Meet Hallan – the 4 piece post punk outfit from Portsmouth comprised of Conor Clements (lead vocals), Josh Ransley (guitar), Adam Mills (drums) and Joshua Tweedale (bass).
Their Debut EP “Reporting Love From The Living Room Floor” will be released 16th July via Nice Swan Records.
To date they have been championed BBBC Introducing Solent, BB6 Music Steve Lamacq and BBC Radio 1.
How did you guys meet? Please tell us a bit about the origin of the band.
This was a mixture of fate and luck. Sometimes a certain someone is wearing the right spring king top, in the right indie nightclub. And someone times being supported by your soon to be bass player at a show. It's a strange world we live in.
What was the role of music in the early years of your life? Are there any musicians who inspire you? What qualities do you admire about them?
I think for all of us music has never not been a major part of our lives. With us all having distinct differences in taste, but still all finding commonality in some music.
In terms of musicians who inspire us I think a couple clear choices would be Joe Strummer, Ian Curtis. Just because of there lyricism and the presence they bring to a stage which goes beyond just another singer.
Has your musical journal had a deliberate direction or did it evolve into what it is now?
We've never been ones to shy away from exploring new sounds and the more we find ourselves in the studio, the more we want to push ourselves to find the next form of Hallan. This is something we've always been keen to do, not define ourselves with a specific sound and see where we end up musically.
When you create music, what is your personal purpose or goal?
There has always been a want within the band to write music that is honest, with very little restraint shown on our part to edge away from subjects that might not be considered upbeat or happy. And turn that into something that can be enjoyed whilst still having a vein of honesty within it.
Tell me about the latest single 'Hands Up' – What's it about? What was the process for writing and producing it? What was it inspired by?
'Hands up' is an example of our style of writing. Chaotic energy but with a real aim, this time pointed straight at the ruthless business kind. Inspired by the world found in Spaghetti Western and the fearless pursuit of justice from bandits. Weather they've got a cowboy hat or a double breasted suit. This was a song written by our front man Conor during the first lockdown and then adapted with the full band when we could finally rehearse together again.
What are you most proud of to date? And what keeps you going?
We could all probably agree that playing our hometown festival of Victorious and managing to see New Order the same day was something we won't forget vey quickly, as well as selling out our own headline show the same year. In terms of keeping ourselves going, I don't think anything else but getting back to live shows could take the #1 spot, but also the upcoming EP we have with Nice Swan Records, which is out in July, is something we've all been counting down the days until.
What do you love about the Portsmouth music scene and for us out of towners...best thing to do while on a visit?
The music scene in Portsmouth is improving. With a large majority of the company we find ourselves in being indie bands or solo acoustic artists. There are definitely some cracking alternative bands here too. Just need to look a bit harder to find them, but it worth the digging when you do. But in terms of things to do, nothing quite says Pompey like the beach (when it's not raining).
Give us one fact each that no one knows about you.
One of our members found himself in Debbie Harry's dressing room on a shift at work.
Another claims to have previously been a circus performer, with skills ranging all the way up to Wotsits eating.
While some of us just live in shame having not watched Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings.
If we were to look at the artists you are listening to, who would we find on your playlist?
We actually like to keep a regularly updated playlist of everything we've been listening too. With songs from all of the band ranging from Squid to The Beach Boys, Yard Act to The Bay City Rollers.
Feel free to follow the playlist and see what we add next:
What's next? Plans for 2021?
2021 is starting to shape up nicely for us. With the EP run leading up to July and the prospect of live shows making a blistering return in the summer (we have all our fingers crossed). Our biggest hope is that we can get ourselves in front of people. We've always said we are a live band, so having that back, we will be finally home.
Check out the video for latest single 'Hands Up' here: