Hayley Harper and Maybe So Interview

Annie: Okay awesome so great! Let’s start with how you got to Treefort And then I want to know how you guys got to each other.

Awesome. Awesome. So I worked for a venue in Taos, New Mexico.
The owner had asked if I wanted to go to Treefort as like a New Mexico Person, this this time around. Yeah. And I was playing by myself and actively kind of trying to form a band, but hadn’t yet so that was kind of the real like kicker to like, get in the groove and get going with that. And so yeah, I met these lovely people. And we were just playing together. And it came like we just played together one night. Like, you know, it just kind of clicked Yeah.

Okay, awesome. Awesome. And let’s go down the line. Who is everyone and a little about you?
Sure, Peter. I’m the drummer. Yeah, I think it’s hard sometimes to find people that you can play with. Like you play with a lot of music with people and it kind of just works
Love it. Yeah. Andrew. I play in another band Albuquerque. I met Megan. She invited me to come join them. Met Haley through Megan. And she had songs and was like, Hey, play some stuff.It’s very like, friends. It’s super hang out. And thats where the best stuff comes from.
Hi I’m Megan. I just loved the vibes of it and haley just invited me to mess around
So my favorite question to ask newer groups. This is so awesome. I’m so glad you asked to bring everyone this is great. My favorite question is, if and I’m sure when you’re first starting out, you get this question a lot. So you may be very practiced. If you had to describe your music and your group and what you’re doing here to someone in just a few words. What would you say? How would you describe what you’re doing?
I’m still like working on that. A little bit. But yeah, yeah, I do. Big. Yeah. I know. It’s hard when I guess the rock section is super broad. Yeah, but definitely a little moody. Yeah. Lyrically driven.
So you guys have been practicing and playing together for a little bit now. What is individually what is one of your like, favorite pieces or favorite parts of your music that you guys have done together? That you were just like, Oh, that’s good. Like that works. And why did it? Why was it working for you?
I would say just the song Valley of Fire.Justwhen we first started playing it, it just sounded good. As we play it sounds even better. Yeah. I would say I would say like that. For me.Yeah.And then as we play it you like find more pieces of it that work more.I love that. That was a song. That was like, iffy about it when I was just playing by yourself. Yeah, with the whole band. It
would you say that’s one of the reasons that you were after a band behind you? Because you were doing individual pieces. And you were like, This is good. I love it. But it could there could be more to it.
Yeah, it felt it was like very fun to perform by myself in some ways. But it also just like always, in my mind was like, this could be so muchlike heavier, like a little moodier. If there were other pieces or pieces. Just yeah, I felt like there was a lot of room. And yeah, I’m really pumped about the way they like all played such a role in making it like this sound that it is. Yeah.
Awesome. So when you’re adding in the instruments to those pieces that you had beforehand, for example, are you doing it collaboratively?
I think it’s kind of been a mix there’s some that we’ve really like stuck to your maybe original form but and you’ve been really fun and open and being like what do you guys think? I want to do with this part and Okay, yeah, it’s very open for collaboration. It feels Yeah. She’ll be like, I don’t know about this. Maybe we could do this. Yeah, yeah, mostly I’ll just like play the song. They’re all pretty like.
That’s like lyrically driven.and kind of simple. And so when I would like play them, I feel like everyone just hopped right in and kind of like started doing their own parts. And then there were things that it was like, oh, like, that drumbeat right there makes us all know to do XYZ. And so we’ll keep that but like, otherwise the in betweens is kind of like everyone’s, like, blank slate to kind of like play with and do what they want, you know,elaborate on dynamics after that part. Yeah. Just getting the base down. And then the rest and we’re really excited to like start writing music after this. We just only did the, the songs that I had written. Yeah, and yeah, so hopefully, soon, we’re gonna get into like the real, the real, like, collaborative, playful time of like writing co writing together.
Okay, yeah. That was what I was trying to get after, like, after tree fort because you have your smaller discography and your smaller things that you’re doing now that you’ve brought them in. What are your plans? What do you do after?
write some songs, play some shows? Yeah, yeah. We like practicing and messing with parts or ribs or bass lines. And we’ll get really into and then like, no focus. Yeah. Back to what we’re Yeah. Like keeping it simple for for like this show. And then, yeah, from there, we can kind of like go back and dig in a little harder and write new stuff and then get shows in new mexico and record more
Recording the demo was really awesome for that demo song. Valley Fire. So we’re like, excited to do that with more of them.
And have you done valley of fire live?
to actually for that demo?
No, just been doing it at Peter’s house. He’s got a really cool recording set up.More of that seems very exciting.
I don’t know where I want to go with this. I think.
So what I think I want to know individually, is what got each of you into music, what is a little bit of your relationship with music
. Yeah, I mean, I’ve been in band since I was in middle school. And the game plan for my computer science degree was to pay for music.
Worked in a lot of bands. So yeah. As bassist forever. Drum now for years. So yeah I just it’s community.
Yeah, that’s my community. That is awesome. Especially I majored in computer science. So awesome, that like, you do something with that outlet. Because sometimes that can be a little bit isolating, I feel like that type of work.So that’s interesting that you have that outlet. That’s awesome. Yeah.
Just always been a fan of music, just listening and going to showslike, handful years or so writing songs with a friend and then created the band in Albuquerque.So it just, it just has like, being in a band and just like focus me to be more serious about it in a fun, playful way. You know, and it kind of just gives me that. outlet to Just be creative. Yeah, like, no rules.
There’s too many rules. Create that time to do that creative stuff. Yeah, I
