Interview with Halo Stereo bassist Jody Hicks

Jody Hicks, bassist for the band Halo Stereo, took some time out of the band’s busy schedule to discuss their newest release The Invisible War. Halo Stereo is a breath of fresh air in a rock scene that is overflowing with cookie cutter, dime a dozen bands that seem to be writing almost formulaic tunes. The Invisible War is a solid, high-energy rock album that is rather enjoyable to listen to. Halo Stereo’s music has been featured on A&E’s “The Cleaner” and the CBS show “Three Rivers” as well as iPhone game “Tap Tap Revenge” which has sold over 15 million downloads. They are currently on the road and are hoping to land a spot on the Vans Warped Tour this summer.

Is there any special meaning behind the name Halo Stereo?
Jody Not really, we just liked the sound of it. We had been kicking around Halo something, because we liked the idea of the ethereal type sound we were going for and one night we had dinner with Cinjun Tate of Remy Zero, and he drew a picture of himself on a dinner napkin of his bald head with two big ears, no facial features and a halo over his head. I held it up towards Andrew and said look, Halo Stereo and it stuck.

Now that your brand new CD, The Invisible War is complete how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Jody Completely satisfied. We set out to do a concept type record where we could all put our feelings into this awkward character that has real highs and lows emotionally. After the songs were written and our parts kind of nailed down, we took it to Rick and he knocked a home run. He kept the aesthetic we were going for in tact while helping us achieve a commercial sound that is necessary for radio and TV. I personally was very happy how the two were able to co exist.

Different groups have unique ways of writing their songs. How do you guys go about writing your music? Is it a collective effort or is it more the efforts of one particular member of the band?
Jody Both really, we have some songs that almost write themselves and others that we hammer out collectively for days, weeks and sometimes months. We made an effort and tried our hardest to collectively write as much together and in the same room on this record though and I believe that helps make a record cohesive at the end of the day. A band like ours needs all the input we can collectively muster because we are not just a groomed act that is trying to be like Justin Timberlake or a pop sensation, we have ambitions of changing pop culture by putting more high brow art into commercial radio, so we have to be open to suggestion in order to make that happen.

Every band has its musical influences. What are some of the other bands and artists that have greatly influenced you guys and your music?
Jody I personally love bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails who have had great careers but I also love some bands that didn’t have long great careers but still made incredible records like VEX RED and Remy Zero. I love hard, aesthetically minded rock albums.

Give us some insight into the record The Invisible War and the meaning behind its title?
Jody We all have things to overcome and “The Invisible War” is what we fight daily. Either against each other or ourselves. It is really a broad topic and people have asked questions like, “Is it about George Bush?” My answer is we are not a political band by any stretch of the imagination but when you fight a war there is always an enemy and sometimes you do not even realize that enemy could very well be the person in the mirror. In “Red Rose,” we give a little more insight about that in line where Andrew sings, “The Mirror and the lie”.

What message if any do you want your fans to walk away with after hearing this CD?
Jody I guess I hope the record has multiple messages and hope that they don’t just get one message from it but when we do a record we aim to entertain. We want to make moody enjoyable music that is an outlet for our emotions and hopefully strikes up emotions in our fans and listeners.

What is your musical background?
Jody My parents were very musical growing up and I took to that at an early age. My dad taught me how to play guitar and bass guitar. He was very encouraging of me to pursue music, so I took lessons and even played in my high school jazz band. I learned to read music and charts and wound up with a partial scholarship to college to play in an ensemble.

What is the toughest lesson you ever learned in the studio and on the stage?
Jody Toughest? Yikes. I would say there a few major ones like how ballsy you have to be to stay together. Our society is too quick to throw people away, divorce or quit someone. Every relationship is going to have its ups and downs but throwing away a relationship because it is challenging is the pussy way out. Look at the record industry. You can make the argument that the major labels have destroyed themselves because they will not stick out relationships with their baby bands. A band gives you a great record that sells a million copies, they follow it up with one that sells 50,000 copies and then the label drops them. Instead of helping to fix the band or groom that relationship, they just move on to the next thing. They have done that so much that now bands are hesitant to sign with fickle labels that only care about a bottom line. Also, on a side note, eat two or more hours prior to a show. If you have a 60 min set, you do not want to eat the BBQ plate they feed you 15 minutes before you walk on stage. Your stomach, band mates, road crew and fans will not appreciate it.

What kind of music are you listening to? Do you keep abreast of new music?
Jody Yes, I always listen for new music. Believe it or not, I listen to radio, just to keep an ear to the ground, but I also just check out the MySpace and Facebook ads that bands buy for promo to see who is out there and what they are doing. I love discovering new bands, I am really a fan at the end of the day but I am also really bad about hating on some of the baby bands. I say shit like, “why did they choose that as a single, that song is nothing like anything else they do, or that band picture has been done by everyone.” I am in love with the new Lovedrug recordings. Michael Shepard can write. I also like Mastodon, Muse and The Silver Sun Pickups, just to name a few.

What has been the most memorable moment of your career so far?
Jody This last trip to LA made us feel like rock stars. We had a conference room meeting with our licensing company, ICM, in the MGM Grand building. We hung out back stage at The Jimmy Kimmel show, met Ron Jeremy, had a sit down with CBS records and packed out the Viper Room, so I would say that whole experience was very memorable.

Do you have any touring plans for the immediate future?
Jody We are gone from March 6th to the end of April. Then we are in the running for Warped tour so it looks like we may be gone all spring and Summer. Meaning, yes we have a lot of tour plans.

Any closing words?
Jody Check out Halo Stereo on Facebook, MySpace and all over the net. Add us as a friend and tell your friends about us. You can get our debut single, “Doorman,” for free by giving us an email address and we look forward to seeing your smiling faces on the road.  [ END ]