Vicenza, Italy based atmospheric, shoegaze tinged emo alt rockers HALFWAY HOME have shared their new single called “Liquid Dream“, revealing an interesting, cozy track that burns hot and bright. Coming out after a couple of years of hiatus, the new song nods to the classics and reveals a band that’s clearly working towards progress. Great listen.
To celebrate, we have teamed up with the band to give you a wider scope of what’s behind their project, how passionate they are about their work, and share their perspective on their local music scene and global issues like anti-racist protests following the death of George Floyd.
Comments the band: “We are part of Life is Strage, a collective that aims to put up shows that not only are capable of uniting people but also of making a change.
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All the money that we make at our shows goes to various organizations that plants trees in our territory. We are currently planning the third edition of our festival that will take place next summer. Hopefully weβll be able to put up always bigger shows following our beloved DIY ethics.”
Visual by HΓ©lio Gomes
The band formed in 2016, after four friends since middle school started a Moose Blood cover band. “Sounds weird to me too, but itβs the band that got us into the new βemoβ wave so I personally still enjoy them (although IKYM is still the best work theyβve done).” – comments Halfway Home’s singer Samuel Zini.
“We started writing our songs in the first few months as a band and released an EP in November β17 called βSo Long, So Lostβ.
We played a bunch of shows and then we stopped playing together because we realized that we didnβt really like the genre we were trying to do and it resulted in some of us getting tired of playing. Also a couple of us were moving to start university so it would have not been easy for us to keep play together.
After almost a year were I practically abandoned the guitar I started recording some solo songs in my room that I eventually released with my side project Sam: a couple of acoustic singles and a few months later a short album called βThe Places I Go to Forget About Meβ. In this record I moved to a more grungy sound, that I felt was more suitable for the things I was trying to say. After the album was out I reached out to my bandmates and asked them if they wanted to play it live and they were all excited about it so we found a new guitarist (the old one was the only one still at university) and started playing shows again.”
Asked about inspirations behind their new track, Sam continued: “We decided it was time to write something together now that we all had a clearer idea of what kind of music we liked the most. I listened to a lot of Citizen, Balance and Composure, Movements and similar bands and thatβs pretty much what inspired the writing of Liquid Dream. This song is about being able to get out of a situation that is not a part of your life anymore, because sometimes change is good and even if it could feel just like a dream at the beginning, we have to understand when it gets real and is time to move on.”
For their future plans, Samuel offered the following: “We donβt have shows planned in the near future, unfortunately it is still uncertain when we will be able to start playing shows again, but hopefully very soon. We are trying to use this βfreeβ time to write some new songs that we want to release later this year and see what we can do with it. When the time is right, weβd like to play a 3/4 days small tour, maybe with some of the amazing bands that we are lucky to have around us.”
Thoughts on Vicenza local music scene:
“I can say that we have a pretty strong local scene here, with bands like Regarde, Amalia Bloom and Decacy that are becoming quite known both in Italy and Europe. I personally love Regarde because I love their sound and knowledge of music in general, they remind me of bands like Title Fight or Citizen so trust me, theyβre worth a check. We had the pleasure of opening for them at their release party in January and we are still stoked about it. A new born band from northern Italy that I really enjoy is Shelt, the original name was Miele but they had to change it cause an Italian singer that apparently is βworld famousβ threatened to sue them if they didnβt change the name so they had to do it. Anyway, you can find their first EP βHavenβ on Bandcamp, youβre gonna like it.”
Other bands worth a listen
In the last months I started listening to two pretty cool bands: Rich People and Gleemer. I like them for their emo-ish/shoegaze sound, Gleemer also just released their first LP called βDown Throughβ, even if theyβre songs are all pretty calm and not what I usually look for in a band, I still enjoy listening to them when I just want to chill at night. 10/10 worth checking out.
Thoughts on anti-racism protests:
“We totally agree with the people that decided to go protest for this matter, even though itβs 2020 and it seems impossible, racism is still a thing. A lot of people says that this stuff only happens in the US but it still happens everywhere, maybe less often, but unfortunately it does. Itβs important that we, especially young people like us, try to make our voices heard to try and change what itβs objectively wrong, we want and we need to do our part to end racism, misogyny and sexism. We are all equal and I believe that no one, included non-human animals, deserve to die for ideals that are justified just because βitβs been like this foreverβ. We still can make a change and Iβm sure we will.”
Liquid Dream Lyrics:
I saw you inside my mind
I tried to reach for you
My thoughts started to shape
And thatβs when I realised
You were gone
It was just a second
The cold caress on my skin
Put me to sleep
Make me feel weak
Keeping integrity
Has been so tough
Feeling necessity
Of wasting away
I believe in something
But only when I need it
Sing me to sleep, help me forgive
And forget
Choking on my own lies
Cause I keep on my disguise
And everything I want
Is that you will stay
This time
I found an hidden path
Leading to my heart
And I tried to ran
But I couldnβt get up
I believe in something
But only when I need it
Sing me to sleep, help me forgive
And forget
Choking on my own lies
Cause I keep on my disguise
And everything I want
Is that you will stay
This time
