We were lucky to catch up with FINAL IMAGES recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, FINAL thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?

It has not always been a smooth road, and because we have taken on the oath to live and die by our artistic endeavors, we must sacrifice and prioritize. If we are actively and consistently working on communicating our message, talent alone will not be enough. Blood will be spilt, the tears never stop, and the sweat on our foreheads reminds us of all the endless nights honing our craft. It is a sequential climb up an endless ladder – sometimes we do not have the willpower or stamina to continue climbing, and other times we fall off the ladder completely. In these moments, we must find the strength within ourselves to pick each other back up, remind ourselves that we are still capable, and continue pushing through, starting the climb all over again from the beginning.

“Our first challenge was to get Miina to sing in front of me!” Hanzlick laughs.

“I was born into a military family that included entertainment industry professionals, achievers, and high performers, but I was rarely and authentically encouraged to share my voice, whether through singing or speaking. There was a very high standard set when it came to the perceived quality of my words and sound. I was expected to behave a certain way, speak a certain way, sing a certain way – and if these criteria were not met, the power of my voice was quickly taken away. This caused us a lifetime of doubt, fear, insecurity, and pain, leaving me reserved, speaking only when spoken to and addressing others with respect and compliance, even when those others did not deserve it,” Garon reflects.

The struggle of being seen and heard was, and still is, very real for us. Although we have come a long way together in our healing process, breaking down those walls has been an ongoing project in its own right. Before we started creating art together, we did not intend for one another to hear us sing or play, and we did not bring our instruments with us during the first few months of our time together. Originally, we practiced our art silently within a safe distance, both of us feeling unable to fully open up. However, as the walls came down from within, so did we. Eventually, we met each other on the same platform, with the same goals. Through trust and expression, we broke through our own barriers and finally reached a place where we could create together.

Think of the struggle of a day where nothing goes right. You wake up, feeling like you’ve gotten no sleep. You go to work and are overwhelmed by all the tasks at hand. Your clients are demanding and difficult, as are your bosses. You go home, and there is no food in the fridge. You are upset with our partner, and your partner is upset with you. Sparks fly, the water boils, and all of the feelings and words you’ve been holding onto over the past few months start to spew out like gasoline on a fire that has been perpetually burning. It’s not received well by your partner, you go to sleep upset, and so do they. The next morning, as you enter your work building, a coworker asks, “Good morning, how are you?” In this setting, you have the option to say “I’m good, how are you?” and hide the truth of what you have been going through.

But as artists, we do not have the option to protect ourselves or to hide our truth. It is our duty, our obligation, to be honest and expressive with the very things we’d want to hide from the world. This challenge is immense – one that many are not equipped for – and neither were we at first. Singing and performing in front of each other for the first time was one thing, but pouring our hearts out and putting ourselves on the line in front of others was a completely different playing field. We both felt that pressure. Imagine breaking down in front of someone you don’t know, letting go of everything you’ve been holding onto – then imagine doing that in front of 50 strangers who now know your deepest insecurities, desires, and truths. Feeling comfortable in those moments was a massive breakthrough for us.

As a duo, our performances demand that we cover a lot of ground. We must both be multi-instrumentalists in order to fill our sound and space. Learning to play an instrument while singing, keeping up rhythm, and coordinating all the small details to complete the sound requires consistent practice and discipline over a long period of time. This is something we still struggle with and work on daily. The same challenge applied to finding the right recording studio. Finding the right studio is like finding a match made in heaven – or a dark green needle in a stack of dark needles. While any needle can stitch fabric together, only the green one completes the puzzle. That process was a struggle, but when you find what is meant for you, you know – and we found that together. Both of our singles were recorded with engineer and producer Cameron Brown from GDA Productions in Millersville, Maryland, with drums written and played by Rick Conlee, who also pursues his own solo work in the same studio.

The process of creating art does not end at the studio. Recording is relatively easy compared to the heavy lifting that comes during and after production. Production is a massive undertaking, with multiple large projects hidden inside every song. At times it is arduous, grueling, and time-consuming, leading to frustration, burnout, and lack of motivation. When you see your favorite artist performing, you are witnessing the final product of countless unseen hours of labor. Behind the scenes, magic happens through logistics, preparation, and trial by fire. By the time a song is released or performed, it has survived countless tests. With an inefficient or frozen production stage, progress can grind to a halt, as if an unstoppable force were suddenly stopped by an immovable object.

