We were lucky to catch up with Drew Hale recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Drew thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I was the kind of kid that always got into trouble for being too loud, and too wild, and always having something to say. In fact my family nicknamed me Mr. Megaphone growing up. If there was a video camera, you can bet I was jumping in front of it pretending to be a “Roving Reporter” or a rock star with a guitar. I was always singing, always banging on something, always creating. I think I knew, even then, that I was meant to be a performer of some kind. And as I got older, I found alternate ways of using my love for performance and music as an outlet. I began writing songs around age 10, before I really knew how to play an instrument. I taught myself to play piano and guitar through my Middle and High School career, as well as spending every extra minute outside of school either playing in garage bands, or singing at church, or performing in choirs or ensembles. Even then, it was all I ever really wanted to do.
In College, I really discovered my love for songwriting and began to work intentionally on my craft. I wrote songs for myself, for my band, for my church, and for other artists, and I began to feel like maybe this was a viable career choice for me. But it wasn’t until I was hired to direct the music department of my home church in El Paso, Tx that I finally saw that dream realized. My career has taken many, many turns and twists over the years since then. I don’t even really play church music anymore, but I’m thankful to my upbringing for offering me opportunities to learn and grow and try out my craft as a singer/songwriter. I don’t think I’d be who I am otherwise.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
If I haven’t had the opportunity to meet you before this, thanks for reading this far! I’m always still a little shocked and humbled when someone finds me or my music interesting enough to take a deeper dive.
A bit about me, I am a musician to my core. Music is literally the cornerstone of my life. I have a song, or an artist, or a mixtape for just about every mood, situation, memory, time, or place in my life dating back as far as I can remember. Even in my home growing up, we had music on the stereo 24/7. It connected us to everything we did as a family. And especially in my teens, when that family unit began to break apart and change, music became my safe space. And I found myself using my songs as a bit of a diary. And I began to discover as I did that, that so many of my friends and classmates were going through similar situations, and it allowed us a way to connect and commiserate. It became a shelter for us, and a place to find comfort and escape. This is most likely what pushed me into being a full-time singer/songwriter. Music has spoken the language of my heart for as long as I can remember, and now as an adult my favorite thing is to watch someone singing along to something I wrote, knowing that they’re making a memory of their own, or finding community inside my song. That’s why I do what I do, to help people heal, reflect, relax, repent, rebound, and find a soul connection through music.
The songs I write are incredibly intentional, as far as lyrical content. I make it a point to write about REAL things; Real stories, or at least my vantage point on situations I’ve witnessed or experienced. I write the human experience; the good, the bad, and the ugly. I want people to hear my lyrics and go “Oh man, I’ve been there.” Or “Wow, I thought I was the only one that felt that way.” Music can break down walls and sneak past defenses in a way that few other mediums can, and I absolutely HAVE TO be part of that.
My musical style is pretty eclectic, as is my range of influence. I grew up on the songwriters of the 60’s and 70’s, cutting my teeth on artists like James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Carol King, The Beatles, Townes Van Zandt, Sting, Steven Stills, Neil Young, John Denver, and others. My mom and dad were avid music lovers too, and they passed their love onto my siblings and I through the artists they loved. As I grew into my own, and began to find music that spoke to me personally, I found myself being completely enamored by alt-rock and bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Our Lady Peace, Jimmy Eat World, and the entirety of the 90’s underground emo/indie rock scene. It was music that illicited deep emotion from an awkward, confused, lost-on-the-fringes 15 yr old, struggling to find his identity. And in that music, I found my voice.
In college, I was introduced to Texas Country and Roots Rock; artists like Cory Morrow, Pat Green, and (later on) bands like Reckless Kelly, and Whiskey Myers, and Turnpike Troubadours. Within this genre, I found the same raw emotion, and longing as I had in emo and indie rock. Songs about love and loss, heartache and healing. But also songs about moving on, and finding yourself. In this genre, I found pieced of myself in those songs more than I had in almost any other genre I had dabbled in thus far. And I began to write songs along those lines. My sound turned a little more twangy, but kept that same rock n’ roll edge that I had grown up writing, and a new sound was born.
