The Hara
The Cluny, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
This event is for 16 and over - No refunds will be issued for under 16s.
More information about The Hara tickets
THE HARA didn't write this album for the industry. Why would they, when the strange, structureless world they live in has ground them down and made them spiral into doubt? And why would they, when they prize their authenticity as much as they do? The Manchester, UK trio - vocalist Josh Taylor, drummer Jack Kennedy and guitarist Zack Breen - create from a place of undistilled, unadulterated intention. They write constantly, compelled to chase the ideas forming in their heads without deadlines hanging over them, just because they love it. Crucially, those songs all form the building blocks for their supercharged live shows, the environment where they feel like they blossom into their truest, best selves. When it came to threading the material they'd accumulated for new album The Fallout - released 23 January on Mascot Records - they knew they wanted to shift into a higher gear, but nothing was forced. "We're constantly trying to grow and develop," notes Zack, "but with this album, it materialized in a really natural way." "One of the things we focus on with every single aspect of writing and what we want to put across is that we've written for us," Jack. "We've not written it thinking, 'Let's impress these people' or 'Let's do this because it's a more mainstream approach'. We've written everything because we want it to sound like that." Josh, as a lyricist, finds that he's guided by his subconscious. He sits down, he lets it speak, and once the words are down on paper, he's able to make more sense of what's been going on in the recesses of his mind. "It's never been a thing of 'This is how I'm feeling, I'm going to write about it'. It just happens," he explains. "I find it hard to communicate in everyday life, and I feel writing is my way of expressing what's going on, even if I don't understand it at the time. It's like therapy." This time, the struggle that spilled from his brain was his ongoing battle to accept himself, and with that, the cruelty with which he conducts his internal dialogue. He'd become accustomed to tuning out the self-critical voice in his head instead of talking back to it and challenging it. Keeping the internal war to himself, while telling himself it was never that severe a problem, only served to make it worse. Instead of reassuring himself through the soaring highs and crushing lows that band life brought him, he projected a veneer of confidence, keeping any sense of vulnerability under lock and key. Josh details this in the confrontational album opener 'Trophy' - "Society doesn't wanna see water in my eyes/Locking up my secrets to live with the lies, they're all fuckin' lies," he roars. He continues to dig into his soul on 'Easier To Die', which grapples with the feelings of hopelessness that might leach into their view of their band's trajectory, and their general mental health. "We definitely feel like that quite a bit, trying to break through in music," says Josh. 'Stay' along with 'Violence' tell the story of a toxic relationship from a more human, realistic perspective. There is no villain/victim divide - just two people, generally well-meaning, who nonetheless end up locked in a power struggle. In some ways, this struggle is inextricable from the other primary theme on The Fallout, namely THE HARA's relationship with the music industry. A fickle, shapeshifting world, it gives with one hand and takes with the other, leaving those trying to survive within it in a pattern of constantly chasing highs and watching their mental health crumble when those highs turn to soul-destroying lows. "It's really hard when I think a lot of your worth is dependent on numbers," explains Josh. "That can sort of warp, like what it's all about, which is the art and the love of doing it, because you're constantly fighting to get a hit single or get a viral video, or sell this many tickets. Then, when you do get to that point where you do have a moment, you don't really celebrate it, because there's always something bigger." 'Kings' and 'Twist The Arrows' both put the music industry in their crosshairs. The former centres around the idea of it eroding their sense of trust in both the people surrounding them and the good luck that might come their way. "When you do have wins, you kind of bat them off, because you're always thinking that there might be a catch, or, 'How long will it last?'" Josh considers." It's really hard because when so many things have maybe not turned out how we thought, you do become a bit cynical, but I guess it comes back to trying to trust yourself and trust each other." "This cynicism definitely creeps into your personal life, too. It's affected relationships, and it's hard to switch it off as well," adds Zack. "If you're waiting to be let down, it's hard to just let things happen to you." 'Twist The Arrows' is a portrait of the pendulum swing between elation and disappointment that bands endure. It manifests in the inexplicable phenomenon of some days playing to thousands of people and the next day a crashing comedown when returning to the mundanity of ordinary life. "It's hard sometimes, because when you've been on a tour or done some big festivals, coming back to real life that week after, it's always the worst. Real life feels shit," says Josh. "Your ego is constantly going, 'We're the best thing since sliced bread', to 'What the hell is going on?' It's quite a mental battle, but a lot of it is just making sure that your self-belief never goes." After writing much of their material in their home studio, they absconded to the outskirts of Hereford with co-producers Brad Mair and Pete Hutchings (Nothing But Thieves/Royal Blood), recording in multiple stints. "The days were really intense," Zack remarks. When they were working, they were determined to evolve. "That was something that was at the forefront of our minds, and collectively, we all definitely stepped up from a musicianship point of view," explains Zack. "Josh has adopted a lot of great screaming techniques, which have been really fresh for us. I've used a lot of drop tunings and experimented with various guitar techniques. Jack's been a monster behind the kit." "We all listen to heavy music, and it was something we wanted to get into and play with more," Jack adds. "We wanted to not only express the energy and how heavy all this sort of stuff is and how clever it can all be, but our musical ability as well." Heavy and personal entwine on the sobering,'Monsters And Demons', which wrestles with the perennial artist's question of whether they need the pain and suffering in their lives to be inspired for their art. "I had this conversation with another artist who were saying they were scared to be happy, because then what do they write about?" says Josh. "I feel the best art is about the deep stuff, and it feels like such a toxic thing as well. As hard as it is, part of you is like, 'I'm kind of glad I'm going through this shit, because this is going to make a fucking awesome song'. It's so fucked up. Maybe having that mindset also attracts it a little bit, because you're constantly trying to find emotion. Maybe there's pressure as well in the industry, too - if you're not struggling, are you a real artist? I feel like there is that sort of narrative within the metal community, that you have to be dark and fucked up to be authentic." Their raucous genre mash-up of alternative rock, metalcore, and emo has seen them pick up support tours with Nothing More, Escape the Fate, and Ice Nine Kills over the last 18 months while dropping the singles 'Trophy,' 'The System ' and 'Stay'. They've built a formidable live reputation, leading to them supporting pop-punk giants Sum 41. They've exploded across the festival circuit; Download, Slam Dunk, 2000 Trees, Kendal Calling, TRNSMT, Tramlines, Truck, Boomtown Fair and an incredible main stage set at both Reading and Leeds Festival, along with heroics at Rock For People and Mighty Sounds festival (Czech Republic). They will also join As December Falls on a UK tour in October and November 2025, before heading on a 10-date co-headline November tour of Europe with Call Me Amour. THE HARA's dauntless new chapter is the most self-assured they've ever been. Despite the pressure, toxicity and self-doubt fired at them from all angles, they've used the pressure to create diamonds. Most importantly, through all of this, they've metamorphosed into the greatest version of themselves yet. Their journey has been one of finding themselves and it's a road that's taken them through 2023's debut album Survival Mode and a string of EP's to reach this moment on The Fallout. "This album is probably the purest, rawest version of us," asserts Josh. "Musically, lyrically, everything feels the most authentic we've been. This is really who we are." THE HARA online:
www.theharaband.com/