Ice Cream with HALFLOVES
photos and story by Remsy Atassi and Sean Kelly
We were a bit early to Jeni's Ice Cream, the agreed upon meet up with Iowa City indie rockers Halfloves. After making friends with a couple LGBTQ activists petitioning on the street corner, we hung out until Guitarist/Vocalist Jeff Roalson called me from across the street. Passing through on their way home from a short tour, the band was hauling a large trailer; no small feat to park anywhere near Milwaukee in Wicker Park. After walking around the neighborhood and finding the perfect spot, we all headed back to Jeni's for some ice cream and conversation.
Emulsion: Thanks for meeting us out here all the way from Iowa City! What brings you out this way?
Halfloves: Validation.
Emulsion: Hahaha fair enough. Do you guys make it to Chicago often?
Halfloves: We pop in about twice a year. We've been writing and recording, but once we start pushing our next record, we plan on playing Chicago more.
Emulsion: That's great. Are you guys working on a full length? Anything else cool?
Halfloves: Yes, an album and two videos - one short film and the other a music video. They are both based on A Little Lie, a song that we've written for this next album. We haven't recorded all the songs yet but we think it's pretty damn good. Max Moore, the director we've worked with before, has outdone himself, and created a brilliant short piece with a great cast including Joel Murray of Mad Men, God Bless America, etc.
Emulsion: Wow that sounds awesome! Always particularly interested to see new video work on the horizon, we'll definitely have to keep an eye out. Tell me a bit about the band dynamic. Have you all been playing together a while?
Halfloves: This is Jeff and Trevor's 10th year together. Lucas is next at 7 years, I think. Nate joined directly before releasing our self-titled, so that's 3 years, and Zach is not a member. He's our dad. That, with our long history, makes us brothers.
Emulsion: Where do you feel the music is right now, where do you want to take it?
Halfloves: It has evolved and we want it to keep evolving. That's the trick.
Emulsion: The long game is huge, and arguably the most difficult aspect. I know you guys have a bit of a drive home yet so we we'll finish off with the most important question: What's the collectively decided best Jeni's flavor?
Halfloves: Trevor had Goat Cheese with Red Cherries, but votes Brambleberry Crisp for sure.
Huge thanks again to Halfloves for taking the time to hang. Looks like lots of big projects are on the horizon, keep an eye out for new music and videos and catch up with previous work at www.halfloves.com.