Q&A: The Haunt Sinks Their “Claws” into a New Era of Music
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
THERE’S SOMETHING UNDENIABLY MAGNETIC ABOUT THE HAUNT – Sibling duo Anastasia Grace Haunt and Maxamillion Haunt, the enigmatic forces behind the alt-rock band, return with their latest single, “Claws,” a bewitching blend of indie-pop and post-punk that cements their place as purveyors of dark romanticism and hauntingly raw anthems. With a sound that intertwines wistful elegance and unfiltered emotion, The Haunt has built a world where outsiders find solace and rebellion thrives in the shadows.
Anastasia’s vocals, a force of nature imbued with timeless wisdom and aching vulnerability, serve as the spellbinding core of “Claws.” Her delivery evokes an eerie intimacy, drawing listeners into a sonic embrace that is as unsettling as it is irresistible. Maxamillion’s masterful production and instrumentation create an atmosphere that perfectly complements the duo’s vision—equal parts beauty and melancholy.
The Haunt channels an era when rock and roll belonged to the beautiful misfits, crafting music that feels like a secret invitation into an exclusive world of enchantment and angst. “Claws” showcases their ability to blend gothic grandeur with a modern edge, echoing the spirits of both classic and contemporary rock icons while forging a path that is uniquely their own.
With their latest single, “Claws,” The Haunt deepens its grip on listeners, delivering a track that is equal parts seductive, menacing and intoxicatingly raw.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
MAXAMILLION: We've been making music together for almost 10 years now, and it's been a situation where our parents, neither of them are musicians, but we're siblings. We grew up in the same house and our parents introduced us to a lot of different types of music and a lot of different great musicians from a really young age. They’re very big music fans, even though they weren't musicians. That sparked a lot of our inspiration as we got into our teenage years and young adulthood. Anna was 12 when she started writing, and I think a lot of that had to do with the influence of music around us. We were huge into The White Stripes. As time went on, we got into a lot of different bands like Royal Blood and Bring Me The Horizon and stuff that really helped us find our sound.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
MAXAMILLION: I feel like our songs are almost always based on real life, and so it's one of those things where we have a mindset of trying to put the listener in our shoes, so that they can relate to what we're going through. That's been the space that we're trying to create with the band is real people telling real stories about actual things that happen. We don't really try to play up a persona or this or that. It's really just our real lives.
ANASTASIA: We try to keep it as real as possible, because I think that's what connects with people. That's the goal, just real stories from our real lives. I feel like a lot of our songs say it as it is, and I think that's refreshing than dancing around an issue.
LUNA: You have released your newest single “Claws” and huge congratulations! I love how it continues to push boundaries within your sound. Can you talk about the inspiration behind the single and the themes and emotions you explore?
ANASTASIA: I think it's definitely something very different for us. It has that early 2000s Panic! At The Disco feel, which we're huge fans of, so I think that was super cool for us. I think also vocally, I got to loosen it up a little bit and that's always my happy place, vocally. That was a really exciting switch for us. I love to belt as well, but to move it down a little lower and get swanky with it was fun.
LUNA: I would love to touch more on the creative process. “Claws” has a dark, raw energy—what was the creative process like in the studio? Any memorable moments while recording?
MAXAMILLION: We did the album in two halves. It was like a month apart in between. We were in the studio with Kevin Thrasher, and we were like, all the songs that we have for the entire album right now are in 4-4 and they're straight 4-4. We wanted to switch it up. I can't remember which Britney Spears song it was, but when we were in the studio working on the track, it kept reminding me of one of her early 2000s songs. At first, we were like, ‘wait, this isn’t exactly what we’re going for.' But as we kept writing—especially when we got to the chorus and those big, powerful moments—it all just started coming together. We realized it was exactly the kind of vibe we wanted. I’m really glad we introduced this sound to the band because we grew up on A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out and My Chemical Romance, and a lot of music with swung rhythms and unusual time signatures. It’s going to be fun to start exploring more of that moving forward.
LUNA: The Haunt always has a really strong visual identity. The visuals for the “Claws” music video are striking—what was the concept behind the music video and how was the experience of shooting the video? Any standout moments on set?
ANASTASIA: That was super fun. We had all of our friends there, and then all these dancers who did an amazing job. We shot that in LA a few months ago and all of the singles that we released so far have a music video to go with them, and one continuous storyline. By this point in the storyline, we have just escaped the mental institution and stumbled upon this jazzy saloon vibe, and I am overtaken by the dancers and need to join them. When you listen to the song, that's where my mind goes even if there wasn't a music video, it goes to a really noir 1920s vibe. I felt like there was nothing else it could do for that song.
