Devoting
Destiny
Nate Haller
Interview
On Friday at Boots and Hearts, I got the chance to sit down with Nate Haller to see what was going on in his world. From his debut main stage Boots performance to his most recent single, I wanted to see what else was going on in his life.
How are you doing? Everything's good?
I'm good. I'm so excited. I got a little hot up there at Soundcheck. Yeah. But I think everyone's ready to go. I saw a couple of fans already. It's going to be good. I'm very excited.
You're from Waterloo, so you're local to southern Ontario, but it’s your first time at Boots
and Hearts.
Yeah, it's not far at all. A couple of hours. First time playing on the main stage. I've played here before from Porch Stage, and I played in another band with an artist called Kira Isabella. We played here. So, yeah, It's super. It's nerve-wracking doing the main stage, but I'm so grateful that Boots invited me to do this.
I know, you’ve got a summer full of festivals. You’re all over the place.
Yeah. We're doing Lucknow[music in the field] and a bunch of stuff. So it's going to be great.
I'll probably run into you at the CNE, I’ll be there for a few performers.
Oh, yeah! When's that? 19th, I think, right? Probably. I should know. I think it's the 19th. There are two close by, so I was like, I didn't know. I can never remember. It was just where they told you to go. I'm like, This is good.
So you've been on tour before, but this time it's for yourself. How is that different?
It's definitely always been something I wanted to do. But I mean, there's a lot. There's a lot of moving parts, but it's a lot of fun. I love writing and telling my story on that side of things. I love being a guitar player as well, but this just feels like something I've always had to do. So I'm really happy to be doing it.
More expressive, right? When it’s your stories to tell.
Yeah, exactly.
So Race to the Bottom just came out recently. What was your creative process like for that?
I'm not a writer on Race to the Bottom, but it came... My friends wrote it. Griffen Palmer, Geoff
Warburton and Daniel Ross. They, Griffin, sent it to me three years ago, and I've always been playing it. For some reason, it always stuck out. I was like, If I ever get the chance, I want to put my voice on it. It just worked I doubt that this was the right time. I'm excited for people to hear it. It's a little bit of a sad boy song, but it's still an upbeat song.
It's still something you can dance to, even if you're a little bit upset about it. But the video, the video is beautiful.
Yeah, we went down to Bristol, to the Bristol Motor Speedway, and shot it. It was so cool. We were on this empty racetrack. It was really cool.
It looked really good. It looked super fun. I never realized some of the racetracks were like?
Oh, it's so steep.
It's so steep.
Yeah, it's insane. I tried to run up it and I was just out of breath, just huffing and puffing.
Do you have more music coming soon? Is there an album for it?
There's going to be more for sure. Yeah, there's going to be more. But right now, we're just focused on Race the Bottom. I've been writing for a while for this next project, so there's definitely stuff in the pipeline. I just don't have any dates or anything yet.
Fair enough! But you've got ideas in the tank?
I do. It's brilliant. It's coming. Yeah.
What does a normal Nate Haller show look like?
Well, I'm going to be sweating, especially today. What else? I think it's high energy. It's fun. I try not to take myself too seriously. There are always tech things that go on, so you just have to roll with the punches. I don't know. I'm just stoked to vibe with the people out there.
That's it. That's what we're here for. The crowd looks fantastic
It's going to be good, I think. Yeah, it's going to be so fun. It's going to be a lot of fun.
If you could pick one song that you put out, what would you say you're currently most proud
of?
I really like this song, Take My Name. I think that's really true to what was happening at that moment. And yeah, that's one of my personal favourites. I didn't write Race to the Bottom, but I love that song,
so I'm pretty stoked about that.
Who would you say, I guess, inspires you most, whether in music or just in your personal life?
“Who inspires me most? That's a hard question. I just think I'm constantly listening to music. And from a young age, I was listening to music. My family always had music on in the house. So I think stuff just leaks in, and you see it come in ways you don't even know. I don't know. Probably a lot of stuff inspires me. I love listening to what's going on right now and current stuff. So yeah, that's a bad answer, but...” He trailed off with a laugh.
No, no. It's an honest one. Who would you say you're most excited to see this week? And if you're getting a chance to hang around.
Lauren Watkins. Her songs are unreal. I feel like she's such a good writer.
What songs are currently on your playlist? Anything on repeat? Sticking out?
What's on repeat? I'm listening to a lot of Frank Sinatra right now. I don't know why. But it's just on. My grandpa listens to it a times. So whenever I'm out there, he's got it on 24/7. Literally, while he sleeps, I'm pretty sure it's on in his living room. Jelly Roll is another one, he’s pretty cool.
Nate’s new single Race to the Bottom is out now. Click Here