Based in southern Florida, The Hails is comprised of Robbie Kingsley (lead vocals), Franco Solari (vocals and guitar), Dylan McCue (guitar), Andre Escobar (bass), and Zach Levy (drums). The group formed while everyone was attending the University of Florida where their popularity grew instantly; house shows, a 5 song EP, and specialty performances littered the groupʻs formative years. August 25, 2020, The Hails released their long-awaited debut album, He Seems Upset. The 8-track project perfectly encapsulates their limitless talent not only in their lyricism but also in the instrumentals and array of styles tackled throughout the piece.

 

Q & A

What does the success of Younger mean to you after releasing it first as a single in 2018?

It was nice to include it in the project because it felt like it deserved to end an album/EP. I love the ending of that sound and how it’s kind of twists the narrative around it where it is happy and then all of the sudden it’s a bit darker. Because of its success with the album, we were able to put out a music video for it and add to its lore in more categories than one.

 

How did Heartbeat pt. 2 come about?

Franco actually started that. We had Heartbeat already—Dylan had almost the whole song except for the “I really want a heartbeat” part. When I saw the chords, he was playing I was like, “Oh! I think I have something that will really round off the melody”, it was a previous idea where I was doing the same chord progression and singing “I really want a heartbeat” a million times, over and over, just thinking, “I donʻt know where this is going to go”; he played me that piece and we mashed the two together. I think Franco really just felt inspired one night and included the rap. Part of He Seems Upset, too was an emphasis on interlacing the tracks and that was a moment where it started another weaving section.

 

The recording of Heartbeat in the Airbnb is so beautiful and calm, would you consider release an acoustic EP of the songs from He Seems Upset?

Yeah, weʻve talked about doing an acoustic single or something, but we haven’t recorded anything. Dylan and I have been working on acoustic recordings of some newer songs, so we might do it for that too.

 

What does intimacy mean to you, how do you show intimacy, how do you receive intimacy from others/things/moments?

That’s a tough question. I think being responsive to people in the moment, not living outside of the moment, really paying attention to the people that youʻre with, communicating with them; it doesnʻt have to be verbal, it could be through a touch, a facial expression, it could be like cooking with somebody, it could be playing video games.

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For more behind the music of The Hails, check out issue 3! See you there in March ;)

 

~Reagan Thornley