How Halestorm Became One of the Hottest Hard-Rock Acts

It would be difficult to find a band that’s having more fun than Halestorm right now.

The hard rockers from the Keystone State are currently co-headlining with I Prevail and playing to sold-out crowds across the country.

Founding drummer Arejay Hale jokes that the humidity in the Midwest is testing the group’s touring condition. Plus, I Prevail’s penchant for pyro turns up the heat a couple of notches.

“This tour has been the quintessential test of all of our physical capabilities out here in this heat,” Hale says on a muggy day in St. Louis. “Of course, keep in mind it’s like 90 degrees outside, then you add pyro, and it makes it that much hotter.

“We’re still going, man,” he adds with a laugh.

Hale’s not complaining, though. The current run, which also includes Hollywood Undead and Fit for a King, has been nothing but, well, fun.

“We got some fun stuff that we worked on for this tour. Bringing back some old gags. It’s been fun,” he says. “If they were to make a tour documentary, it would be so boring, because we’re all just hanging out and having fun together. There’s no drama at all, which is really great.”

And that’s what Halestorm is all about. Siblings Arejay and Lzzy, the band’s vocalist and guitarist, started Halestorm together in 1997 and quickly became one of the hottest acts in hard rock after releasing a self-titled debut in 2009 and winning a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance in 2013 for “Love Bites (So Do I),” off the 2012 sophomore album, The Strange Case of…. Arejay also won the Revolver Golden Gods award for Best Drummer that year, and Loudwire named Halestorm Rock Artist of the Decade in 2019.

The four-piece, which also includes longtime guitarist Joe Hottinger and bassist Josh Smith, built a road-dog reputation over the years by regularly playing upwards of 250 shows a year. It’s a grind, for sure, Hale admits, but it’s worth it. The secret nowadays is to “put health and physical maintenance first,” he explains.

“Long gone are the days of just partying all day, hanging out, going up and playing an hour set without warming up or stretching, then coming off stage and partying some more,” Hale adds, before sharing his game-day routine of hitting the gym, stretching before taking the stage and icing down after the encore.

“That way we can continue to do it, because it is a lot of wear on your mind and your body. Being out here on the road is kind of grueling,” he continues. “It helps and it makes it a lot more enjoyable nowadays. Just not feeling terrible every day. We just want to feel good and have fun out here.”
The Halestorm/I Prevail tour stops in Denver on Tuesday, August 13, at Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre. Hale quips that he’ll be sure to bring some sunscreen.

Halestorm is still promoting its 2022 album, Back From the Dead, which peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Hard Rock Albums chart. Halestorm and I Prevail also shared a new single, “can u see me in the dark?,” in June. The song has amassed nearly 5 million streams since then.

“I’m so happy with how it turned out,” Hale says, adding that I Prevail vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe joins Halestorm to sing it, as Lzzy does for I Prevail, depending on which band closes each night.

The full-band collaboration for “can u see me in the dark?” was a first for Halestorm, but if it’s up to Hale, it won’t be the last. He already has a couple artists in mind he’d like to team up with.

“I keep bugging Trent Reznor on Instagram like, ‘Hey, let’s do a Nine Inch Nails-Halestorm collaboration.’ He hasn’t gotten back to me. Can you believe that?” he jokes.

“I think that’s so common in other genres, like hip-hop and pop and electronic music. You got features of other artists coming together and doing big collaborations, and it’s cool to see it happen in the rock-band genre,” Hale continues. “If you’re listening, Sleep Token, hit me up. I’d love to collaborate with you guys.”

Whether we get such an alliance is yet to be seen, but Halestorm is busy working on new music between treks. While a release date hasn’t been nailed down (Hale thinks the next album may be ready by early next year), Halestorm is brewing something big.

“I think we’re getting to a point after doing this for so long where we’re really starting to trust our instincts when it comes to writing music together and having a better knowledge of what works and what a big crowd will love and what we will love to play,” Hale says, adding that it’s “the perfect storm of creativity and fun” (no pun intended).

“We’ve always had a love for doing what we do,” he concludes. “Honestly, it’s the best job in the world. We really can’t complain. And also, there’s nothing else we’re good at. It’s exciting and fun to continue to make music and improve as songwriters.”

Halestorm, I Prevail, Hollywood Undead and Fit for a King, 5 p.m. Tuesday, August 13, Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, 6350 Greenwood Plaza Boulevard. Tickets are $47-72.