is that it’s all very grainy. Lemonade” is a song in which each of the five members plays a single role, but we were able to adjust the sound so that each of them can be heard in all the parts where they should be.

Shimizu: Each of them is doing something cool, so we struggled a lot to make the coolness of the song be heard properly.

Taehyun: How was “Lemonade” from the bassist’s point of view?

Takahashi: It was tough. It was traumatically difficult (laughs). It was the hardest part. It was difficult to mix the feel of “Lemonade” with what I wanted to do. The feel was almost like beat jazz. But I did my best to fill it in and balance it out.

Shimizu: If we tried to be 100%, we would see Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, and others who still need to continue to challenge themselves. So we focused on how we would verbalize our ideas, and tried to make our good points visible.

Taehyun: While recording “Lemonade,” I could see the room for growth for each of us, but it was also the most satisfying thing we had done so far. I was able to see both the challenges and the results, so I have a strong attachment to it.

-How do you feel about “From Dusk Till Dawn”?

Taehyun: In my opinion, “Lemonade” is more about the playership, but “From Dusk Till Dawn” is more about the arrangement and the structure of the song. From Dusk Till Dawn” is a song that is more about arrangement and song structure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzU7Bjkxnsg

Nishiyama： “Lemonade” was a challenge, but “From Dusk Till Dawn” is like “I put everything I like in it. From Dusk Till Dawn” has a slightly old-fashioned essence that I like, and on the opposite end of the spectrum from a challenge, I feel like it is filled with things I like, my hobbies, and my obsessions.

Shimizu: Because the keyboard is packed with the sounds of Rose, YAMAHA CP, Hammond organ, and uprights, …… (laughs).

Taehyun: There is a big chorus part at the end, which was also recorded in a room. But it was too masculine (laughs). I recorded it with my back voice, but I wondered how I could make it sound feminine. It was a good memory, and I think it turned out to be a great song.

Embracing Affection: Recognizing Love for Each Individual Audience (Taehyun)

-Please tell us about some of the lyrics. “Who is He?” is a song about the main concept of the album from a different angle than “Time” that you have talked about. How would you describe this song?

Shimizu: Apart from the main concept of time in the first place, it is also an album that sings about “love” as the consistency of the lyrics as a whole.

https://open.spotify.com/intl-ja/track/3O4q9pG8NqKzK6sizxpJHI

Taehyun: Yes, it is love for “He”. I am singing as time as well as the object of what I am singing about and what I believe in.

People keep asking who I sang for, who I lived for, who I prayed for, who I love, and in the midst of it all, I sometimes think, “I’m the one who didn’t go in the direction I wanted to go. And yet it’s me, and that’s who I am. It’s a song that makes you question the purpose of what this song exists for, what this album is for. Is it for “He,” or is it for me singing it, or is it for the people listening to it–I wanted to leave that up to the listener. I wanted to convey the point that it doesn’t matter what you think, so I chose a questioning title.

-“The band is not a band, but a group of people who are in love with each other.

Taehyun: There was a time when I forgot what I was doing music for and just played music, as I was being told that “bands are a popular business” and so on. I was just clinging on, just trying to survive. At those times, I went back to, “What is the reason I was born with this voice?” And I went back to it.

I was given this voice, and I have band members who can write songs. I live in Japan, and I am able to make good music. I have an environment in which I can produce. Amidst all this, was it just to survive?This is my own answer to that question. In the end, I wonder if I am crying for someone else, or if I am crying for my own purpose. That is the meaning of the lyrics.

-I was told earlier about the specific aspects of the sound production that make this work so wonderful as music, but now I would like to hear about the abstract aspects as well. I think that the five of us are all looking at the same thing in terms of “why we do music” and “what is the appeal of music,” as you just said, although of course we may not be in 100% agreement. I think that’s why the music itself and the atmosphere that surrounds it are born.

Toyama： We are very fortunate to be able to make music. I believe in the ripple effect of making and offering music, and if the people who listen to it think something, even just a little, then society will change a little bit. We are doing this with the mindset that it will lead to world peace, albeit indirectly. Since we have gathered people who can make music, we want to make good things, and I think that is where we are headed.

Takahashi： Before starting HALLEY, I had little to put into it. Now, there are times when I feel pain through music, and there are times when I listen to music and try my best. I want to do music while being thankful to everyone, including everyone in HALLEY, and I want to return the favor.

Taehyun: Every time we perform, we form a circle and pray before starting to play. I think it is the job of those who play to play and those who sing to sing to speak, and I believe that communicating is a kind of mission or duty to those who have been given the gift. We have these wonderful tools, so we need to use them to communicate. I am grateful to have been given that gift, but I also feel a sense of responsibility, so in order to fulfill it, I have to give 100% when I am performing, and I try to give more than just the meaning of the lyrics in my voice and performance, as well as in my words.

When I think about what I am feeling now, it is love. When I think about what this feeling is that I have for everyone who performs, I think it is love for each and every one of them. I guess it is the feeling that I am living for love. I want to bring peace and healing to people, but why is that?　When people ask me, “Because I love you,” I say, “Because I love you.

Toyama: That’s the kind of mindset I have, so I don’t want to make music that “only those who understand can understand. I don’t want it to end with “those who don’t understand don’t understand. We want our thoughts to be conveyed to all kinds of people, and we hope that it will lead us in a better direction.