Q&A: Hataałii Releases His Most Intimate Album Yet with ‘I’ll Be Around’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
Photography Credit: Ryan del Rosario
SINGER, SONGWRITER AND POET — Hataałii returns with I’ll Be Around, an unvarnished and deeply personal collection of wintry folk-country that captures the essence of solitude and longing. While his signature poeticism still lingers in the margins, this album marks Hataałii at his most raw and earnest—offering elegant elegies for burnt-out romantics navigating the wreckage of heartbreak.
Accompanying the album is the release of “She Ain’t Coming Back,” a stunning introduction to I’ll Be Around.
“This might also be the saddest song on the album, if not in my entire catalog,” Hataałii says. “It’s like if Batman got broken up with during a solar eclipse and it started raining blood or something. The twelve-string guitar sounds like stars in someone’s eyes, while the cellos pull you into a dark current.”
Recorded in a small shed in Albuquerque, I’ll Be Around thrives on its sense of stripped back acoustics and organic production. “I think I got a little tired of doing the whole ‘professional studio’ thing,” he says. “Sometimes it feels good to put out music that sounds like it was recorded in a shed.” And it does—organic, unpolished, and deeply lived-in, the album hums with the kind of energy that can only come from a space where the walls are thin and no one is around to interrupt.
Beyond its atmosphere, I’ll Be Around is also a testament to Hataałii’s relentless creative spirit. “I also ended up playing every goddamn instrument, again,” he says, nodding to the layers of cello, lap steel, and twelve-string acoustic guitar throughout the album.
With I’ll Be Around, Hataałii releases his most unfiltered and intimate work yet—an album that doesn’t beg for attention but demands to be felt—a slow-burning, wintry reflection on heartbreak, absence and the quiet beauty found in imperfection.
Photography Credit: Ryan del Rosario
LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked about your last record Waiting For A Sign. I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked.
HATAAŁII: I've been living here in Albuquerque, and honestly, not much has changed since we last spoke. I can’t quite remember what was happening in my life back then—it’s pretty much the same, just more time has passed.
LUNA: Your newest single release “She Ain’t Coming Back” is an introduction to the album. You've described it as possibly the saddest song in your entire catalog. What drew you to such a stark and heavy narrative as the introduction?
HATAAŁII: The entire album carries a certain mood—it's the closest thing I've ever made to a sad record. But I wouldn’t necessarily call it that; it's more raw and gritty than outright melancholic.
LUNA: You’ve released your seventh album I’ll Be Around and congratulations! It feels like a natural evolution of your sound while staying rooted in the storytelling tradition. What is the inspiration behind the album and what themes and emotions do you explore?
HATAAŁII: I’ve been into acoustic, singer-songwriter music for a while, but it really clicked with me when I was working on that album. I found myself listening to a lot of Neil Young, Richard Hawley and Julia Holter. The whole album was recorded in this tiny shed behind my friend’s house, which is probably why it has that raw, garage-like sound. But honestly, I love that—it gives it a certain charm.
LUNA: You recorded the album in a small shed in Albuquerque as opposed to a traditional studio setting. How did that setting influence the sound and mood of the record?
HATAAŁII: It was really nice, actually. My very first album was recorded in a shed, and I haven’t done that since then. There’s something special about it—like, sometimes it gets too hot or too cold, and you can’t do much about it, but that adds to the charm. Plus, being in a shed, you can make all the noise you want, and no one’s really going to notice. It’s like being outside, in a way. Another thing I want to mention is that this album is the first time I’ve used lap steel and cello. I got both of those instruments last summer while recording, and I think they had a huge influence on the sound. Just learning to play them really shaped the direction of the album.
LUNA: Do you think this more DIY approach is something you'll stick with moving forward?
HATAAŁII: I've always made music on my own. It's just a matter of if I want to release it like that, or re-record it. I don't think so. If anything, I think I would like to hire a professional studio musician if I got the opportunity for the next album.
LUNA: What did a typical writing and recording session look like? Did you approach it differently compared to Waiting For A Sign?
HATAAŁII: I would just get there and it would be either really hot or really cold. I guess it really wasn't that different from other albums I've made. It's just that with the songs that I did with Danger Bird, I would re-record those with people who knew what they were doing. Whereas this one, I just released it as I recorded it first, kind of a first take situation.
LUNA: You played every instrument on this album—from cello to lap-steel to 12-string acoustic guitar. What was the most challenging part of that process?
HATAAŁII: I'd say the violin is pretty hard. There's some violin in there and the 12-string was pretty hard. The first song that's going to be on the album, recording that with the 12 string guitar was the first time I had ever recorded anything with a 12-string that really messes up your fingers.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners will use I’ll Be Around as a soundtrack to their own personal experiences?
HATAAŁII: The songs are pretty simple. They're not really conveying anything too deeply. I like to think of it as cruising music with the window down, yeah. Music to smoke a cigarette to.
LUNA: What is your favorite song from I’ll Be Around ? and why do you love this song? Is there a certain element, lyric or message that you gravitate towards the most?
HATAAŁII: I've been listening to “When She Looks At Me.” Something about it just reached farther in a certain direction that I really want to continue going in.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the upcoming year look like for you that you would love to share with Luna?
HATAAŁII: I'm feeling pretty good just playing a lot of shows locally here in Albuquerque. My friend Jacob and I, we've just been playing shows around town.
