Rock and roll is far from dead and Burn Halo is a testament to that. Created by former 18 Visions vocalist James Hart, Burn Halo gives Hart the chance to let his musical artistry run wild. “I had not made the decision on how I wanted to market this record and these songs as whether I wanted to do it as a solo artist or a proper band,” explains Hart. After some well spent time in the studio, it became clear that it was all coming together and a band would be born.
Just because Burn Halo may not yet be a household name, doesn’t mean that Hart isn’t a seasoned music veteran. He spent the better part of 12 years as the frontman of 18 Visions in a music scene that became more about what bands looked like then how they sounded. “I wanted it to be about the music,” says Hart. His former band saw moderate success from sharing stages with Avenged Sevenfold to putting out a few records that packed a ton of punch, but in the end it was time for a change.
The resulting product is a brand new band with Hart at the helm and a dynamic Self-Titled debut put out on Rawkhead Records (Warner Music Group’s Independent Group). The record sends the listener on a ride, which resembles very little to Hart’s former endeavor. He blends dirty rock tracks with ballad-inspired sing-a-longs making the Self-Titled effort easy to listen to from start to finish. “I really wanted to make a record that had both ends of the spectrum,” Hart explains. “I’m a big fan of the gritty dirty rock and I’m also a fan of big ballads that have a lot of depth and meaning to them lyrically.” Hart believes this combination ties each track together. “I did my best as a song writer and really tried to make a complete album without any sort of filler,” he notes. “I feel like every song’s got a purpose on the record, whether it’s a potential hit single or it’s just a really good album track.”
Before Hart sat down to write the record, he took a short amount of time off to let things with 18 Visions die down. “It was a breath or fresh air,” says Hart. “I wanted to do my own thing [and] be my own musician.” Hart finally began penning the record in May of 2007 and by that fall, Hart was ready to begin the recording process, which commenced in December and was finished by January of 2008.
Because Hart had yet to decide how he would approach the “band” aspect of things, he called up Avenged Sevenfold axe-slinger Synyster Gates to do some collaboration work during the recording process. Gates and Hart had grown up together and while A7X’s career began to skyrocket, the two maintained a close friendship and even toured together a few times. Originally, Hart wanted to write a track with the band, but because A7X had to get into the studio themselves, it wasn’t until a random phone call from Gates that the two were finally able to sit down together. “Synyster called me over to his house one night and he had this music bed of really scratch rhythm guitar, just like the root notes and the chords and progression arrangements,” Hart explains. “Even the scratch vocals he went as far to do.” So from there, Hart took the song into the studio already knowing exactly what he wanted to do with it. “That song became “Anejo,” one of the later tracks on the album,” Hart says.
Once Hart got to tracking the drums, he and his producer Zac Maloy realized they had another opportunity for Gates to make his mark on the record. Explains Hart, “Zac, our producer, on the fly asked [Gates], ‘Hey, we’ve got this bridge section on “Dirty Little Girl” that’s going to have a guitar solo, I think your style of playing would fit really, really well over that part.’ “[Gates] pretty much did things on the fly,” boasts Hart. “It was pretty cool how everything just kind of came together.”
Gates wasn’t the only notable musician who had his hands on the making of this record. Nickelback drummer Daniel Adair, Jane’s Addiction bassist Chris Chaney and even David Cook’s tour guitarist Neil Tiemann all earn credits on Burn Halo.
Topically, Hart tackles a variety of topics that almost anyone can relate to. “I really wanted to tell stories about real life situations,” explains Hart. As he explains, the track “Save Me,” is his favorite song on the record because it’s about him going in a bad direction, but being able to realize he can be a better person. “At any given moment, you can change your path,” Hart says.
So why did it take so long for the record to surface after it had been completed for so long? “It sat on the shelf for a full year,” explains Hart. “Kind of not knowing what was going to go on, not knowing what label it was going to come out after the whole fiasco I went through with Island [Records].” Hart doesn’t give too many details about what happened with Island and at this point it really doesn’t matter. The record is out and Hart has heard much critical acclaim. He tries not to read too much press about his band. “I have pretty thick skin, but at the same time I think it can take away from what I’m doing or what needs to be done,” Hart says. “As far as us getting the record out to the fans that are buying the album and the type of feedback that we’re getting from these people, it’s all been 100 percent positive,” Hart boasts. He further explains that fans appear to like the record for what it is as a whole. “A lot of people are saying that they don’t have to skip around to different tracks on the album, which to me, again there’s not a lot of filler,” he says.
Burn Halo with Hart navigating the music business waters seems to be on the right track. The band has already got some shows under their belt alongside Rev Theory, Avenged Sevenfold and Buckcherry. Most recently, landing a spot opening for Saliva and Static-X on the 2009 SnoCore Tour. “This tour has been pretty good for us,” Hart says. “But it’s a little different crowd than we’re normally used to playing to.” Hart likes the challenge that comes along with playing to a fanbase that is interested in a different style of music. “It’s good to put in the hard work,” he concludes.
So with a rock solid rock record under his belt, Hart is ready for the future. He says that he doesn’t set a bunch of unreachable goals and tries his best to stay grounded. “Whatever happens will happen for me,” he says. “To build from the ground up would be amazing.”
By: Adam Zak III - Senior Editor / Founder
