Many Midwesterners have grown up with Haley’s transcendent voice and poetic songwriting over the past two decades. Haley, currently based in St. Paul, is planning to release a new record later this fall. Her full-length follow-up to 2018’s all-instrumental Pleasureland album is a return to her songwriting roots, but with more synth heavy textures and electronic drums.

The first song I heard by Haley was the beautifully dreary, Rhodes keyboard-driven “Ransom,” released in 2006. I was immediately hooked, and have been a fan ever since. Haley’s LP Golder (I somehow missed out on Big Star) would come out in 2011, and I’d scream along to every song in my college-student afforded car, rolling up to Target or just road tripping from Moorhead to Grand Forks, North Dakota, to visit my older sister, also a fan of indie/alternative music.

Then came the LPs Last War (2014) and Impossible Dream (2016), each loaded with melodic statements, out-of-this-world electric guitar-based sonic textures, and stories of womanhood, heartbreak, joy, and pleasure. She also steps out as the fiery vocalist for side project Gramma’s Boyfriend.

Sixteen years after I was introduced to Haley, I got a chance to interview one of my musical heroes and talk about her newest record, expected to release this fall. (Mind you, we had already become friends a year after I moved to Minneapolis in 2018.)

And now, full disclosure, after this interview was conducted she invited me to sing harmonies with her at the Mid West Music Fest this Friday. Of course, I’m beyond thrilled.

Edited for length and clarity

Diane: I am here with Haley in St. Paul, sitting down, triumphantly starting our interview. You're a musician, a songwriter who's been active in the scene for a couple decades. And you're headlining the Mid West Music Fest on Friday night. What can you tell us about what you have in store for that? 

Haley: I am very excited. I'm basically playing with all new people. Lisa Schoofs is going to be on drums and DeVon Russell Gray is going to be on synth. And Steve Garrington who, until pretty recently, played in Low for like a decade or something, and helped work on a lot of their records. He's going to be joining us on bass. So, we're gonna play a lot of new stuff that I haven't performed yet, let alone released or anything. And we're gonna play all the hits, man. It's hard to envision, because I go to bed at like 9:30/10, to be playing at 10 o'clock at night. And so, I'm like, alright, it's gotta be a roaring setlist. Just rip through it and get everybody home safely (laughs). 

Well, I can't wait. I'm going. I'm gonna bring my MixPre3 and just walk around and interview bands and write about it. The lineup is so good. It's just like, oh, these are all bands that I've played on my show.  

Somebody made a joke, "Oh, you better check the Mid West Music Festival schedule to see if your band is playing." It's true. But no, I'm really excited about it. The people that have been running the event have been really great to work with and they seem to have their ducks in a row. So, I think it's gonna be really fun. And I hope the weather is perfection. We'll see. But either way, I’ve played in 120 degree weather, I've played in 22 degree weather. I can handle it, if you guys can handle it (laughs). But I would prefer a nice like 65-70. That would be rad. 

Tell me more about some of the new music you're working on. I love "Suicide Thighs" (debuted exclusively on The Local Show). It has an electronic vibe going. It's got this kind of sexy, intimate feel to it. I am someone who's followed your music forever. Tell me about the latest stuff you're working on? 

Well, so I'm still working on it. I basically recorded a record in my room over quarantine and COVID times. And then I needed to step away from it for a little bit. I sat with it long enough to really go through all the phases: the infatuation and love and honeymoon, and then the fighting and whatever starts coming in. And I'm like, I don't know if this is the right version ... So just kind of reworking things until I couldn't anymore. And I was like how about you take a break and you do other stuff and focus on other projects and come back around when it feels good. And I've been doing this for so long that I know I trust my process and I know when it's time to like, know when to hold them, know when to fold them. But it was like time to fold and rethink how I wanted to approach some of the songs and the concept as a whole.  

