Music Interview: Not bad by Halves

A few months ago I went to Crawdaddy to see Brooklynites Bear in Heaven, a band I’ve been mildly obsessed with for the past year. They were great. I was beside myself. But when I look back on that night it’s the performance of their supporting act Halves which sticks in my mind the most.

The tiny Crawdaddy stage was a jumble of cables, foot pedals, trumpets, guitars and (joy of joys) that oft-forgotten gem of an instrument, the melodica. Performing as a five-piece on the night, Halves shifted themselves and their various accoutrements around the tiny stage for so long before they got going I began to wonder if they ever would. But get going they did and what an unexpected surprise; they were awesome. And all of those instruments were put to good use as the band brought to life their multi-layered sound on stage.

That night in Crawdaddy the band were playing songs from their debut album ‘It Goes, It Goes (Forever and Ever)’. Upon listening, the title seems appropriate because (and I’m going to refrain from using the word ‘epic’ here) there is a helluva lot of atmosphere packed into these songs. For the most part there is no obedience to the traditional verse-chorus-verse song structure. Instead each one brings us on a journey from delicate opening motif through layers and layers of lush strings, often leading to a guitar driven climax very much on the right side of bombast. Tim Czerniak’s sometimes softly sung, sometimes soaring vocals are counterpointed by electronic beats and distorted synths. The result is a very mature sounding album which achieves balance where there could have so easily been self indulgence.

It’s all very impressive stuff. Don’t just take it from me though, have a listen yourself. Here is the very lovely ‘Growing & Glow’ which features guest vocals from Amy Millan of Stars and Broken Social Scene fame (the album was recorded in Montreal). And go ahead and download the song too (hit the little downward arrow on the right hand side of the player) - the band are giving it away through SoundCloud for free.

Growing & Glow by halves

I caught up with the band and asked them some questions about the new album, playing live and being jealous of the success of Villagers.

Culch: Firstly, congratulations on the new album. I’ve been listening to it and am worried I’ve become slightly obsessed! Sonically it’s a complex, multi-layered work. Is squeezing that much texture into an album a time consuming recording process?
Halves: Thank you! I’m glad you like it. We actually recorded the bones of it in about 2 weeks, but we did spend an awful lot of time beforehand thinking it all out, instrumentation etc, so we knew what we were going for before anything was committed to tape. That being said, there’s always room for last minute in-the-studio inspiration, and some of that definitely made it onto the album.

Culch: And in terms of getting that across on stage - that must be a challenge?
Halves: Well, it really depends on how the song originated. Some come from a basic band setup, and are quite easy to transfer to the stage, where other songs may have been planned out and orchestrated, and have no guitar or drums in them at all. There have been some times we have said “how the hell are we going to do this live?”. In those situations, we mostly end up with a ‘live version’, which has different instrumentation, and that often adds a new dimension to a song.

Culch: I saw you perform as support to Bear in Heaven in Crawdaddy last month and there was quite a bit of equipment on stage, and (if I remember correctly) 5 band members. Have you guys expanded or do you bring in extra folk for live gigs?
Halves: There are 3 core members, but we have some lovely friends who help us out live. As I said, it’s hard to play this stuff on the stage, so we need extra full-time live members in order to pull it off.

Culch: The song “Only Safe Landings” made me think “Kid A!”. So would you count that album as an influencer and / or who else pushes your creative buttons?
Halves: That’s pretty spot on, Radiohead have definitely been an influence on us all, and ‘Kid A’ is probably my favourite of their albums. But we all listen to a very wide range of different stuff. If it’s innovative, well written, quality music, you’ll probably catch us listening to it.

Culch: Conor O’Brien / Villagers have played support to you in the past. Are you insanely jealous of their recent success and Mercury nomination? Go on, spill the beans…
Halves: Haha. Conor is actually a good friend of ours. One of the guys has actually known him and Dave since they were kids, before they were The Immediate, so jealousy doesn’t even come into it. He’s always been an insanely talented guy and he’s made a fantastic album, so he deserves every bit of success he gets.

Culch: What’s on the agenda for Halves post album launch? Are you touring and/or releasing / promoting it in other countries?
Halves: Yes we’re planning to do gigs in the UK and the rest of Europe, possibly across the pond too. Nothing is confirmed yet, but plans are in motion.

Halves: Elis Czerniak, Tim Czerniak & Brian Cash

• Halves release ‘It Goes, It Goes (Forever & Ever)’ this Friday 29th October. Get the album on download, CD or vinyl direct from the band at their website
• The band will be performing in Tower Records in the afternoon on Saturday 30th October (time TBA)
• There will also be an album release gig in The Workman’s Club on October 30th and gigs in The Roisin Dubh, Galway on November 4th and The Model Arts Centre in Sligo on November 5th.