Lastly, as musicians, we are deeply affected by space and distance. When your favorite artists are in town, it’s because they planned to come to you. Likewise, it is our responsibility to bring ourselves as close as we can to our audience. This requires travel and logistics. Many hours are spent on the road, but the journey begins long before the car ride. It starts when we wake up in the morning, even before caffeine. We balance our energy, go to work, come home, change, get ready, pack equipment, load the car, choose the right music, and then finally hit the road. Logistics and travel take immense effort – most of it unseen – unless we’re late or unprepared for the show (Brandon Hanzlick, Miina Garon).

FINAL, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

FINAL IMAGES is a Halo Noir Rock duo based in Washington, DC. The duo consists of composer, guitarist, and producer Brandon Hanzlick, and singer, songwriter, and bassist Miina Garon.

Hanzlick, a classically trained musician born and raised in Santa Clarita/Valencia, LA, has been in several musical groups on the West Coast. Having created and played music across a number of genres, from everything from modern pop to death metal, he has a love for the piano, drums, guitar, and synthesizers. In 2021, Hanzlick followed an intuitive call, which sent shockwaves through his spirit. Believing in himself, and believing in what lay ahead of him, he took action and took a leap of faith. Hanzlick decided to pack up everything he owned, and moved to the East Coast to expand his artistic palette, life experience, and understanding of the world around him, propelled by an indescribable sense of knowing where he needed to be. Hanzlick, in his search to find what he was looking for, locked eyes with singer, Miina Garon, for the first time at George Mason University, VA in 2022 on a bench by the pond on an unusually warm day in October. A passionate, romantic, and physical relationship soon followed, and they bonded together over long nights, where they discussed music, philosophy, and spiritualism. Their relationship deepened when they both learned that their energetic chemistry was not the only electricity they shared. While they had analyzed, spoken about, and listened to new music with each other over several months, they were both hesitant about starting a creative project together. Everything changed when Hanzlick heard Garon’s vocals for the first time by accident, but when he did, he knew the two were destined to create together. “I always knew there was something special about Miina’s voice, so I said, ‘You know what? Let’s do this’,” Hanzlick remarks.

Garon was born and raised in rural Virginia, and growing up amongst the Southern farmland and churches, she never stopped singing once she began. Even as a child, she always knew that the sound of her voice, and the power and energy it carried, echoed and reverberated through the bones of those fortunate enough to have earned her trust and love. Garon, with her inherent gift, hails from a long family history of performers, singers, and artists. Although she sang in private for most of her life, and reserved her voice only for those who she believed understood her, she discovered her confidence in her voice through the inspiration she found with Hanzlick. It was at this point in her life that Garon had a life-changing epiphany, and she realized that she was given this gift for a reason, and that was to share her voice and gift with the world. “I’ve never met another person who feels music the way I do. We are mirrors that reflect each other’s image,” Garon believes.

With a renewed sense of confidence and of purpose, Garon became inspired to create in a way that both challenged and fulfilled her, utilizing her voice in a way that she had not done before. As a successfully published poet, a revitalized Garon dove headfirst into lyricism, themes, and wordplay, developing her own craft in a way which communicated her own life experiences, and released all of the emotion she had locked behind her heart, freeing her from the constraints which hindered the talent within her for decades. Garon hopes to fulfill her dreams of music for her great-grandmother, June.
Following these major events, the duo quickly started writing and recording songs, which they often refer to as their daughters, together in Garon’s small apartment bedroom, with no recording equipment, one laptop, and one guitar. Even though their resources were limited at the time, their art poured out in abundance like a waterfall. After writing, organizing, and rehearsing privately, they made their debut performance on the waterfront in Washington, D.C. It was Garon’s first live performance ever. Now, two years later, they have listeners in over 80 countries all over the world, and thousands of streams and a diverse audience.

Since the duo has begun, FINAL IMAGES have released two official singles, “I Wish I Could’ve Been There For You,” and “The Way She Moves” on all streaming platforms. The FINAL IMAGES sound blends genres of dream pop, alternative soft rock, 80s synth-pop, introspective lyrics, and West Coast sounds. Hanzlick’s layered rhythmic guitars, Garon’s powerful vocal performance, combined with the signature bass riff of the track, make for an iconic halo noir sound.
FINAL IMAGES perform and play live shows at events and venues throughout the DMV. Their most recent performances include Jammin Java, in Vienna, VA, and headlining a three hour set at Northern Virginia Community college, the second largest community college in the nation, and largest in the state of Virginia. The West coast meets East coast duo will be releasing their first album in 2026.

