Since your lyrics are really important to you, are you drawn to certain topics or do you just go with whatever comes to mind in the studio?
I like to have a direction, they need to make sense. So in order for them to make sense, we have to create the story that’s going on. When I walk in, I always have an idea and the more and more that I got into the process, I’m like, “Alright, I want to talk about this story about a girl and boy who are best friends. I’m in love with this guy, and I want to make him see that I’ve always been here for him. And any flaws that he thinks he has, I think they’re beautiful,” and we’d write a whole song about it. That one I did with busbee, called “What You Don’t Know,” it’s fun, you know. I like songs that take you on a journey and take you somewhere else and really sink your teeth into it.
What are you hoping that your listening audience takes away from your new record?
First of all, I hope that people of all ages will enjoy it. It’s great to know that Idol has a huge, wide-range audience. And that’s fantastic, because I wanted to be talking to a younger crowd as well as a much older crowd. I hope that everybody will give it a listen and really just see that I wanted it to be a very organic and natural experience. I want them to be able to get lost in it and relate to it. All the songs are very relatable. I know that people have gone through these kinds of experiences. I want them to be able to hear me and what I’m saying.
Over the weekend your music video for “Free” made it's unofficial debut on the internet. From what I saw, it's just beautifully shot. I like the retro vibe and it seemed to really fit the song. Was the concept your idea or more of a collaboration with the director?
The director Christopher Sims, he’s fantastic. I gave him a full outline of what I wanted. He came back, had some minor tweaks in how he wanted to film it with the camera. Otherwise yeah, he went with my idea. Everybody liked it over at Interscope and 19, so we ran with it.
We got to go to an old-style diner, and Christopher had this idea of the camera spinning around, making this kind of whirling, spinning, crazy effect. Very difficult and very fun; it was a great challenge to be moving fast with heels and holding onto nothing. [laughs] It was really, really cool to see my vision come to light. It’s something I’ve dreamt of my whole life.
Article comments
1 - Gil King
Very informative and interesting interview. Thank You...
I see Haley hitting it big in her young career based on who she is and how she'd driven to share all of that phenominal talent and soul.