So, I recruited a couple of people to help me produce it, and we are currently working on it. And I'm really, really, truly excited about it now. Whereas I felt the sense of kind of like, is it ready? Is it ready? And now I know, like, okay, now we're on a roll. It's gonna happen, it will get done when it is done and it feels good, because that's ultimately what the most important thing is.  

Some people are like, don't be too precious with your stuff. And it's like, well, yeah. Yeah, no. I've done plenty of that (laughs). I have a band dedicated to that with Gramma's Boyfriend. But that's not why I do it is to rush through to the next thing. I want to feel really good about something, especially knowing that you're going to have to be playing those songs for a long time. And you really better feel good about the work that you're standing by. And it should be the best that you think it is. Even if it takes longer, it's okay.  

I don't know why I was like, you've been putting out a record every other year. You gotta keep up with that. Like, no, I don't. Also, the world paused for two years. So, it's okay. There's not a rush. There's just so much great art coming out right now, just in all ways. And it's always so inspiring. And it's like, ooo, maybe I should, like, rethink this. And I want to feel good about it, I will feel good about it. So hopefully, that'll be out later this year. That's kind of what I am envisioning, with the reality of, you know, finishing it and releasing it. I imagine this fall. But we're gonna play some new stuff anyway. 

I want to go back to Pleasureland for a moment because I recently was diving into that record. And then I think one of the last times I saw you performed live was at Parkway Theater. And one of my favorite parts of the show, speaking of Jeremy Ylvisaker, was just you and Jeremy doing this instrumental "Credit Forever, Pt 2." That's one thing I appreciate about your music is it's really imaginative and special. I mean, your voice alone makes the music amazing.

But you have this artistic bent to your music that also has elements of folk, really good melody and songwriting that people can grasp onto. But then you always have this certain artistic bent to your music that just kind of explodes with character. And that's how I would describe your music in a nutshell. Take me do your artistic process, and how you start to dive into music and really listen to it and carve out a path to how it sounds. 

Well, thank you. That's just so kind and a very generous compliment. I really appreciate that. I love playing instrumental music and I love listening to it. And so Pleasureland was just quite literally, like, I want to do that. I'm going to do that. I'm going to work on some compositions. I'm going to create something that is essentially like a soundtrack for, you know, not a film, for me.  

But I have always played instrumental songs, interspersed them in my records or during shows. And I've stuck by that. And I know that there were times when certain people in the music business would be like, "Don't play the instrumental stuff." Or, you know, "Are you sure you don't want to just sing on that one?" Yeah, I'm sure. I know the idea I had is a good one. And honestly, that resonates because it's like if you're singing and singing and singing, it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. There are different kinds of songs. But when you take that away, that space exists, and then people are able to kind of have an imagination to it, and it creates a feeling more than just like a statement or whatever. But that being said, I do often approach my songs with the same concept of – I want to create a feeling. And so how can I embrace that feeling with words and melody and structure? I like to just start there and try to find my feelings.  

Yeah, I made a little jokey instructional video about that – how to find your feelings on the keyboard (laughs). But it's true, it's like, "Find your feelings. Is it in C? No, it's not C? Is it in the trumpet sound – ba da da da?" I don't know. Yeah, don't put that in (laughs). I know you will ... I start from there. And then write around it -- write it around, write it around, find your feelings.  

But literally that's the most simple way I can kind of quantify my process of finding a sound; because it's like, well, all of those things are coming from the same brain and the same idea of what feelings are like and then it's just a matter of kind of manifesting it into something that I can sit with and am capable of playing over and over without hating. And then it is born. 

Well, I'm also a big fan of your visual art, Herman Mint. Tell me tell me about the art you've been working on. And the inspiration that's coming with it? 

Recently? Do you really want to know?  

Sure.  

My inspiration lately has been – there's a show called My Crazy Obsession on Lifetime. Or is that TLC? Was that the Lifetime Channel? Yeah.  

TLC? Tender, love and care. Crazy, Sexy, Cool. 