think to play off what you said, it’s really important to keep that play going. And I always wrote songs by myself, and just messed around on the guitar and had some songs that I did or completed or just little pieces, you know, but then once you start having like, the band experience, there’s such gratification that comes from like, finishing something and it’s never has to be like locked in. It can always change but just to like know that you guys like created a whole thing together. So yeah, a big part of the community aspect too.
I have always liked singing and like dabbled with guitar.
And I was like in a few projects throughout the years, but then like working for a venue and not really having an active project like I started something and COVID and that kind of fell through and and so working at a venue like really kind of drove me to want to like play and then again and I got asked to play this like songwriter thing and then from there it just I haven’t stopped since Yeah, it was like a year ago, and a year and a half ago. So I’ve just been like playing out by myself a lot. But like with the band, like when we played together, I like laughed after one of our songs because I was like, oh, it’s like going to the batting cages and just like, hitting, like, when you hit a baseball and just like, connects really, like perfectly, it’s feels so good in your body. And I know, it sounds like such a small thing, but that feeling is like, yeah, really big for me. And that’s how I feel when I like play with a band. And it just everyone’s like connecting and you’re kind of like out of your head for however long in a world where you’re like, you know, generally speaking in your head, and pretty rational to just be like, I don’t know how the body
That is so awesome. I think that’s something that’s really special about bands like you guys because you have all these other things that you’re doing and then now you have found your way into like creating music with each other. So it’s interesting because you have a different story coming into it and you have a different reason for doing the music rather than just I’m doing my job and I always do music and this is all that I do anyway right? So it’s awesome to be able to bring that in it almost adds something to your music and your performance because you guys are getting something out of it more than others would.
Yeah, that is amazing conversation. Like you were talking about the other night like just feels like we’re having like this really deep conversation with each other and the more we play like the deeper the conversation goes. It can be kind of freeform like oh does that sound good? did you like that? i feel like its a little circle of love
Okay, just a few more just to get an idea of who you guys are and what kind of music that you guys like individually. What is one artist that each of you is obsessed with lately? Like this is your go to you’re putting that song on you might play it a million times and then be hate it a week later because you played it too much.
Yeah, for me it’s mf doom.
I love hip hop just for simplicity and the ideas around it.
so that’s never not someone that’s doing it right now and
it’s hard they’re
all disheartening for Richard designer or Cory Hansen go chips something like those are ready
I think I’d have to say
Jessica Pratt. Okay. Yeah, Ianytime I come back to her, like I’m like taking away to like a different time. Yeah, and it’s really relaxing for me.It’s a good grounding sound.
Im so like torn between three people
give us three.
Okay, all three Adrianne lenker First I think as a songwriter she’s just like such an epic songwriter and her she’s like changed a lot and I would say same with my second person would be angels andyeah, love her like voice she’s a little more like moody. Yeah, like that more big sound that I think we’re kind of going for and the third one that the album I’ve been listening to like non stop since I’ve heard it was voltar feathers there.
band and yeah, I just nonstop and listening to their liminal fields album so
i love that its so different do you think that those sounds find their ways in to your music?
100 hundred percent the hip hop
I would tend to see
that is awesome. Yeah, that’s the one I was most interested about because it was very left field relative to the rest
so
it’s super,
I think it’s super useful to have that kind of stuff in here. Really translatable kind of left field stuff.
No, that’s awesome. I love that.
So,
okay, I have two more, only one of them is hard. Okay, the last one is an easy quick one.
So, have you guys started writing pieces? Anything that for your future that you’re going to be working on after Treefort? Has there been anything that you’ve started writing yet?
Just last night, we they brought like little baby amp and some guitars into our Airbnb. I pulled out some lyrics and I think there’s a song for sure. In the making. Yeah, yeah, we like sang through it for a bit. And I was like, Okay, let’s remember that. We tried to play it a little bit this morning. So
okay awesome i love I really liked to ask this question, because it’s always very different. And it’s hard to answer because there’s not really an answer to it. When you’re writing music, and you’re working with the music, and you’re working with all of the messages and the feelings that you guys have with this industry. How do you know when you’re done with a song? How do you feel? What makes you feel done?
than
never? Right, exactly. It’s funny, I feel like songs are kind of like they come out of this amorphous kind of blob. And then they just solidify over time and the way you play with them, the more you find the little things that stick like a bee or a little accent. And then that stays that eventually more and more. And then it just solidifies into a thing that doesn’t change. And a lot of things are like unspoken, too. It’s not like, always like, Oh, I liked what we did there. It’s just kind of like, you just all silently agreed asit matures, and then then it gets dangerous. Because if you keep playingthe same solidified song, you get tired.
Because it’s like people can change. Yeah, always changing. I think that’s like one of the only constants in existing, and also, I think, leads into our new band name very well, which just maybe so is our band name. Now you answered my last.
I was about to be there. But I
think that’s like, a big part of that. Terminology, for me at least is like the essence of change and how it’s like always, like possibility and openness to that change is like wrapped up and deeply tied in that phrase. So I think that’s part of the draw, for me at least are that and part of songwriting and
just living.