The Hara: Perfecting Their Sound And Style
The last couple of years have been a strange time for the music industry. For one, live shows and festivals were put on hold, so many plans were altered, and everyone had to adapt to this new, strange world of isolation. The old-fashioned way of making a name for yourself would essentially be touring, touring and more touring, but in the 21st century social media certainly changed the game as artists had a brand-new way to reach out to new fans, as well as connect to their listeners on a personal level. A lot of bands turned to rely on this format during lockdown, and thanks to the power of apps like TikTok, some smaller artists came out on the other side with larger, dedicated followings. That’s what happened with THE HARA.
Lockdown saw the Manchester trio used social media to post fun videos and perform virtual shows, with their first one receiving over 10,000 sign-ups. Naturally this ended with an invite to perform at Download Pilot, allowing them to explode onto the UK festival scene in 2021. But it wasn’t all fun and games during lockdown, as they spent their time working on their style and sound, perfecting it before said Download appearance.
Speaking to them, drummer Jack Kennedy broke it down for us. “A lot of people don’t realise that we came from solo-orientated backgrounds, we had to transition from that into the band sound.” All three members attended BIMM where they had been on different programmes and didn’t meet until after graduating.
“A lot of people found out about us through Download, after we’d gone through all these different variations of how we wanted our sound to be, but the one thing with us is that we always knew that our live show was our strongest point. It was just trying to get that through with our songs really, figuring out how to do that, and with the debut album I think we’ve captured both elements of putting across what we’re like live and trying to delve more into studio band vibes.”
It’s an understatement to say that THE HARA’s stage presence, sound and style is larger than life. From leather outfits, to explosive rock songs, to the make-up, to the insanity seen by both the band and the crowd, everything is given 110%. But according to vocalist Josh Taylor, they’re not done experimenting. “We’ve gone through such an evolution since starting the band, and even now we still love to experiment, and we have so many different influences. Probably now more than ever we’re more laser-focused on what it is exactly that we are, taking elements from everything that we like. Music in general now is more open, I think that the whole alternative genre is built on the fact that you’re taking bits of everything and making this new thing.”
“I think that’s what’s keeping it exciting, we’re still more open and fluid.”
THE HARA themselves are now preparing to release their debut full-length album, Survival Mode, a project that has been a long time coming. For them it’s both exciting and nerve-wrecking, as Josh describes. “It’s kind of come quick but really slow, it’s been our life for about two years writing it. It’s pretty crazy! I’m excited for the world to hear the madness that awaits. I would say it’s like putting your stake in the ground as we say, it’s our first real collection of music, musical…”
Josh stopped to think to word it, before guitarist Zack Breen interjects, “musical music!” Nodding in agreement, Josh adds, “as it’s our debut album, so it’s a big deal, but I love it and I think people are gonna love it. There’s a bit of everything for everyone.”
Zack continues to explain what this represents to them. “A big deal, even though we’ve done EPs, like Josh has said, from its name alone it’s got more weight to it than anything we’ve done in the past just from that factoid alone. So yeah, we’re very excited!”
The album’s release date also coincides with when their headline tour starts, meaning that fans will be hearing a catalogue of brand new songs from THE HARA live for the first time. And according to Josh, this is what it all boils down to: their reputation as a live band. “We can’t wait to play it live, we’re planning to play the full album on tour and that’s going to be really fun. When we play songs live for the first time, they take on a life of their own. That’s our big thing as a band is playing live and seeing how the audience reacts in that environment and seeing what songs come to life in that scenario.”
Survival Mode is out now via Scruff Of The Neck Records.
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