Fresh off a 14-date UK run and headlining Takedown’s Total Rock Café stage, The Hara talk about writing their most emotionally honest record yet, what it actually means to go viral, and why Morocco might shape what comes next.
Words & photo by Alia Thomas (@aliathomasphoto) | April 11, 2026
You’ve just come off a 14-date UK run. Was there a moment on that tour where something clicked and you thought, “this is the level we’ve been pushing for”?
Jack: We went to loads of new places. Like in Hull, the first time we ever played Hull, there were like 13 people there, and this time when we went there were hundreds, it was sick. And then we went to places we’ve never even heard of like Tunbridge Wells and Trowbridge and they were sold out. Like, I didn’t know where we were but yeah it was sick, it was a great feeling, and it was nice to see there’s a big shift in our fan base which is crazy.
Your new album, The Fallout, dives into the pressures of the modern music industry. Was there a specific experience that inspired the writing of this record?
Josh: Multiple, yeah I think it was an interesting time when we were writing it you know, we’d just left our previous label, there was a lot of confusion and doubt and fear and anger and, you know all these sorts of big emotions that I think we just didn’t want to shy away from and we didn’t. We wrote about it and we were honest, and you know, we were really reflective and I think that it’s shown in the record. There’s no sort of walls there. It’s my favourite record we’ve done, so I’m very proud of it.
Why did you feel it important to write it?
Jack: We feel it’s important for us to do music you know, as a whole, because we value nothing like it and without it we’re nothing, we’re losers, genuinely can’t do nout else. No but we were saying before, we had the ability to really express ourself with it, taking ourself away from playing live and doing a lot of things and really focusing on what the tracks would be like and how we want it to sound, and how we want it to come across and all that sort of stuff. It’s a huge expression, and to be able to do that as our job is great.
‘Easier To Die’ is about the darker side of chasing success and what sometimes can leave you feeling hopeless. When you’re in that headspace, what pulls you out of it and keeps you pushing on?
Josh: Probably you know, being with each other, going through that sort of negative experiences together. What a blessing that is you know. We’ve got the same goal but we struggle with very similar things, so I think it’s good just to have each other and talk about it and sometimes just accepting it and feeling it, letting it out in a cool ass song.
The album comes with a level of vulnerability that we’ve not experienced from you before, with specific references to mental health and internal struggles. Was it challenging to be so vulnerable in this way and bring that to life through the music?
Zack: No, I think honestly, it was a very natural experience. I feel like we did feel a bit of the weight and we did feel, I don’t know, a bit of pressure in a sense as does every artist every person everybody in any form of industry but, I think the content and the kind of narrative of this album was just, genuinely the most truthful and honest moment in our lives captured perfectly in the sonic form, because the three years that kind of surrounded the writing and recording of the album was difficult. They were hard, you know. There were some really hard moments, and it would be disingenuous for us to not address that you know, and so it is an extremely natural raw real piece of work.
On this album you collaborated with Bethany from As December Falls for the song titled ‘Violence’. How did you find the process of the collaboration in this way?
Josh: Pretty easy, pretty easy going you know. We wanted a strong female vocalist and we were on tour with As December Falls, so reached out to Bethany and she was well up for it. Laid down them sweet vocals and we were like hell yeah, no notes, recorded that shit and they sound wicked.
Jack: Yeah it was wicked. It’s fun, we got to play it live as well at the Manchester show in our hometown and even the little video online of it went viral which is sick, so we’re going to be posting the full one soon.
Did the track evolve in a way you didn’t expect once another voice was involved?
Zack: Yeah it did, I think you know when you’re working on something so intensely as we were working on The Fallout, it’s only natural to have a version of it in mind, even though the goal is to have somebody come and put their own spice on it, so you’ve just kind of got to think about it in a totally different way, but like the experience genuinely was effortless. It was so easy and Bethany just turned up and smashed it, and then we did an awesome music video together, an awesome tour together… Big heroes.
Are there any more collaborations on the horizon?
Jack: There’s a couple on the horizon. I assume we can say but there’s one done that our man Joshua is featuring on of another band, and then we have some lined up. We’re talking to a few people. We’re currently in the process of doing our next body of work, because you’re always way ahead of everything else, so yeah there’s a few things on the horizon for sure.
Josh: We’re off to Morocco to write for a week which should be pretty interesting you know, so hey, this album could sound completely different. We could be influenced by the waves.
Jack: Josh just wants to go surfing and quad biking though so we might not get much writing done.
So you’re headlining the Total Rock Cafe stage tonight, what are we to expect from this?
Jack: Let’s do one word each. Energy.
Zack: Vibes.
Jack: Power.
Josh: Gusto.
Zack: Chaos.
Josh: Love.
Jack: Riffs.
Zack: Community.
Josh: Peace… That’ll probably do.
If someone sees you for the first time tonight, what do you want them to take away from your set?
Jack: I want them to be like “holy hell those guys were unbelievable. Every single show that they ever do in the future I’m gonna buy 25 tickets for and bring everyone I’ve ever known, and then they’ll do the same.” It just keeps going. And then I hope they’re like “holy hell all the music was unreal, I’m gonna go to find where the merch is and buy everything they’ve got.”
Josh: I was gonna say I could do like a visualizer for it like say someone new sees our set tomorrow this is them sat down at breakfast, and their mate comes in like “what’s up mate?” “just seen the best thing I’ve ever seen last night.”
Jack: “what did you see? You look mind blown.”
Josh: “The Hara, you’ve got to see them.” That’s exactly what it’ll be.
What’s next for The Hara?
Jack: This is our first festival of the season, but we’ve got a load of fezzies to get through which we love doing. Really enjoy doing festivals, it’s a cool challenge, it’s a completely different scenario and situation to playing on tour and doing our own headline stuff and then just writing, releasing, got another tour in the works that should hopefully be announced at the end of this month and if any sick-ass bands want to take us on tour let us know we’ll do it.
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