Q&A: The Hails Return with “Different Guy”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY GIGI KANG ☆
“I KNOW THAT ALL I WANT TO DO IS THIS—play shows and make albums,” Robbie Kingsley of The Hails shares with me over a call from the road. The band is on their co-headline tour with Never Ending Fall for the rest of March.
The care that The Hails put into their work is clear with each release, and it shines most through the core of the group: their friendship. Kingsley, Franco Solari, Dylan McCue, Andre Escobar, and Zach Levy formed at the University of Florida and have stuck together since then.
Kingsley and I chat about the guys approaching a decade of being a band, and why “Different Guy” was particularly exciting for them to release. It’s the first single since their album What’s Your Motive in 2022.
Kingsley describes the song as “something different [that] still makes sense within our sonic palette.”
There’s a certain resilience to “Different Guy,” an intentional unwavering going into The Hails’ next phase as a band.
“We’re not so different when you’re not afraid to die,” Kingsley sings.
Luna has talked to the band a few times before, and we’re more than thrilled for their upcoming music. Read the full conversation below.
LUNA: “Different Guy” is the first single since What’s Your Motive. What about this song felt like it was the right choice to kick off the band’s next phase?
KINGSLEY: It was partly because we liked it so much and partly because it was the first one ready. There’s a lot we’re working on and we’ve got a lot of different sounds that we’re trying out. We had Phil Joly approach us last summer saying that he was a fan. We loved his credits—he worked with The Strokes, Lana Del Rey. He had some ideas for the song and helped produce it.
We had just played Gov Ball, and it was an email out of nowhere. We said, “Why not? Let’s see where it goes.” We haven’t worked with someone that is as much of an industry veteran as he is, so that was a cool step in a new direction. We worked remotely—we still haven’t met him. So we were using the internet to bounce things back and forth, and it went really well. I love how the song sounds, and we definitely want to do some more with him.
We fell in love with the sound [of “Different Guy”]. It felt like a statement too, something different [that] still makes sense within our sonic palette.
LUNA: And Franco and Dylan co-produced the song?
KINGSLEY: Franco and Dylan are the main producers and engineers for the band. They’ve really spent a lot of time working in Logic and mastering their craft and sonic design. They add different ideas to all of our songs. They’re the ones that really birth our demos and make sure they’re getting closer to final production.
LUNA: In general, what would you guys say are your checkboxes for what makes a good collaborator?
KINGSLEY: Someone that’s receptive and wants to see where things go. Our first collaborator was our friend Matt Lewin who really helped bring our ideas to life. That was back when we were making some of our first songs and didn’t really know how to put a song down to a record. He was really receptive to all of our ideas and could play the guitar and bass and had ideas that he would throw on the recordings. So I think that’s always something we’ve looked for when it comes to production collaboration—someone that kind of becomes another band member. With Phil, it was remote but he did enough where he kind of flipped the song around, so it felt like he was in the room with us.
LUNA: Speaking of collaborators, you’re touring with Never Ending Fall. How has it been hitting the road with those guys? Were you friends before?
KINGSLEY: We had a connection through our management, so that was how the idea started. We both felt like we were at similar junctures in our careers. They have a really good online presence and they seem to have a different section of fans than we have. It felt like a pretty natural fit. It didn’t seem like there would be too much overlap, so we could show each other our own fanbases. We could also play in bigger rooms.
It has been great. We’ve really become friends almost immediately, which is cool. A lot of times when you’re on the road, you appreciate the other band but you don’t really become friends until the last or second to last show. We’re only a week and a half into this tour and we’re already hanging out. We were talking about going bowling the other day. So we definitely like them and they’re on the same wavelength as us.
LUNA: What have you noticed is different in a joint setup like this versus a solo Hails show?
