INTERVIEW: Halestorm's Lzzy + Joe Open Up About Their Latest Album, Celebrate Back to the Beginning + More

On Wednesday (March 25), Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger joined Loudwire Nights to look back on the recent release of Halestorm's latest album, Everest, and also spent some time reflecting on their performance at Back to the Beginning.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

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"I think what we rediscovered on this record was this real trust and love for each other and what each of us brings to the table and how it couldn't sound like Halestorm without all four of us just saying, 'Okay, let's move forward with this,'" Hale told Loudwire Nights' Chuck Armstrong.

"We're really lucky to still have those feelings and to still like each other and enjoy what we do and miss each other when we're not together, you know?"

A big part of this "rediscovery" for Halestorm during the making of Everest was the fact that they teamed up with producer Dave Cobb, who has worked with countless artists from Lady Gaga to Chris Stapleton.

"He's awesome, he's a good coach and a good fifth member to have in the room...he makes quick decisions," Hottinger said about Cobb.

Hale added, "He'd send us on field trips, too. We'd get stuck on something or we weren't feeling a certain part, he's like, 'Alright everybody, there's this amazing cemetery, go to the cemetery, take a tablet with you and anything that's inspiring that's written on the tombstones, just write it down and come back and we'll make something out of that."

She said they'd visit old bookstores and even strike up conversations with strangers, all for inspiration.

"It was neat to have somebody there that was like, 'Okay cool, I have a couple of tricks in my book for when things get shaky.'"

Halestorm's Performance at Back to the Beginning

When Halestorm took the stage at Back to the Beginning last year in Birmingham, they had a couple of surprises in store for fans during their set, including the live debut of their song "Rain Your Blood on Me" and a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's "Perry Mason."

For Hale and Hottinger, that day is something they still think about regularly.

"It's kind of like, 'Pinch me, was that a dream,'" Hale admitted.

"Did that actually happen? I don't think we'll ever experience a live concert like that ever again."

Hottinger shared a moment he had with Tool's Adam Jones about their mutual shock at how great the day was.

"It was wild. It was like, 'Can you believe we're here, this is so cool,'" he said about his conversation with Jones.

"Everyone was just like kids in candy shops. The Metallica guys were just hanging out, being in the way, like, 'Oh, sorry, sorry.' It was surprisingly joyous, which was just the best festival backstage vibe I've ever seen. Axl [Rose] was hanging out at the end of the night, having a beer. It was awesome ... It was one of the most magical musical things."

As joyous as it was, though, Hale and Hottinger did not get to spend any time with Ozzy on that day — but they weren't too worried about it for really good reasons.

"We were hanging out with Geezer [Butler] a week and a half ago and he was like, 'My god, those three days, it was nonstop,'" Hottinger said.

"We were watching everyone go in and out, and we were like, 'It's okay, we'll see Ozzy.' I don't regret it."

Hale agreed.

"We did the right thing ... It was great to see him and see him in such good spirits. He was so happy and that was fulfilling in itself."

What Else Did Halestorm's Lzzy Hale and Joe Hottinger Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

Whether they're thinking about the next full-length album or not: "Thinking about it a lot. We've been so busy, so it's more of like, we're collecting ideas and riffs for days and all of that. It happens every time where it's like, we have the album out, we're still touring, but I just can't wait to dig in and see what we do next and see what it develops into ... When we get back from South America, I'm looking forward to digging in on some new songs. We've been talking to some friends and we're like, 'Let's get together and get weird.'"
The inspiration behind their song, "Like a Woman Can": "I had this downward progression on the piano in Dave Cobb's studio and I was watching some interview with Meryl Streep and she was talking about women who have, over hundred of years, learned the language of men, but men still have some catching up to do to learn the language of women. She's like, 'I'm not even asking for you guys to understand us, because we don't even understand us. Just meet me in the middle.' And then, I think a day later, this line popped in my head, 'Why can't you love me like a woman can,' and I though, 'Oh, that's spicy. It's going to make a couple people a little uncomfortable — and I like that."
More on working with Dave Cobb: "Going with someone else and doing in a record in a way we've never done it, it was uncomfortable. You show up with your guitar and 20 some years of being a band and try to just see what happens when you just allow the music to kind of guide you. And that's what was exciting and terrifying, but also inspiring. It was beautiful, too, because we were all in Savannah, Ga., in this housed the four of us, with the engineer and Dave, and we just kind of separated from everything. There was no family around, no friends, no distractions. It kind of felt like Halestorm summer camp."