ME: Salt came out recently; how do you feel now that it’s out in the world?
HALF MOON RUN: Relieved! We're excited as we learn how to play them live because you know, that's such a different process, I think the crowds are still getting used to it just like we are but they're warming up to it!
M: How does it feel getting back to travelling and touring?
HMR: It's been a long time! I kinda got used to living at home. It's weird, but it's super fun. We were on the road for so long that I've kind of come to terms with, okay, this is my life!
M: What’s the biggest difference you’ve found in the music industry post pandemic
HMR: I think its harder to find people to work with, on the technical side, but you also see a lot of people cancelling tours over health or mental health and that's great because you know, prior, that wouldn't happen at all. Ticket prices also became extortionate for big artists, etc.
M: What songs were you most excited to see out in the world on salt?
HMR: It's always a gamble; we still don't know what one is really the favourite of the people. But it was nice to release Crawl Back In, the last song, a song that's really important to me. 9beat I'm really excited about, a struggle to get it together but I love to play it live.
M: You recently did an amazing collab called astray; how did that happen with CRi?
HMR: I think he actually reached out very enthusiastically over dm and we were like sure! He gave us some bits, we went away, did our thing, and then they were put together and it turned out to what Astray now is!
M: three to four years is around the time between each album; is that time frame done on purpose?
HMR: I think it's genuinely just our natural process. We're relaxed about it, I guess. We can't rush it, we've got to do what the process calls us to do.
M: When it comes to your single covers they’re really colourful and your album covers are super neutral colours; when you go into making covers what’s the process?
HMR: I never noticed that but it's honestly probably because with our single covers we're like, do whatever, but when it comes to our album covers, a lot more thought and process goes into it and it takes longer.
M: What's the music industry like in Canada?
HMR: It's quite culturally isolated, you know. It's so supportive, even the government are. No matter where we play people come out because that's just what they're like. The cultural arts support is there and I'm grateful to be a part of that you know.
M: You guys have 1.6 million monthly listeners on Spotify. You know you’re doing even better than when I last interviewed you, how do you feel reaching so many people?
HMR: That's not even the total, that's one month! That's crazy. I don't like to think about it cause I don't want it to change the process, especially when we sing about such personal and intimate things. It always means so much when people come up to us and tell us we changed their lives, it means we're doing something of value.
M: What are your next goals post tour?
HMR: This year we've been taking a little bit of a break for the first time during tour in terms of writing; we usually keep writing when we tour but we collectively decided to not burn ourselves out. I might do something solo after too! During covid I did a whole course on woodwork because I thought our career was over due to covid, and fell in love with that too.
M: Do you have a meaning you purposely have with your music?
HMR: growing up I was super anxious and music helped that, I didn't even know what I was feeling but music was therapeutic. Art is just an alternative form of communication and if other people feel heard or understood, that's validating.
M: Not sure if you remember from last time but I always end on a fun question. If there was a band called full sun walk what kind of music would they make?
HMR: I feel like they'd still have written Call Me in the Afternoon. It would be happier music! They'd be chilling!
