HAAS is an American indie recording artist who’s music encompasses many different genres, including pop, rock, indie, psychedelia and folk. His track Four Reasons of the Season really caught my attention, making me want to find out more! If you liked the song, this interview is for you!
By Jane Howkins
You released a single titled Four Reasons of the Season. What can you tell us about the track?
Four Reasons of the Season is about a breakup I went through over Christmas a few years ago. Every time I asked why she wanted to end things, I got a totally different answer. It got comical after a while, so I decided to write about it. There were actually way more than four reasons, but if I wrote about them all it would be a three hour song, so I trimmed it down. Each verse is about a different reason, hence the title Four Reasons of the Season. I wanted to contrast the rather frustrating lyrics with more happy sounds, so I opted for the 12 string Rickenbacker, which has a very chimey vibrant timbre found on jangle pop and British invasion tunes. I also brought in some sleigh bells (it was Christmas after all), and added some James Brown woodblock with transient reverb. It seemed to all come together rather well.
How has the reception to the single been so far, and where can the song be purchased?
I believe this has been my most well received single so far. I was interviewed in other publications and found various write ups my publicist sent me regarding the single. I don’t actually know all the distribution channels where it can be found, but it’s on all the main ones: Apple Music, Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, Amazon.
You’ve also recently released a video for your song The Word. What can you tell us about that track?
The Word video was really fun to shoot. It was shot in Hawaii during my visit New Year’s 2022. I was staying right across from the Honolulu Zoo and got an idea to take random shots over there, not really knowing what I would use it for. My girlfriend was filming on my iphone and we were just giggling about it the whole time. The next day, we drove up to visit my friend Sandy’s farm about 20 minutes north of Pearl Harbor. The idea started to culminate when I got up there. I noticed her animal enclosures looked a lot like the zoo. So I said wouldn’t it be funny if I stitched the footage together and made it looks like I stole a goat from the zoo? It was very spontaneous, very tongue in cheek. I mean, the content doesn’t really match the lyrics at all, but we decided to run with it anyway (literally). I just ran with the goat and put her in the passenger seat and took off down the road. The real icing on the cake, if you look close in the video, you’ll see the plate number of the car I rented is GOATTY. Just a funny coincidence, and too good to pass up.
Regarding the song itself, I wrote the chords a long time ago, in high school. It was actually some jazz progression I would jam with friends. I could never get it quite right and decided to go my own way with it. The lyrics came years later. I was just fed up with disingenuous people, Hallmark card type messages made for the masses, a lack of real connection with people. That came after I moved to LA. I think it still rings true.
Do you plan to release any singles in the near future?
I have one more single I’m releasing next month called Fay Merriweather. There will also be an accompanying music video that is really trippy. I’m working with an AI expert from Venezuela who is doing an incredible job. That would be out mid June 2023.
Are there any plans to release a full-length album or an EP?
Yes, the album Lotus in the Mud in coming out the second week of August. August 11th I believe. The releases are always on a Friday for some reason.
Your music has a psychedelic rock vibe. What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
I grew up in Northern Wisconsin, deep in the woods. We only got a couple of radio stations, so I had more fun listening to my mom’s vinyl collection. She’s an old hippie, so I grew up on Frank Zappa and the Mother’s of Invention, The Beatles, Donovan, and Disney soundtracks. This clearly had a huge influence on my whimsical musical style. In the basement where the turntable and records were kept, were huge window panes that would probably seem smaller if I saw them today, I mean everything’s bigger when you’re a kid. But it seemed the walls that wrapped around me were made of glass with endless forest on the other side, probably where the folk influence came from. I wasn’t into folk music when I was growing up. I would probably turn the station over if it came on the radio, but after moving to the big city, it became a way to reconnect with my roots. I gained a deeper appreciation for that type of music and started working it into my own creations. Recently I’ve been into Temples, Tame Impala, GOASTT and more instrumental stuff when I’m writing or studying like Tycho and Bonobo.
Do you have anything else exciting coming up this year?
Just the album release, but I’d like to put together some more videos. After seeing what is possible with AI, I’d like to work more in this field. I’ve been thinking about putting together a crowd funding campaign for this, as it is rather expensive and I’ve paid for everything out of pocket so far. I’m also starting to sketch out rough ideas for another album where I play all the instruments. I started on drums, so that’s all muscle memory, like riding a bike. I dabble in keys and bass, and am most proficient on guitar and vocals, so why not stir it all together. I’ve got rough ideas for about 7 songs so far, but if I did that it wouldn’t be out till next year.
Where are you based? How is the local music scene faring at the moment?
I grew up in Wisconsin but I’m currently residing in Southern California. There has always been a thriving music scene here, and with summer coming up, there are a lot of bands and festivals coming through that I hope to attend. I just saw The Violent Femmes, a Wisconsin band I grew up listening to, so that was a lot of fun. When I first moved here many years ago, I was more hip to the local music scene. Just about all my friends, and myself, were in bands and we all came to support eachother. Now everyone is settled down and I’m so out of the loop I don’t really know any local bands. I need to get out more haha.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
No tour dates for the UK, though if things took off and I found I had a good fanbase over there, I would love to get an act together and do some pub crawls!
Any last words for the fans?
If you find the music good enough, please support indie artists. It’s exceptionally hard to continue doing what we do without label backing, so we rely 100% on support from the fans. I know it’s kind of cliche to say that, we’re heard it a million times, but it’s so true! Thanks for the support!