KINGSLEY: There seems to be a pretty healthy 50/50 split. All the bands go out at the end and we love talking to everybody. It’s kind of like a showcase that turns into a party. We’ve done some fun encores at the end. We’ll go back out with Never Ending Fall and we’ll just jam on some song. One night we did “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder. Just the other night in Chicago, we did “Mr. Brightside.” It’s kind of funny because none of us fully know those covers, but we’re just jamming and having a good time.The crowd goes crazy.
Then we all come out together and say what’s up, sign some shirts. It’s cool. We get the full range of responses where someone is like, “I didn’t even know anyone on the bill and just wanted to see a show, and I loved every band.” So it’s really cool to see because it’s just a fun night of music.
LUNA: So you guys stick around a bit to interact with the fans?
KINGSLEY: Definitely. These venues are still pretty intimate and we sell our own merch. We’d love to take that next leap, but we’re still at that point, both of our bands. We want to make those face-to-face interactions. It feels really genuine to meet everyone because they paid their hard-earned money to come see us. I feel like it’s even more special if we go out to say thank you.
LUNA: “Different Guy” has been getting a pretty good live response. It’s a fun one to sing along to, especially because of what you do with your vocals. You alternate between low and high. How did you land with those intentional vocals?
KINGSLEY: It was something that I really worked on for probably a month. The song didn’t come together immediately. We were working through some different demo options and I was just singing it every day. My girlfriend was definitely getting tired of it because we live together and she was like, “I’ve heard you sing this one part like a million times.” So it was something that I was really trying to hone in.
We had different opinions about how I should sing the opening line. It’s a lot of switching from chest to falsetto, and using a mixed voice at times. I really tried to land a sweet spot where it felt natural. I wasn’t forcing anything, but I wanted to take some liberties. I kind of had an idea of doing that aggressive punky thing with the “different animal in the zoo” line. Maybe get a little like Talking Heads with it. There were a lot of ‘80s influences that poured in, like Bloc Party, that post-punk style. That was where my headspace was at.
LUNA: You previously said, “Pushing through feelings of fatigue and living life unabashedly is a theme for us as we enter a new era of music after our first album.” Could you expand on this idea of pushing through fatigue? What did you mean by that?
KINGSLEY: Just the fact that we’ve been a band since we were in college. Our first show was 2016 and we’ve hit the nine-year mark. We’ve hit the seven-year mark of releasing music. We still feel like we’re a baby band though. We want to be able to play bigger shows and keep pushing through and finding an audience that cares about our music. It’s crazy to say, but as we approach a decade of playing together, it can be tiresome. We all have our own different life setups. Currently, we live in different parts of the country, but we’re always trying to make The Hails happen. That is still my number one. Even if sometimes I might want to sit on my couch and play video games, I know that all I want to do is this—play shows and make albums. It’s just a constant reminder that we’re at a good spot and we’re trying to make memories that last our lifetimes.
LUNA: How do you keep each other motivated living in different places?
KINGSLEY: I think it’s just the natural need to push ourselves artistically. I’m always thinking, “What’s the next record going to sound like? What's the next show going to look like?” All five of us have that innate feeling that we can be more. I think we’re all pretty self-motivated, but it definitely gets hard when you’re not right next to someone every day. The internet is our friend and we want to get together more, but we definitely make the most of our time when we do.
LUNA: The element of friendship helps. Like you mentioned, you’re approaching a decade together.
KINGSLEY: The friendships go all the way back to elementary school for some of us. I didn’t meet a lot of the guys until college, but some of the other guys have lifelong friendships. And they’ve been in other bands before. So there are many dynamics at play. The friendship is honestly more like family.
LUNA: You’re on the road together for the rest of the month. What is something you’re looking forward to?
KINGSLEY: I feel like every city has something I’m looking forward to. I think we always get excited for LA; it’s always fun. It’ll be a really special venue, we’re playing at The Teragram Ballroom and I’ve heard really good things. Before that, I was really looking forward to Lincoln Hall in Chicago. I think those special venues where someone you love has played, that’s really what you look forward to.You feel like you’re part of history. As someone who really appreciates all the different musical artists since the beginning of time, it’s really cool that I can say, “I was here.”
