We meet again, Honest Haloway. The synthrock band fronted by Tim Kratzer, formerly of The Vita Ruins, landed in the top spot of our favorite #DCmusic videos of 2013 with the unforgettable thriller “Psycho Bitch”. After some time off to regroup and retool the lineup, Kratzer returned in 2019 with two new studio-recorded singles, “Atonement” and “Twisted Eye”, both with music videos directed by Kratzer’s partner, photographer Sara Nabizadeh. While “Psycho Bitch” had a quintessential mid-teens DC feel, “Atonement” takes us to the far-flung desert of Namibia with a mysterious narrative and breathtaking camerawork. Bravo to Honest Haloway for creating art like this that keeps us excited to share the music videos of DC for 8 years running.
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Tag Archives: Honest Haloway
Honest Haloway – Twisted Eye
The prior Honest Haloway video we got from director Sara Nabizadeh was a mysterious, lonely affair in the desert. Her newest for husband Tim Kratzer’s veteran synthrock band instead invokes community, and seeing the faces of their close friends and musical collaborators reminds us of HH’s horror-twisted house party breakout “Psycho Bitch”. By presenting simple singing faces in black and white, “Twisted Eye” focuses on Kratzer’s haunting lyrics and eminently danceable riffs. In a trend we’re seeing pop up frequently as the streaming era takes over, Honest Haloway is abandoning the standard album release cycle and instead releasing a collection of 10 new songs over the course of two years in 2019 & 2020. Catch them headline AdMo’s SongByrd Saturday night along with genre buds Yesferatu and Low Rose.
Podcast for March 14th, 2019
Paul reviews a rock memoir, and Tony investigates a previous tenant.
Tracklisting:
Raw Poetic – Frosty Fogs [Gulliver]
Honest Haloway – Atonement [single]
Mystery Friends – Empty Nostalgia [single]
Zen Warship – Robins Calling [single]
Nicole Saphos & Allen James – Firefly [single]
Sweet Something – Kiss Me in the Elevator [In The Parlor]
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Honest Haloway – Atonement
Hometown Sounds was pretty pumped to get the automated YouTube email notification yesterday announcing a new video from Honest Haloway. The synthrock band well known for the captivating song and video “Psycho Bitch” has been mostly quiet since publishing a run of live recordings in 2017. HH’s new single “Atonement” is a ethereal song with a pulsing beat and Tim Kratzer’s entrancing, distinctive vocals, making us so happy they are back on the scene. This new music video was shot by Kratzer’s wife Sara Nabizadeh in Namibia, and like her photography it is astounding and arresting in its beauty and mystery. No other DC music video looks anything like this one. We enthusiastically endorse Honest Haloway’s next live show Saturday March 30th at the Rock & Roll Hotel with support from Bottled Up and Mystery Friends.
Honest Haloway – I Need An Audience
Hey DC, if synth-rock is your jam then then your presence is required at the Black Cat tonight. First up is Mystery Friends, they’re new on the scene but they sound fantastic. They put out an EP a few months ago called This Is Not What I Expected that’s beautiful and sublime. Next is Incredible Change, you know them right? Really tall lead singer whose name is truly Brock Boss. Their new EP with the tongue-twisting title Millennialopolis just dropped last week. And finally you’ve got our old faves Honest Haloway, back after a brief hiatus with a revamped lineup and sound that’s evolved and mature. Earlier this year they recorded new songs live at a farm out in Sperryville VA, and they released the fourth in the series to coincide with tonight’s show. Watch the dream-grooved single “I Need An Audience” below and hi five us at the show tonight!
Honest Haloway – Escaper
Tim Kratzer’s reborn synthrock band Honest Haloway are taking their impressive live act to the big stage at the 9:30 Club this Friday night July 28th, along with fellow DC group Incredible Change and two bands from Baltimore, Joseph and the Beats and Sweepstakes. They saved the third in their Sperryville Live Sessions videos for this big event, and now they’ve unveiled the cinematic and sweeping “Escaper”, filmed at 3 AM just before a deluge of rain.
Honest Haloway – Picture Fire
Thursday night DC synthrock band Honest Haloway hits the Velvet Lounge stage again after a significant time away, keeping us missing them. They showed off their new lineup and style in a pair of videos shot by photographer Sara Nabizadeh in Sperryville in April, the first of which we featured last week. Today we’ve got the second video, late night campfire vibes in “Picture Fire”.
Honest Haloway – Let Her Down
Swear to god, last week I was thinking how sweet it would be to see a new live show by Honest Haloway. The synnthpop band behind our favorite music video of 2013 is a consistent favorite live, but we haven’t seen Tim Kratzer’s band take the stage for a couple of years, since promoting their second EP Perigee back in 2015. Little did we know that Kratzer recently assembled an even larger live band and recorded new songs in picturesque Sperryville VA back in April. The fist one out of the gate is the spaced-out melancholy groover “Let Her Down”, beautifully captured by photographer Sara Nabizadeh. The new tunes get their live debut at the Velvet Lounge next Thursday June 22nd with a top notch lineup including Incredible Change and The Jaguar Club. We will be there, will you?
Honest Haloway – New Year’s video
Synthpop band Honest Haloway made the Best DC Music Video of 2013, and the release of their new EP Perigee early in 2014 is eagerly anticipated. New songs from the EP are beginning to trickle out, including the appropriately-timed “New Year’s”, from HH’s performance last fall at now-legendary DIY venue Paperhaus. Here’s the video from that performance, shot by Cesar Perdomo and Walker Foley. Mark your calendars for a night of top-notch synthpop at the Black Cat on Thursday January 30th when Honest Haloway and Motion Lines open for NYC’s Spirit Animal.
Top 5 Videos of 2013 #1: Honest Haloway – Psycho Bitch
Once upon a time, just a couple of years ago really, high school friends Tim Kratzer and Greg Balleza wrote indie rock songs together as The Vita Ruins. After playing together for years and recording an excellent album A Day Without A Name (go download this FOR FREE right now!), they parted amicably and Tim dove into a dance music solo project called Honest Haloway. He produced a 5 song EP The Towns (Another FREE download! It’s your lucky day!) and then put music on hold for a year to focus on his career. When he resurrected the project he added hard-hitting drummer Charlie Karim and bassist Fico Lazzaro-Colon to make a full-fledged live band. Honest Haloway also asked former bandmate Greg’s older brother Nick Balleza to create this video for “Psycho Bitch”, which Hometown Sounds featured back in January. I was completely blown away and have literally spent the last 11 months trying to get as many people as I can to see it. This video embodies DC in subtle and spot-on fashion. I’m sure we’ve all been to dozens of apartment parties just like the one in this video. Oh, there’s that guy who’s in a bunch of bands. Who’s the eyepatch guy dancing like a robot? And the song fits this party vibe perfectly. If you haven’t yet seen this music video, I won’t spoil the end for you, so watch the whole damn thing today. But it’s rather NSFW, so wait until your boss is deep into this afternoon’s lame office white elephant gift exchange.
Oh and guess what else? Today just happens to be Tim Kratzer’s birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY & congratulations from Hometown Sounds!
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