LUNA: How do you hope listeners connect with this new era of music from The Haunt? What emotions or messages do you want to leave with them?
MAXAMILLION: It's been a really, really cool experience, because every other album that we've made, we spent a really long time on. It was one of those things where the first album that you make, you spend years writing those songs and then you go into the studio. I was in high school and she was in middle school, and it took a long time to make that record. We were making it after school and on the weekends and it takes forever.
Then the second album, we went out to Arizona, and we did it quickly, but it was a weird experience that our heads were in a million different places and it didn't come out exactly the way we wanted it to. When we did the last album, we loved all of the songs, but we made that album over the course of two years, and so it was a little bit of pop influence and a little bit of rock influence and then some songs were heavy. It felt like we were a little scattered.
This album, we had enough time to write it because we were in the cycle for a while of that last album, and then we went in and we made the whole album in the course of two months. It was really fast, and it felt like we stayed in one headspace, and we made exactly the album that we wanted to make for the first time. It was really exciting because for the first time, it really felt like one continuous piece of art. That's why we wanted to make the music videos all connect and feel like everything flows into each other, because that's how the album feels to us. It's just like one big piece of art.
LUNA: Did you take any creative risks or explore new directions with this album compared to your previous work? If so, what were they and how did they come about?
MAXAMILLION: Definitely. I think there's a decent amount of songs I can at least speak for Anna vocally, where we really just were pushing the absolute boundary of what her voice was capable of. I also learned to scream right before we went into making this album. There were a few things that we were just really pushing the boundary on. Then as far as creatively, every album feels like you're pushing yourself. It was really cool because the last album, I produced the majority of it. I produce for other artists, and it's easier when you're working with someone that's not your own band, because you're able to push that other person, but when it's yourself, you get a little stuck in the things that you know and what you want it to feel like. Working with Kevin was such an amazing experience. He's really able to push us to get the most out of every idea and every song and really translate what we want to say clearly. It was a really great growth experience.
LUNA: You just wrapped up your recent tour—how does it feel to be back home after such an intense run of shows?
MAXAMILLION: It was really, really fun. We're already ready to get back on the road. We're the type of band that always wants to be out playing shows and in front of people playing music. There's like a week where you get home and take a break for a minute and then you’re ready to go. But the tour, that was our first headline run that we had ever done that wasn't a headline show in our hometown, and it was such an incredible experience when we played the first show. All three shows sold out. We had not done a headliner in New York ever, and we've toured through New York a bunch of times as a support band, but to show up in the city that you're not from and it's sold out, it felt very different and amazing and a great payoff to a lot of years worth of work.
LUNA: I had the chance to attend your Chicago show, and I was blown away by your stage presence and the incredible atmosphere you created. The entire lineup felt so cohesive, with each band matching your energy perfectly. How did you go about selecting your openers for this tour?
MAXAMILLION: We try to the best of our ability to go through and handpick our openers. We really feel like the opening, we love putting bands that are up and coming for shows. We wouldn't be where we are if bands didn't put us on shows and tours. We're not in the position to tour with a single band yet, but we love going into a local market and picking bands that we love from that area. We did a lot of research on all three shows to try to pick bands that we really loved. We did spend a decent amount of time on that.
ANASTASIA: You don't want to go to a show and the opener is a completely different vibe, and the energy gets messed up from the point of why everyone's there. We wanted to pick bands that were in our genre, and felt right with the night we were trying to create.
MAXAMILLION: We were really lucky. Everyone was super great.
LUNA: What were some of the most memorable moments from this tour? Any specific shows or cities that stood out?
MAXAMILLION: We've played a lot in New York and LA, and it was incredible to see those shows sell out—we were completely blown away. But Chicago was the biggest surprise. We've been there a few times, but this show was on another level. It oversold beyond capacity, and they were still letting people in even though it was officially sold out. It was absolutely wild. For years, we've been used to playing as direct support, doing it for about six years now. So at first, it was always exciting to spot a fan in the crowd wearing our shirt or singing along to the lyrics. But this time, it wasn’t just a few people—it was the entire crowd.
ANASTASIA: It took us a minute to process that this was our own show. We're surprised that people are singing words and know who we are.
MAXAMILLION: But this was a room full of people and it was just like mind blowing for us. Chicago was the most crazy just because we've been there the least, and there was so much energy in that room.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
MAXAMILLION: We're feeling great right now. We're booking quite a few different things around the world. We're really excited for Download this summer and Rock for People in Europe this summer. These are our first real festivals. We're super excited about all that stuff, and we're also about to get in the studio and start recording our next album. It's nonstop.