Miina Garon is a lead singer, vocalist, backup vocalist, lyricist, keyboardist, and bassist, and specializes in composing vocal and bass melodies, harmonies, storytelling, narrative building, premise, and setting. Brandon Hanzlick is a lead guitarist, rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, instrumental composer, sound engineer, and producer, and he specializes in musical theory, rhythm, foundation, instrumental messaging, and focuses on playing a supportive role to Garon’s vocals in order to uplift her contributions to the work. Their approach is one that puts Garon’s voice at the center of the stage, where the vocals take the primary lead in terms of space. Collectively, they are the yin and yang, with Garon creating the leads through her powerful and warm feminine energy, with Hanzlick complimenting and supporting her through his calm, steady, and consistent masculine energy. Together, they create a perfect blend of both masculine, feminine, neither, and both, and they play on their individual strengths in order to paint a complete picture for their audience which has all of the necessary colors and details to catch the eye and hold the gaze. While we both collectively write lyrics and instrumentalization, we both have our specific niche and our own specific strengths within the project, and through collaboration, we both are able to equally and equitably create artwork which reflects both of us.

One aspect of our art that separates FINAL IMAGES from other artists is being known for our unique take on a wide range of rock and pop music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and 00’s, with strong influence from artists such as David Bowie, Prince, The Cure, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Paramore, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, and more. We are known to be somewhat undefined in terms of genre. After our performances, and taking feedback into consideration, our listeners tend to say “Your music sounds like of a mix of Siouxsie And The Banshees, with touches of Cocteau Twins, and I kind of hear Garbage as well”; the quotes being uniquely filled in by our listeners’ interpretation of us. We’ve heard everything from country and gospel, to punk rock, to opera, to mainstream and classic pop, electronic, and everything in between. Thus, we created our own new genre of music called halo noir, with a darker undertone, appearance, and energy. The FINAL IMAGES vibe is moody, melancholic, evocative, with haunting vocals, fueled by a deep longing, and singing that comes from the soul. We have been told by many that the energy and weather changes, and shifts to us when we take the stage. There have been several instances where we have shared the stage with other artists during a beautiful sunset, and by the time FINAL IMAGES enters the stage, the first note is played, a raging thunderstorm accompanies us in the background.

Our stage presence itself sets us apart, and is another aspect of our art that we are well known for. The combination of all factors, such as outfit coordination, choreography that tells a story, energetic interplay and chemistry between each other and the audience, true love, and true despair, providing the keys to the unanswered or unspoken questions, the physical dynamics of motion, combined with gothic romance, heartbreak, tragedy, and conflict, ultimately grips our audience and holds them tight from the beginning to the end of our set. Each of our pieces reveals to our audience a forgotten memory, now remembered, a lost love, now missed again, a polaroid photo of a best friend, who you don’t speak with anymore, or a favorite place, that no longer exists. In telling these stories, Garon and Hanzlick both authentically share their stories, and remind their audience of their own. This style of performance builds a powerful spiritual and emotional connection between FINAL IMAGES and their audience, and asks them to challenge and to confront themselves to imagine how they will be remembered in a way that will give them peace in their final moments.

We are the most proud of the difference our art has made for ourselves and for others. Our music has shown us that we are all strong enough to keep moving forward together, no matter the many obstacles that may lie ahead. In that same sense, we’re also the most proud of the influence that our art has in order to carry such a message. We have many unreleased songs that we’re still currently working on, and a three album plan on the horizon, and we can’t wait to share them with the world. We competed recently in a battle of the bands competition at venue Jammin Java (Union Stage) and the judges acknowledged our “spectacular and emotionally evocative” performance that had a lasting impact with the audience. It is unbelievable to us that we are now playing on the same stages that some of our greatest inspirations, such as Paramore did in 2006.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

While the story of FINAL IMAGES has only begun, the premise of FINAL IMAGES exists in the in-between, in the moment in time when life is in the process of transitioning to the next stage of what comes after. It is a total recall of clarity in our individual and collective impact in this life, and a determination of what we will be leaving behind, and what we will always take with us, regardless of what happens with our physical being. FINAL IMAGES conceptualizes the stories, memories, experiences, and emotions that we all experience in the past, present, future; and is the complete summary of all of the events and feelings through the experience of living a lifetime. This is our driving lifeforce of our creative journey.

