I recently chat with Jason, the lead guitarist from Halo Scars. There is so much good music coming out of the Knoxville area, and digging into Halo Scars was quite the fun ride. Heavy riffs, melodic vocals, aggressive grooves, everything I could ever ask for. We talked about the metal scene in Tennessee, upcoming shows with Valkyrie’s Fire, and what lies ahead for Halo Scars.
Who is the best artist or band you have seen live?
Every one we’ve ever seen personally, or performed with, has offered their best. Each band and musician has offered some unique experience, making them all the top of their craft specific to what they are doing. Trying to narrow it down to one specific “best” is hard without just generalizing all of them.
I saw a clip of you guys playing what looked like Sharkey’s in Syracuse, NY. How did that opportunity come up and do you plan on getting back up to NY again?
Yeah, we’ve played Syracuse twice. The first time was Sharkey’s that you mentioned and last time we were at The Lost Horizon for Salt City Death Fest 2. Both times were really cool,and the bands we played with were nothing short of bad ass. When we got the offer for both shows we jumped on it. Everything just fell into place for us, and those were awesome shows.
We will definitely come back. Whenever the next opportunity shows up, we will be there. We still hold that old school view about building your fanbase and making connections on the road, city by city.
As music becomes a widening gap between the huge “corporate tours” and the DIY local scene - where does Halo Scars fit into that landscape and how do you navigate it?
It’s a balancing act and a learning process to move forward from doing everything ourselves to a professional level. We try our best to be adaptable to the situation that we are dealing with at the time and avoid being overwhelmed by things we cannot control. Above all, the most important aspect is giving the crowd a show to remember.
I saw an interview that Halo Scars started through connections in the hospital world. As the resident Metal-head in medical imaging, (CT tech) I wanna hear about the background of the band, and does the name refer to the Halo traction device?
Ha, yeah we all have day jobs with long hours. Construction, factory work, supply manager, and two of us are in the medical field: one EMT and one RN. Very cool that you are a CT tech!
But no, the name actually doesn’t come from the traction device. It’s actually more of the concept that we all started from the perfect creation, and life has a way of damaging, breaking us. We fight to recover and then the next battle comes. We start to see things different over time, we seem different over time. Life forces us in certain
directions through experiences that leaves scars. Not everyone is willing to pay the toll until there’s no other choice.
What’s the Tennessee metal scene like these days? Is it a tight-knit community, and are there a lot of opportunities for local bands to put on strong shows together?
The scene varies from town to town and city to city. What works well in one place doesn’t always work well somewhere else. Each section of Tennessee offers a unique take on metal and offers a blend of old school and modern metal. Every band we’ve played with works their asses off to push the shows and to give a performance that catches the attention.
The opportunities are there, but with fewer venues now, you just have to know what you’re looking for. You have a couple dates lined up with Valkyrie’s Fire. How did that connection happen, and what are you looking forward to about those shows?
We were playing a Metal and Tats show in Murfreesboro, TN. Dave Hale was in one of the bands on that show and we all became really good friends. Dave has always shown a ton of support for us and he himself is an extremely talented musician. So when he started Valkyrie’s Fire, it was a given they would do great! Every musician in that band is insanely good. Those shows are always fun because it’s friends that we’ve known for a while and have played with multiple times. It just makes it feel very laid-back and fun.
Your sound pulls from a lot of places- I hear thrash, some NWOAHM , and a mix of melodic vocals and fist to your face grooves. Where do your influences as a band come from? Do you share similar tastes or is it more controlled chaos when you write?
When you consider we cover almost three generations in the band and our life experiences, the influences are vast and cover almost all genres. Everything from old-school thrash to bluegrass to funk, each of us bring a colorful palette to the table. And at that table we let what we feel guide us through the writing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes we end up with something none of us could even see at the beginning of it. However, in the end, we all have to be satisfied with what we’ve done.
What lies ahead for Halo Scars?
This part is formulaic, as always: record, release, travel and present it to the masses. We have some studio time on the calendar, and collectively we are looking at what should be released as a single, a video, where have we not played, where do we want to go again. You will always see us on the road somewhere.
For anyone just discovering Halo Scars, where can people hear your music and follow what you’re doing?
https://www.haloscarsofficial.com/
https://www.facebook.com/haloscars/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5rEdYGvajDftLG2qLjyKCA?si=z3bbhAFyW7BQEHmX
And you can find us on all streaming platforms
“Secrets We Buried”
https://open.spotify.com/track/7rKV27FlObchBtWz2C2NZM?si=3be686349a63430c