Yeah, crazy, sexy, cool... There's an episode about this guy named Stanley who, at the time of the show, is 32 or 33 years old, and he likes to roleplay that he's a two-year-old baby. And custom built a crib and high chair ... he's a big dude, and had special onesies made for him and whatever. And I just, for whatever reason, latched on, like, I need to paint this person. This is amazing. So, I painted all these renditions of big baby Stanley ... I was on a kick about that.   

But a lot of my paintings are just abstract. And I feel like it's a good balance. I guess, I live in my head so much with writing music and just coming up with ideas and, again, feelings that sometimes it's nice to be able to kind of manifest that in a different way. And also get off a screen and have quiet. So, it's like this total opposite end of the spectrum as far as where your brain is active, but it feels the same, if that makes sense. Like, I have the same feeling that I have when I'm playing the piano or something. But it's all inside and it's just a really nice balance for me, personally. I am still really new at it, only started in 2019. And I don't claim to be a professional, but I've been really lucky to have people that are actually purchasing my paintings, especially over this last couple of years when the scene has been not active and whatever; so, it's been really awesome. But yeah, Herman Mint is my painter name. Because of course I have to have a different name because I'm crazy (laughs). 

I can relate! Who are you digging right now? Artistically, musically what's inspiring you? 

Okay, how about I'll do this. I'll look at my playlist: Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Ludacris... 

You've been hip-hopping! Old school hip-hop. 

Yeah, I've been digging into '90s hip hop a lot. Also, Miley Cyrus, the stuff she did with Wayne Coyne in like 2010? Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, I like that. Steve Lacy. Do you know that guy? Oh, he's great. He's got a Chuck Berry kind of vibe but like on acid. Trippy guitar, but real classic sound, kind of early R&B. He's really good. And then I was bumping Jawbreaker last week because I went and saw them in Denver, which was wild. 

Was the lead singer as witty and made little banters, like, "So this is the point in the tour where we're about at each other's throats" ... When I caught him (in Minneapolis), he was kind of funny, kind of sarcastic, but also like, "Are they really at each other's throats?" ... I was trying to get a sense of the band. Like, what was going on?  

Yeah, he had said something about … the median age in this room, including the audience and people on stage, is 135 (laughs). I was like, yup! The Descendants played in Denver as well, and Face to Face. Face to Face was really good. I didn't really know their music much. But it was a great show. And The Descendants, I was like, y'all better have heart monitors on. Like, damn, they are old dudes, but it was great. And Jawbreaker, I really liked their show, too. So, it was just fun to go to a punk rock show. Like, why not? Go to Denver, go to a punk show. 

Yeah. Gotta love some punk-rock music. It's so straightforward.  

It is. And I think that's kind of why they made such an impact in that kind of music, because his lyrics are really a lot more poetic than ... no shade, I love that there's a lack of poetry in punk, and that it is exactly like, bleep you – this is exactly what I think, and I'm gonna put it on four chords. And so there. And we’re gonna do it really fast. And then this, you know, holds middle fingers up. But they definitely had a lot more like songwriter vibes. Emo is definitely like, oh, that's the word that comes to mind ... singing about divorce and about alcoholism and about cross-dressing when you're drunk. That's like a chorus in a song, and it's great. 

Have you checked out Jets To Brazil, his side project? 

No, I actually don't think I have. Is it good? 

Oh, my gosh. Look up the song "Sweet Avenue." It's magical. And it's extremely poetic. This is more of his softer, still kind of rock and roll, but has a little bit more of a folky vibe. "Sweet Avenue", the song, is pure acoustic; but it's so beautiful. 

Awesome. I will. I'll check it out. 

Yeah, my sister got me into Jawbreaker. So, shout out Kate Noterman (snorts). 

Haley performs at Mid West Music Fest in Winona, Minnesota, on Friday, April 29, at the Levee Park Main Stage. Mid West Music Fest tickets, lineup and info.