Feature: Hans Halstead Decodes ‘Everything Was Better When It Was Worse’
What was the creative process like for this particular album?
I didn’t start thinking I would compose an album where I confronted a lot of real-world scenarios and controversies, but that’s exactly what happened. I graduated college in 2023, and coming back home, I wanted to make an album encapsulating the experiences I had learned while being there. Prior to this, at college, I was exposed to Bob Dylan because of a class that I took, where we analyzed the lyrics. As a result, this album became an homage to Dylan, echoing themes of politics, religion, sexuality, and identity. It didn’t really transform into that, however, until I watched the sentencing of the perpetrator and officer involved in the 2018 Parkland shooting. I was floored by the parents of the victims and their testimonies. I was halfway through the album at this point, but I decided right then and there that I needed to write a song about that experience, and that’s when I wrote “Day of Love,” where I state each of the seventeen victims and each of their aspirations. That track then really became a guiding light, and I followed with “The American Dream,” where I talk about a myriad of subjects, from the Vietnam War protests, Watergate, all the way to fast-forward events such as the Chris Rock slap during the Academy Awards, as well as the Parkland shooting. Following the writing of this track, I wrote “Is It Wrong?” which talks about the identity of transgender people, as well as confronting the Catholic Church in its failures at acknowledging victims of sexual assault.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for this album?
Yes, definitely. I think “The American Dream” was the hardest song for me to write. I wanted to encapsulate all of the events that I had learned as a kid in American schooling, such as Watergate, the Vietnam War, Marilyn Monroe, the JFK assassination, etc. And I wanted to pair that with the information that I began to acquire while growing up, going to college, and slowly understanding that I was lied to. Through many experiences, you understand that America isn’t perfect and a lot of what you were sold as a kid was a false narrative. Through my chorus, I talk about a kid who is torn between believing in this narrative and the reality of hardships he is facing: “And I hated myself for the very first time/ I was sixteen and they said that it was suicide/ all of the boys and girls said she was fine/ but I looked and caught something deep in her eyes.” The kid I’m referring to has experienced hardships that his peers can’t imagine. He’s encountered suicide as well as being surrounded by a drug-infested household, with the line: “I got whiskey and cocaine all out at my house.” As a result, he’s torn between believing in the “American Dream” and the stark, different reality he is faced with at home. In turn, he begins to lose faith, causing him to commit violence, which ends up perpetuating the broken system that the lie of “The American Dream” is based upon. I really identify with the kid in the story because it symbolizes all of our innocence and ignorance growing up in America, and I wanted to also give a voice to a young person who is going through a similar experience.
Which song(s) from 'Everything Was Better When It Was Worse' do you think best represents your artistic vision?
This is a really tough question. I would have to say I’m split between “The American Dream” and “Is It Wrong?” In “Is It Wrong?” I talk about young people and how each one experiences an identity crisis. In each line, I kind of go through the lives and feelings of different young people and how society wants to come in and tell them what to do: “I’ve had many lives/ but they don’t realize/ I was born in the wrong body.” I think that this line is very relevant to the topic of transgenderism. However, I think it also is a relatable feeling that young people have: feeling like you don’t belong. I was really inspired by a scene in “Forrest Gump” where Jenny wants to be like birds and fly away to escape being sexually assaulted by her family member: “We’ll be high in the sky/ where all the birdies fly/ we’ll be safe in another life.” Finally, I capture the Catholic Church’s failure to acknowledge victims of sexual assault with the line: “The preacher stood by the door/ said ‘I can’t be with you, but come here and tie my shoe’/ don’t say a thing, leave quietly.” I think “Is It Wrong?” can become an anthem for really mixed-up young people, as we all were once, acknowledging their problems, fears, and concerns. As an artist, this is my absolute goal: to give a platform, a voice, for those who don’t have it. I try to expose all of the problems that society doesn’t want to talk about, and I think “Is It Wrong?” does this.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
Yes! I’m a 23-year-old, originally from Duluth, MN, now based in the Minneapolis area. As a child, I learned how to play classical guitar by being trained in the Suzuki Method. It wasn’t until my freshman year of high school, when my sister convinced me to try out for the upcoming talent show, that I started to love the stage. I would then perform talent shows regularly, covering classic rock songs. After a recent breakup, I began to use songwriting as a form of therapy to retell my own experiences. In 2019, I found indie rock as an inspiration, heavily influencing my melodies and songwriting topics. Detailing harsh breakups, the passage of time, and young love, I completed a debut EP, “The Deluge,” which was released in August 2019. After college, I met Jason Orris, the sound engineer and owner of The Terrarium music studio in Minneapolis. Jason introduced me to well-known musicians in the area, who we enlisted to start recording.
How do you approach collaborations with other musicians and maintain creative synergy?
I love this question. Yes, I have a truly phenomenal team who helps me on every project. For every song that I work on with them, I always want to create an experience where we are co-creating the song together. I want my musicians to explore what they think the song needs and really have fun. I am there for some simple direction when needed, but other than that, I let the song guide the musicians. When this is achieved, there is a magic that happens that cannot be replicated, and it makes the process really fun.
