An Interview with Halogyns - All Girl Alt-Pop Greatness

Tuesday: Hi! To start off, let’s do a little introduction about each of you and the band!

Paige: Hi, I’m Paige or Payge. I’m 19 and from St. George, Utah. I’m currently a sophomore in college and I have wanted to be in a band my whole life! I play the bass and sometimes the keyboard. Unfortunately, they don’t let me cry into the microphone. Shoutout to my cat Mr. Snuggles!

Mari: Hey, I’m Mari and I’m 18. I just started college and I play the drums.

Kamry: Hi, I’m Kamry! I’m 17 and a senior in high school. I say I’m from St. George, Utah, because the town I’m actually from is ridiculously small. I am an avid music lover and I do the vocals in Halogyns. I also would like to give a shoutout to my dog Ruby.

Dana: Hello. I’m Dana Fontaine, the baby of the group. I’m 16 and I was born and raised in Las Vegas. I play the guitar and enjoy music and sleep.

How did you guys all meet?

Kamry: The band was actually pretty coincidental! I actually met Dana at an “I Don’t Know How But They Found Me” concert in St. George. I just remember getting her instagram and keeping in touch with her until I asked her to join Halogyns almost a year later! I ended up meeting Paige at a PVRIS concert, and it just so happened that we both lived in Southern Utah and wanted to be in a band. I met Mari through a mutual friend, so I’m so glad she agreed to meet up with me haha! It’s pretty crazy how everything came together, but everything has worked out so well.

Where did the name ‘Halogyns’ come from? 

Dana: Kamry is really interested in Chemistry lol.

Kamry: It’s a play on the word “halogens”, which is a group of elements in the periodic table. I thought the word was really pretty, but it ended up being copyrighted! We modified it just a little.

What's the music scene like in Utah? Has your hometown played a part in your growth or workflow?

Paige: There’s a pretty popping music scene in Northern Utah, and that’s been helpful for us. But as far as where we’re from, there’s nothing really going on in Southern Utah. We had one venue to play, but it was shut down shortly after we became a band. It’s also tough because there are not a lot of supporters in southern Utah for local music.

Dana: I did not grow up in Utah, but in Las Vegas there’s a weak music scene for younger people and I definitely noticed a bigger music scene in Utah.

Mari: The music scene in southern Utah is pretty small, but it gave us a good start. We’ve had to start playing shows out of our hometown since there are little to no venues around us.

Your debut single recently hit the scene in June, how does it feel to have this first track out into the world?

Dana: It’s really exciting to see people’s reactions to our song. It’s really surreal to hear yourself playing on a track that you can ACTUALLY buy on the internet!

Paige: Kind of crazy. I’ve never had people really pay attention to anything I’ve done before quite like this. It’s really fun!

Mari: It’s so awesome to put something out that you worked hard on and get such a great response! It makes me so happy to see that people from all around America and the whole world enjoy our music.

Kamry: I honestly didn’t expect us to get even 1,000 spotify listeners, but we somehow pulled it off and I’m so grateful for the response from everyone! I can’t BELIEVE that my voice has been played 20,000 times on spotify, lol. It’s super surreal. I just hope we can work even harder and that it will pay off!

What was the writing and producing process like for this track?

Kamry: I was listening to the song “No Fear” by DeJ Loaf one afternoon and suddenly had an urge to create a poppier song with a catchy guitar riff. I made a pretty rough draft on GarageBand and then brought it to the band. They all seemed to like it, so we ended up learning it one day before we performed it for the first time!

Dana: When we played through the song the first time, I was really surprised how it all came together so quickly. The song just clicked.

Paige: Producing was longer than I thought it would be. I had never been in a recording studio before, but It was really fun to see exactly what goes on and how you produce a song to a point where you feel comfortable enough to put it into the world. Our recording engineer Ryan Tilby was super awesome and helpful. He really answered a lot of questions and was so patient to us newbies!

Kamry: Ryan Tilby was great! I’m lucky enough to have a few classes with him at my high school. He helped us get exactly what we wanted and put so much effort and care into the track.

In a few words, how would you describe your sound to any new listeners?

Kamry: I think our sound is...alt pop. Take Me Under is probably the most pop song that we’ve made, and I think it’s a little different from the rest of our material. I’m really excited to release more music so people can hear what we’ve been working on!

Paige: I think we definitely have a “rock n’ roll” edge. I think we like crispy guitar solos and thick bass lines! But definitely, also, have a pop sensibility. I think it’s really fun and good to dance to.