Now, my live shows are rocking, and high energy, but always have room for moments that make you feel, and think, and reflect. Because I believe that music should reflect our full range of emotions, and nothing brings people together more than when they feel understood, and surrounded by kindred spirits. Whether I play on my own, or with a band, I do my best to craft an experience that draws you in, and gives you a fun and safe place to experience a wide swath of emotion, and leave the venue feeling lighter and less alone. And I believe with all my heart that people feel all of these things, because I allow myself to feel them when I write these songs and sing them. It’s all at once exhilarating and exhausting as an artist. You literally leave all of your heart on the stage when you walk off. And it’s a good feeling. And it’s a good tired when all is said and done.
That’s what sets me apart from many of my songwriter peers. I’m writing these songs to perform, and not to expressly sell. If another artist connects deeply to one of my songs and wants to record them, then I’m honored. But I don’t write for the sole purpose of selling. I don’t really write specifically for radio, either. I’m alway cognizant of whether or not a particular song will play well with radio formats, but radio play is never my first goal when I write. The connection with other humans is paramount, and the standard to which all of my songs are held .
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
As a creative, there’s something that happens within the context of creating art that I’m not sure non-creatives experience in the same way. As I mention in another part of this interview, I intentionally create music that will illicit emotional responses from my listeners. So to do this, I have to dig deep into my own emotional well to find those particularly potent bits of feeling; The memories or the flashes of pain or loss, happiness or celebration, loneliness, and anything I’ve experienced or witnessed that I feel might resonate with someone else who has experienced it. And that can be excruciating sometimes. It means having to revisit and relive past hurt or trauma which I’ve either buried, or hidden inside. Experiences that most people leave hidden, and untouched except for the rare occasion where something pokes through and makes you feel it.
Through this process, I’m often able to craft something healing and redemptive that speaks directly to the heart. But until it comes out of me, it feels like this toxic, unstable, undulating storm. It eats at my insides, screams at me in the middle of the night to continue working on it, and seeps through my veins like a poison until I can put shape to it and get it out of me. THEN it becomes a restorative balm, even for me. But until it does, it tears away at my guts and makes me lose sleep and become unable to fully focus on anything else, and it only builds pressure the longer I leave it unfinished.
I’ve never been able to really vocalize that until the last few years. But it seems to be true for other creatives that I’ve spoken to about it, as well. . So even in that part of the process there’s connection and healing, which I feel sets the creative apart from the non-creative. The ability to self-heal, at least in part.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
In my opinion, if you want to see a creative succeed, buy their creations. Especially if the creative is a friend, family member, or someone you really care about and want to see them be successful. Don’t ask them to do things for you for free, just because you’re close. Because, for most of us, creativity (especially being highly skilled in a particular creative vein) comes with a side of crippling self doubt, and a propensity for people pleasing. Which means that we want to make you happy and want you to be our friend, so chances are that we’ll say yes even if we don’t really have the time or the capacity to do it for you. This is also true with many of my creative friends whom I have spoken to about this. For many of us, our talent was the only way we made friends and kept people around us. Oftentimes the most talented people are also the most uniquely different and even socially awkward. So we use out talents as a way to connect us to people, because many of us feel that we don’t have much to offer outside of our talents. It took me years to break that cycle in my own life, and I still struggle with it sometimes.
So do your creatives a favor, and instead of spending all of your money supporting artist who have already “made it”, shop local, buy independent, listen and share and buy local artists records, support the people who make up your community. That is how our culture can support creatives.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.drewhalelive.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/drewhalelive
- Facebook: facebook.com/drewhalebandd
- Twitter: twitter.com/drewhalelive
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrewHaleBand
Image Credits
David Mund, Hillary Engler (Engler Creative Works), Robby Fischer (Dogtown Studio)