Roads to Success: An Interview with Hall Johnson
By Allen Mathew
PC: Kate Mulligan
Hall Johnson is a five-piece based out of Austin, TX who found a large audience in the indie rock community since their humble beginnings in the suburbs near Dallas. Throughout their career, the band have performed with the likes of Lunar Vacation, Dayglow, Inner Wave, Hot Flash Heat Wave, The Slaps, and many more. They first released their widely successful set of singles, “Upstate/City Lights,” in 2017, and have released tons of amazing music since then.
Hall Johnson’s lyrics tend to come from frontman Milo’s life experiences, with music coming from their band jam sessions. Their content from earlier releases finds them talking about relationships and other teen-spirited subjects, but, lately, they have been delving into mature topics like mental health and the desire to fit in. Notably, Milo sings about this in their recent release “SALT,” with the line, “let me in SALT, I’ll believe everything that you say” (with SALT being an organization at Milo’s school).
Currently, Hall Johnson have a brand new single called “Strangers,” which is to hit streaming platforms in the next coming weeks! Ahead of its release, we had a conversation with members Milo (vocals, guitar) and Trevor (guitar, keys) to understand the path they took to get to where they are today.
What have been some turning points for you guys so far?
Milo: I would say there are two major turning points: one was our first venue show with Hot Flash Heat Wave, and our second one was playing with Beach Fossils.
Trevor: I would also add to that—when we moved to Austin full-time, it was like we’re moving here together to do school AND do this. We were making it a very public priority.
So, how did you guys manage to get those shows with Hot Flash Heat Wave, and Beach Fossils?
T: It was a lot of cold calls and random emails. We got Beach Fossils from our manager, John, who runs Creative Flesh, the booking boutique in Dallas. But Hot Flash Heat Wave was just a straight-up cold-call email.
M: We sent them a DM, and the guy putting on the show basically said, “Yeah, this is your shot,” and we played the show. I mean it’s one of those things where it’s a domino effect. Once you open for one band, they know “Oh, these guys know what they’re doing,” or “They don’t know what they’re doing.”
Who was the first “big” band that you opened for?
T: Probably Hot Flash Heat Wave??
M: Inner Wave, Hot Flash Heat Wave…those were two bands in one night. It was honestly before HFHW got as big as they did. I think, during that show, Inner Wave was bigger. I think it was in 2017?
T: It was a long time ago, but now, I think the biggest band we’ve played with is Beach Fossils.
I know y’all also played with Dayglow.
T: Yeah, DAYGLOW!!
M: The thing is, we’ve known Dayglow for a while; his first show, he opened for us!
M: Yeah, now Sloan [Dayglow] is, like, huge, and he’s, like, the nicest dude I’ve ever met. If there is anybody in the music industry who deserves it, it’s Sloan.
T: Yeah, definitely! He’s super nice.
M: So it’s kinda been sick to see how he’s shot straight up.
T: Just overnight, [he] went from 50 people at the show to selling out the Troubadour in LA. [makes a gesture, signaling Dayglow’s quick success using a ramp-like arm motion]
M: Wow, that’s crazy I didn’t even know that.
I heard about y’all from your show with Lunar Vacation. How was that experience?
T: That was a lot of fun. Definitely a great way to start off the tour.
M: One of the big things we’ve been lucky with is just being friends with people. We’ve known Lunar Vacation since they had 1,000 monthly listeners [on the day of writing this LV has close to 200,000 monthly listeners]. We’ve just met and known people that have helped us grow, just by accident.
T: Just meeting people, I think, is the most important thing in music. Collaborating and meeting other artists can end up with shows like that.
M: We got [to play with] Lunar Vacation solely through our friendship with them. I mean, there was management that sorted it all out, but the reason we got it was because we were friends with them.
How did you become friends with them?