A visualization of this concept is as follows: Imagine you are sitting on a bench in front of a pond, with heavy rainfall. Each unique droplet of rain hits the water, and creates a ripple on the surface. Each drop that falls creates a ripple, then another, then another. Some of the ripples will inevitably intertwine with one another, creating an intersection of endless ripples which weave in and out of each other. Some ripples never make contact with another, but still exist within their own space and time. The pond, the body of water, represents the collective – the whole, and each raindrop and each ripple represents those individual moments and experiences which touch the lives of others, creating a new pattern on the water when the two collide. FINAL IMAGES explores this concept, acting as the voice which narrates the colors, patterns, and emotions behind this experience, of collective, individual, and the influence of setting in its entirety.
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We have come a long way since we started this project together. Looking back, it’s crazy to imagine all of the progress that we have made. From singing in the shower, to sold out shows. It almost sounds like a fever dream, something you might imagine or think of when you were asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, only to grow up and actually be that someone you dreamed of, in opposition to what everybody else wanted to believe about you. We’re proud to be in this together, to get better everyday together, and to share our art with our audience together. We’d be honored if one day, our art would find a place in one of your final images.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

There are many different supplies in an artist’s tool kit that not only help them survive, but thrive. The beauty of music as your main creative form is that it encompasses various mediums of art. In the modern world as a creative, social media platforms such as Instagram,TikTok, and editing software such as Canva, are essential in connecting and sharing your art, journey, and appreciation with your audience that completes the emotional pull of the music in an equally sensory visual experience. Garon especially enjoys branding the visual aspect of the duo’s art in the mediums of reels and shortform to engage and interact with the FINAL IMAGES fanbase.

Moreover, the people who support you along the way are so important. The friends, family members, and other local musicians who always come to your shows, tell you about other venues to play, and connect you with creatives to develop your projects fill your heart with joy, passion, and inspiration. Seeing their face in the crowd makes you smile and ignites a fire within your spirit. Witnessing their reactions to your performance transforms the whisper of inner saboteur into the recollection of the meaning of why you initially started.

One of our most influential collaborations for FINAL IMAGES is with videographer and creative director, Alexis Janae Ealey, on our upcoming music video release of our most popular single, “I Wish I Could’ve Been There For You.” The immense talent, raw creativity, wisdom, and natural director’s energy Ealey embodies has helped us undoubtedly in showcasing FINAL IMAGES in our first major visual project. Both Hanzlick and Garon met Ealey during the same time at George Mason University in 2022, and have been friends and artistic colleagues ever since. Finding other artists whom you truly artistically and energetically align with is a rare match-all of which we experience with her. The gratitude and trust we share for Ealey’s expertise is unshakable and eternal. Filming a music video requires so many different elements, ranging from logistics, coordination, acting, choreography, physical effort, carrying gear, travel, and emotional bandwidth, all in which Ealey made seamless, knowledgeable, and fun for us as clients and artists. Alexis Janae Ealey is the photographer of the photos seen in this article as well, and we highly recommend working with her as musical artists.

Lastly, doing the “inner work” is key in maintaining your spiritual, artistic, and physical health, all of which are deeply needed as musicians in order to create FULLY and authentically. Maintaining balance (as much as possible) is helpful to restore your energy and pour into your creative waters. Practices like meditation, ritual, dance, letting your body move the way it wants to flow, allowing yourself to simply exist, exploring out in nature, releasing perfection, and self acceptance transform and expand your art on a personally spiritual level. Ideas come to us as creatives for a reason, and if we are doing the inner work, the abundance is on a whole other level. A notable influential book for Garon is holistic psychologist Dr. Nicole Lepera’s self-healing How To Do The Work. Dr. Lepera’s work majorly catalysed Garon’s ability to break cycles and generational traumas she endured growing up, helping her to open up about her identity as a lead singer and artist, as well as freeing herself from the suppressive patterns that bound her. Both Hanzlick and Garon also find simply going out and observing, interacting, and hearing people’s stories conjures up almost immediate inspiration, as this is what FINAL IMAGES encompasses the experiences that connect humanity as a whole.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/final1mages?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=c4fe748b-fe97-45bc-a14e-8b91c5edc4f9
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/final_imagesofficial?igsh=YnRyYmwxN2wxamZm&utm_source=qr
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/rhDB-iMTDYw?si=gIGVgjT53lmfAX6H
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-336214857
• Other: TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@final.images?_t=ZT-903Uu3rEKsf&_r=1

Image Credits

Creative Director and Videographer: Alexis Janae Ealey