Inspired #433 - Half Happy
Welsh indie newcomers Half Happy have blasted on to the scene with their fantastic new EP 'Conversation Killer'.
Shooting up through Cardiff’s flourishing music scene, the thrilling quartet’s dream-pop, indie-rock and post punk eccentricities have already contributed to them winning the Welsh Music Prize 2023 (Triskell Award), with their vivid storytelling and raw observations melting into spellbinding lyricism.
Spawning leading singles ‘Slow Down’, ‘Well Done Honey’ and ‘Bloom’, the rising four-piece have earned plaudits from Huw Stephens on the BBC 6 Music airwaves. On the live front, the band are primed to head out on their debut UK headline tour this December, following on from a slew of previous slots with acts including English Teacher, Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard and Pale Blue Eyes.
They took a moment to talk to us about the inspirations behind their music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
Zac - Tame Impala, love the synths and the retro drum sound.
Rose - Tame Impala big time agree, it’s the band we all bonded over when we met. Also Wolf Alice and Ellie specifically. I fell in love with their songwriting and they were my soundtrack through uni. Also Ellie is like confidently nervous in my eyes which I really relate too.
Zac - and The Maria’s. I love their aesthetic and the production on both records.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
Zac - Whiplash is one of my favourite films. I love the soundtrack, acting, suspense, all of it. Shows the dark side of a musician who wants to be the best.
Rose - Billy Elliot or Black Swan. Completely different tones but films about dance really inspire me. It’s so expressive but also so damn hard, it’s so gratifying and inspires me to move.
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
Zac - LA, lots of good sunny music comes from there so it must be nice right?
Rose - I’ve guess it’s honestly Cardiff so far. I’ve only written here. When I reference drinking and being in bars, running around town, taking trains, it’s always here.
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
Rose - Like day to day…Is it lame to say Zac? He has the strongest work ethic and he literally holds the band together. Be more like Zac.
Zac - Ha thanks. If it was an artist tho, it’s probably too obvious but Charli XCX is the most liberating and inspiring artist of 2024.
What were your inspirations when writing your new EP?
Rose - We never really set out to write the EP, so it’s hard to say what inspired it. It was more that all the tracks we wrote felt like they gelled and flowed into one another, and had a similar thread running through them.
How would you like to inspire people?
Rose - I guess we feel like we are an older band starting out. A lot of the funding schemes etc. with age brackets we’re almost too old to apply for lol (and we aren’t old at all). So I guess we’d like people to think you can be knee deep in a full time career and also start pursuing your passion to write music and be in your dream band.