T: I’ve known Grace for a while — [we] just became friends and started sharing music with each other; her Lunar Vacation stuff, and my Hall Johnson stuff. [We] just slowly became friends with them. When we did our first East Coast tour, I asked if we could play with them in Atlanta and we ended up [doing it]. Then, our friendship has grown a lot, because they did the Calpurnia tour and played at SXSW and, since we live in Austin, they came and stayed with us for a whole week. Everybody in the band was so nice, and it was super fun.
So, earlier you mentioned your cold-call emails. Is that still a viable option today?
T: Maybe? It really depends on the person. Sometimes, bands will just get left on read. I think there’s a difference between knowing what you can get and what you’re going for. It’s not like we were playing our first show and saying, “LET’S PLAY WITH BEACH FOSSILS!!” I think a lot of it was just luck.
M: We just shot in the dark. I don’t know how viable it is [laughing]. Landry, our lead guitarist at the time, DM’d them and just said, “Hey…I love your band…we have a band. Here’s one of our songs.” And we just lucked out.
T: You just never know.
Did you message the band themselves or is there someone else people should DM?
T: The promoter. We didn’t message the bands straight up; the company that put on the show with Hot Flash was Biker Gang Booking. So, if anyone, you should go after the promoter and/or the booking venue.
M: I definitely think that’s a key point. Houston and Austin don't have that small-town promotion/booking company. So, our relationship began because Trevor was interning there, then they heard our music and liked it. So, really we lucked out. We really lucked out in a LOT of ways.
Is there a way to find the booking agency that’s putting on a show?
T: Yeah definitely! The Lunar Vacation show was put on by Margin Walker, and within the [roster], every band has a booking agent, and those agents help message venues and book the shows from there. Our manager, John- he is a promoter, and he runs Parade of Flesh. He’s kind of the one that contacts the agents and figures out if there are any supporting acts, or low support, or if they‘re bringing their own supporting acts. It’s all just, really- you don’t know until you start emailing them and getting into it. I evidently have horrible email formatting — apparently, I’m not polite when I’m emailing, some people have told me — but, it takes a while to learn how to email; it takes practice to get email strategy right.
[P.S. I think you’re great at emailing Trevor, don’t let the haters get you down!!]
Any tips on email etiquette, or strategies?
T: I think, email etiquette...don’t be super long, address who you are, your genre, link to your Spotify, EPK (Electronic Press Kit)...[that] is really good. Include that, and, you know, “If you’re adding local support, we’d love to throw our name in the ring.” And just leave it at that.
M: I know it’s cliché, but you could take fifty shots and not get anything back.
T: I’ve emailed SOOOO many people and I don’t even get anything back!
M: I think having a bit of clout in the inner workings of the industry, making those connections, is what will get people to look at your email seriously. You can only build that with hard work. Trevor will sit down for two hours and email a bunch of people; don’t email five people and expect to get much in return.
Do you have any advice for new bands?
M: Have fun making music. I know it’s super cheesy, but I’d rather be in a small band that has fun making music rather than a huge band that has a horrible time on stage. We didn’t try to blow up or gain a fan base whenever we started the band; we just did it to have fun, play our school dance, and such.
T: We were literally just learning our instruments; it was junior year of high school. We just got together and started playing together.
M: Yeah, it’s one of those things where you’re growing and working together and you’re having fun.
To conclude the interview, I also asked Milo and Trevor who they would be if everyone in the band was a Harry Potter character. After a long, deep discussion, they came to this conclusion:
Milo is Harry Potter
Trevor is Ron Weasley
Logan is Hermione Granger
They forgot to name the others; it was that deep of a discussion.
The band also added: “Stay Home. Stay Safe. Wear a mask. Protest. Know your rights. GO VOTE. Make music. Is your mask on??”
Keep up to date with Hall Johnson!
PS: I forgot to ask about their cat, Cornbread, but it is rumored he helps the band write and record, and sometimes substitutes on drums when Logan is busy. I’m hoping to hear this cutie sing on the upcoming album too. Here Cornbread is, “fat chillin.”
Courtesy of Hall Johnson