Story by Sarah Osterbauer Contributing Writer
HALEY
(fka Haley Bonar) has successfully maintained indie darling status. Big enough for Pitchfork but small enough to keep her street cred, she has spent 15 years mastering her craft. Born in Canada, raised in South Dakota and then ultimately spending her collegiate years and beyond in Minnesota, we claim her as our local. With six albums under her belt as Haley Bonar and one as the reclaimed HALEY, she basks in the light of self-assurance. A person who thrives on creating with a talent for moving down multiple artistic avenues, we sat down with her to talk new Gramma’s Boyfriend music, what it was like to open for Lana Del Rey and why performing presents her greatest challenge. Tell me what drew you to music
I started playing guitar when I was 14. I played piano as a kid. I moved to Minnesota and started playing open mics and that led to playing more weekly gigs and started making a little bit of money on the side. I was going to college. I went to UMD. But it never really felt like it was my “calling”. It was something that I really liked, that was important to me and was really personal to me. It wasn’t something that I started out to be a rockstar musician at all. I was like ‘I’m going to be a teacher’. And then one thing led to another, literally, and I’ve been self-employed for 15 years. National publications love to tell the tale of Haley being discovered by Alan Sparhawk (of Low) at an open mic. Is the Alan Sparhawk discovery narrative true?
y e l a H
Yeah, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for a man! Just kidding. You know, everybody is at the mercy of whoever sort of helps them along, and that is something that I am very grateful for but it wasn’t like I wasn’t writing and performing my own work. I just roll my eyes at the word “discover”. It’s just, “Oh my God, I wasn’t on f*ckin’ American Idol,” like DISCOVER! Here I was, and I didn’t know what to do, and he was like, “I think you have talent, kid!”
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| APRIL 2020
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