Whitehall spent some time answering our questions about their music and we appreciate it! Let’s see what they have to say!
First off, What’s up with your name? Is there a story behind it?
It was kind of the least bad name we could come up with at the time. There are a lot of places called Whitehall around Charleston SC, where we came up and it sounded pretty good when someone suggested it. The other option we were looking at was Wilson’s feet so we like to think we chose the better of the two. If we had known at the time that project was going to get as big as it did we may have thought a little bit harder.
Tell us about your musical past, would you tell us about your early years?
We started playing together in college at College of Charleston. In the early days we were mostly just writing songs for fun and performing them at our friends parties. We had pretty different musical backgrounds and influences so the early stuff we came up with was pretty all over the place, but it was fun!
How would you describe your sound?
It’s like a Justin Long movie meets waking up late for work.
Which artists have the biggest influence on your sound?
These days we take a lot of inspiration from bands like Pavement, Car Seat Headrest, and Pixies. So it’s sounds a lot like the stuff people were doing in the 90s and early 00s.
What’s the last song you listened to?
You are Every Girl to Me – MJ Lenderman
What’s your source for hearing new music?
Spotify and friends recommendations
Who is your dream producer?
We’re all big fans of Alicia Bognanno’s project Bully, and the production on her records is sick. It would be super fun to work with her.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Maybe someone that works with visual media. It’s always cool to see music represented in other ways. Before the Daniels got super famous for Everything Everywhere All At Once they directed a music videos that we really like.
What led you to music, and what motivates you to keep making it?
I think if circumstances had been slightly different we may have each ended up pursuing something different but we getting to create and learn about music together in college was just a lot of fun so I think that experience really helped it stick. Now it’s still the same way, we just have a lot of fun creating together. That and rent.
Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
It’s all pretty collaborative. Maizy, our upcoming album, was written in about two weeks on a writing trip we took to the mountains in North Carolina. We all contributed pretty equally to most of the lyrics and music on the album.
How do you connect with your audience? What is the easiest way for them to
connect with you?
We’re pretty active online, especially instagram. That and coming to live shows, we usually like to hang out and meet folks at those.
Socials
Instagram: @whitehalltheband
tiktok: @whitehalltheband
What’s next for you?
Hopefully more touring soon, and our album Maizy comes out May 5!
Bio:
Whitehall is an indie rock four-piece band from Charleston, SC. Paddy McKiernan (vocals, guitar), Brennan Clark (bass), Davis Rowe (drums), and Avery Greeson (guitar) met in college, and got their start writing songs in a dorm room. After four years spent in the South Carolina DIY scene playing house shows throughout the state, the band recorded their debut album, Ocean Fiction, and embarked on their first tour on the East coast with a live show that is at once frenetic and introspective. In the years that followed, Whitehall recorded and released their sophomore effort Swordfish Catcher and received praise and playlist placement from national publications like NPR, Alternative Press, and American Songwriter. This album saw their sound shift from bouncy, melody-laden indie, to something grittier, with distorted guitars and imaginative lyricism that more closely resembles acts like Pavement and Car Seat Headrest. Recently, the band has been hard at work crafting their third album with legendary producer Kevin Ratterman (My Morning Jacket, White Reaper), while continuing to tour the United States.