Dana: Definitely guitar pop. We take a lot of inspiration from pop music that has the line up of  “general” band instruments. We also all have our own influences of alternative rock, hard rock, hip hop, 80s synth pop, and a lot of indie.

As women in the industry, it can be hard to be taken seriously. Do you think being in a supportive all-girl group has made these struggles any easier?

Kamry: I didn’t realize how much sexism there really is in the music industry until we started playing a few shows. It’s really prominent at gigs when you’re the only band with any girls, and it’s a little bit scary to perform knowing people are going to look at you differently. I think being in Halogyns has opened my eyes so much and has given me so much more confidence as a female musician.

Dana: Even being a band for such a short amount of time, we have already had our share of “prenotion” before we played a show. We went to a Battle of the Bands and one of the judges insulted my guitar and guitar playing. I thought it would be more of constructive criticism, but it ended up making me feel really bad.

Mari: I think there’s still many problems that girls run into when in an all-girl band, but some people support us and love what we do, and that’s amazing! There are a lot of small minded people that think girls can’t be as good as men in music and we want to prove them wrong.

Paige: Yes it’s helped, but it’s also highlighted some of the really negative sides of being girls in music. We’ve had some experiences that have really showed us how hard girls have to work, and because we’re an all-girl band we’ve been taken much less seriously because there’s no guys on the stage! But I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Who are some of your biggest inspirations when it comes to music?

Kamry: PVRIS is a band that has really given me so much inspiration since I was 14. Their music speaks to me on so many different levels. The Aces are most definitely a big inspiration as well, and I look up to them every single day musically and as individuals.

Mari: I started playing gigs in a blues band when I was 13. I’d say a lot of my drumming is blues and jazz based. I’m influenced by the greats like Ray Charles. When I first started playing drums at 8, I played mostly classic rock and grew to find what I loved to play the most.

Dana: In the past few years, I’ve listened to a lot of modern rock like Catfish and the Bottlemen and Arctic Monkeys. They both inspired me to pick up the guitar.

Paige: Obviously The Aces! Also Harry Styles for sure. There’s really so many for me, and it’s so hard to pinpoint my favorites. I like to take a lot of inspiration from so many different artists. Lorde, PVRIS, Rush, The Maine, Flint Eastwood, and Florence and the Machine are just some of the few.

Mari:

What are some of your current favorite songs or albums?

Kamry: Right now, I’m really digging “Myself” by Bazzi or “Baby Forget It” by Reyna. As for albums, I think I’d say Bad Suns’ “Disappear Here” is an album I’m bopping currently.

Dana: Summer Depression by girl in red is a really good song. As for an album, I’m really into Little Dark Age by MGMT.

Paige: Harry Styles by Harry Styles - an album I’m BOPPING to. Also Ribs by Lorde, Holiday by The Aces, and Psychopath by Charlotte Lawrence.

Mari: A few of my favorite albums right now are After Laughter by Paramore, Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers, Coastal Grooves by Blood Orange, and You and Everyone by Boreal Suns.

What are some of your long-term goals for the future?

Kamry: DEFINITELY go on some sort of tour. That’s been my dream for as long as I can remember! I also think a super long term goal is being able to make a living off of music.

Paige: My long term goal would be to get to a point where we are self sufficient on music and releasing a lot of music too!

Dana: Graduate high school, haha! Release more music, play more shows, and I really wanna become Paige’s best friend. Being serious though, being able to shred on the guitar.

Paige: Dana, yours should be being able to wake up before 2pm.

Mari: I want to release an album with Halogyns and also some of my own original music someday. I also of course want to go on a US tour and learn and grow as a band!

What can you tell us about any new upcoming content? Can we be expecting new songs or live shows soon?

Kamry: A new single is sure on the way in the next month or two! Also, hopefully a few more live shows in that time span too. We have enough songs to create an EP, we just need to record them! We have recently covered “Potential Breakup Song” at our last few shows, and it goes pretty hard! It’s so fun to play.

Paige: Absolutely none. JUST KIDDING. We’re working really hard right now on some super fun songs. I’m super excited to play our first festival at Cedar Fest.

Dana: I’m so excited about the songs that we haven’t released yet. I think they showcase more of our sound. You’ll have to come see us live to hear them at the moment! *wink wink* But a new single is on its way.

Thank you so so much for being a part of Tuesday! We are so excited for what’s to come for you lades, go kick ass!

Thank you!!!! - Halogyns 

Be sure to check out Halogyns' debut single 'Take Me Under' as well as their Instagram and Twitter!