Halestorm drummer Arejay Hale has teamed up with the drummer from Lit to create an “aggressive” new challenge referred to as Kemikalfire. Hale’s partner-in-crime is musician Taylor Carroll, who has been behind the package for Lit since 2018.
Talking to the “Thunder Underground” podcast, Arejay says he and Carroll are previous buddies. “I’ve identified him again when he was enjoying drums for a band referred to as Pillar. And we met on the Mall of America in Minnesota when he was in his bus and we had been in our R.V. And he simply came visiting and knocked on the bus and he was, like, ‘Hey, you guys are in a band?’ And we had been, like, ‘Yeah. You guys are in a band too? Cool. Come on in. Have a beer. Let’s hang around.’ And we simply by no means misplaced contact.”
Throughout the pandemic, they began to put in writing collectively together with different musicians. “We needed to keep busy, so a number of Zoom writing periods with different writers. And we simply realized, ‘Man, now we have a extremely good chemistry writing music collectively,’ and we each type of decide up the place one another lacks, in a way; now we have an awesome inventive partnership. And never solely that, however he is additionally a extremely proficient producer as nicely — and multi-instrumentalist. So, as a songwriter, I simply felt actually glad that I might simply placed on my inventive hat and let him do extra of the mechanical work with the tune concepts that I’d current to him.”
Taylor Carroll and Arejay Hale of Kemikalfire
Hale explains that the sound of Kemikalfire is “extra aggressive” than what he does in Halestorm, however he additionally thinks Halestorm followers will “get it.” “It is completely different… I am doing much more singing and much more loopy drumming. It type of throws again to our punk roots; there’s punk components in there,” says the drummer. “There’s moments the place it is heavier; there’s additionally moments the place it is a little bit bit extra melodic, a little bit extra hovering… nevertheless it’s additionally simply digestible. I believe the typical Halestorm fan might hear it and be, like, ‘Oh, okay. I get it. This works.’ ‘Trigger clearly your private writing model seeps into all the pieces that you just’re part of, so you will in all probability hear Halestorm components in there as nicely, from my finish.”
So far as when the world will hear what Kemikalfire has been doing, Hale says, “We’re nonetheless writing, however we’re planning on releasing some music quickly, as a result of everyone seems to be chomping on the bit. We launched our social media platforms as a result of, clearly, at the present time, one of many primary targets is to simply type of construct your on-line following, however we rapidly realized that as quickly as we launched the social media platform, positive sufficient everyone stated, ‘The place’s the music? The place’s the music? I wanna hear it’… We had been, like, ‘Oh, okay.'”
Kemikalfire’s Arejay Hale and Taylor Carroll in Studio
Hale says Kemikalfire have a couple of songs completed, however are in nonetheless placing the album collectively. “We’re nonetheless writing, however we’re planning on releasing some music quickly, as a result of everyone seems to be chomping on the bit. We launched our social media platforms as a result of, clearly, at the present time, one of many primary targets is to simply type of construct your on-line following, however we rapidly realized that as quickly as we launched the social media platform, positive sufficient everyone stated, ‘The place’s the music? The place’s the music? I wanna hear it.’ The demand for individuals to wanna hear music. We had been, like, ‘Oh, okay.’ (laughs)” Hale additionally notes that, sure, there are two drummers within the band, and they’re going to share some completely different duties. “He is enjoying guitar and singing, and I am enjoying drums and singing. However we’re pondering possibly… We each can play each, so we’re, like, ‘Perhaps we must always commerce off and do some…’ However we even have a few songs the place he was, like, ‘Hey, you wanna play piano?’ And I am (like), ‘Certain. Why not?’ So we would swap some issues up for our dwell present, which we’re enthusiastic about. That is the dream. He and I personally are simply, like, ‘Man, I am unable to wait till we are able to play a dwell present. It is gonna be a lot enjoyable.'” Kemikalfire’s Instagram is chock filled with pics of the duo and a few amusing shorts just like the one under. Get pleasure from what’s taking place there till we get some precise music from the challenge, with Hale says will “hopefully” occur afterward within the yr.
