MidWest Friends Fest: The One With Half Nelson

Pick up some Skyline Chili, make a few friendship bracelets and grab your buds as Midwest Friends Fest is returning to the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area for its sophomore year. Midwest Friends Fest is once again taking over the Southgate House Revival in Newport, KY. 

The 2-day festival with multiple stages and amazing national and local acts like Signals Midwest, Cinema Stare, The 1984 Draft and Tooth Lures A Fang will take place from 30 & 31 May with tickets available here. 

Ann Gilly (guitars/vox) from Half Nelson (with some help from Kelly Krucki – keys/vox) have joined TGEFM to discuss this year’s festival for this installment of our MWFF interview series. Check it out below and we’ll see you at the bonfire in the woods!

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Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! What should our readers know about Half Nelson; your history, your mission, your sound?

Half Nelson is Ann (me), Kelly, Jess and Megan. We’re from Louisville, Kentucky and we make music and have fun. That’s pretty much the mission. I say we make “indie punk” music because it kind of means something while also meaning nothing. We’ve been going for a little over 2 years and are excited to keep going.

You are gearing up for Midwest Friends Fest in the coming months, what does the festival circuit mean to artists like yourselves?

We are fairly new to the festival world! I’ve been going to festivals for at least a decade – many in Cincy! – so it means a lot that we get to be a part of one. In fairness, we have played PRFBBQ and Poorcastle in Louisville, but this is our first out-of-town fest. We’re really excited to get in front of some new people and play alongside so many killer bands. It rocks to be included.

What does Half Nelson have planned for us beyond MWFF?

By the time this interview is released, we will have recorded two songs! We’re planning to release those this summer, and we have a really amazing show lined up to celebrate. Other than that, we’ll be playing shows and hopefully working on some new songs. We’re going where the wind takes us.

What have been some of the most memorable moments or experiences with the band so far? What’s been the most unexpected? The weirdest?

One of my favorite traditions that we unintentionally started was having a big end-of-the-year feast as a band. This past December we treated ourselves to so much food at Red Lobster. There was maybe one other group in the whole restaurant, but we had such a blast. It sounds corny, but it’s hard to pick just one moment as a favorite or the most memorable because there are so many. Okay wait, I did think of one. We recently played a benefit show and I told people to throw money at the stage like we were drag queens – and they did! Did I threaten to walk off the stage if people didn’t throw money at me? Maybe, but that is beside the point.

Regarding live sets, what are you most excited to bring to the Midwest Friends Fest audience? What do you want the attendees to say about your set when they tell their friends about you?

I hope people tell their friends, “wow that band rocked, I danced so much and bought all their merch. I am going to dedicate my life to following them around the country in a very respectful way.” Or maybe just “wow what a fun band, I hope they come back to Cincinnati so I can take all my friends to see them.”

We’ve all got a few, what is your biggest regret? A gig you turned down, advice you didn’t take, what one thing do you wish you handled differently as a musician?

Ann: I think my only real regret is that I didn’t meet these guys and get this all started earlier. Not to sound dramatic, but Half Nelson changed my life. I don’t know what I’d be doing right now without them. I think the other thing that is hard for me is that I didn’t get a chance to start playing music as a teenager like a lot of the other bands and musicians in town, so sometimes I get caught up in comparing myself to other people. But I don’t need to do that. We’re all on our own paths and doing our best. That kind of stuff doesn’t matter at the end of the day as long as we’re enjoying what we’re doing.
Kelly: I agree with Ann! I thought the opportunity to join a band in my life had passed me by and I’m so so happy I get to be a part of Half Nelson. It’s the best thing I’ve done in the last two years. Teenage me would have loved having this band and these people to make music with, but I’m really glad we have each other now!

The punk, ska and indie scenes have almost always been at the forefront of inclusion and diversity within the music scenes. The flipside of course is that the gatekeeping in the scene is also very prevalent? Why do you think the genre brings in such a welcoming community and is so happy to let everyone in and also seems to shut the doors so quickly behind themselves?

I can’t say I relate to this – I wouldn’t say this has been a prevalent issue in my experience. The only people I have seen kicked out of shows or scenes are people who are making people uncomfortable in some way (meaning they’re harassing women or being racist or something along those lines) – and frankly I don’t want those people to feel included unless they make some serious, proven changes. I guess every scene has gatekeepers, but those aren’t the kind of people I surround myself with or the type of shows I go to. As long as you’re willing to have fun and care about other people, you are welcome at a Half Nelson show.

This festival is all about friendships and music. What do you value most in friendships amongst yourself and your stagemates?

Kelly, Megan and Jess are my best friends. We talk all the time about how wild it is that we all mesh so well musically and personality-wise. Unfortunately that is not the case with all bands… But we all share very similar values and talk about our goals for both life and the band all the time. I feel like we can all be very open and honest with each other, which, again, not the case for all bands. I am a very lucky duck.

Half Nelson is pretty new to the scene having recently celebrated your 2nd anniversary as a band. What has been the thing that’s surprised you the most being part of Half Nelson? Where do you expect to be in another 2 years?

Ann: I think I am surprised every time people show up to see us or tell us that they enjoyed watching us or buy merch or recognize me in real life. Not that I think it’s surprising that people would like us! I think we are the best, obviously. Just that it is wild to put something into the world and have it resonate in some way. I think I said before that this is my first band, so I don’t have much to compare those kinds of experiences to. It is also surprising how many people think our name is “Full Nelson.” They’re half right!
Kelly: I am actually surprised by how nice everyone at shows is, from sound guys, to bands, to people watching. I was always scared that people would think I didn’t know enough or wasn’t good enough to be on stage and be cruel. But everyone has been the exact opposite. The other bands we play with are so nice and the sound guys are always so helpful. The energy always makes me feel good, and I want to tell everyone whose scared to get up there that it’s the best experience!

It could just be that I’m paying more attention as our daughters are starting to discover their own music tastes, but it seems like “femme-fronted” acts are finally seeming to get the acceptance and mainstream attention it deserved for so long? Beyonce mentioned in her Grammy speech that unfortunately sometimes genres and descriptors end up holding artists down. In light of the way the world seems to be moving backward in a lot of regards, do you believe we are getting to a point where “femme-fronted” is no longer used as a descriptor when we really should just be calling bands like Half Nelson kick-ass rock rather than femme-fronted rock?

I feel like this has been an ongoing conversation for years, and I struggle with whether or not it is really a question worth asking. I don’t think I’ve ever called a band “femme-fronted” or “female fronted,” at least not since I was like 16 in 2009. We are fairly unique as a band of all femmes, and I do think that shapes our experiences of life and the songs we write, but I think a band of all men is equally as influenced by their experiences as men – the difference is that no one asks them what that’s like. I do think there are some amazing femme musicians kind of leading the charge in the music industry right now, but is that because they are women or because they are making the most interesting music? 
We see the default of “musician” as male – the phrase “femme-fronted” is indicative of that. That such a term exists means that we are inherently not being taken as seriously. And sometimes I feel that. I do think the fact that we are an all-femme band probably turns some people off, and that sucks. But maybe I don’t want those people listening to us anyway. I’d much rather have someone listen to or see us and get stoked about our band than someone who reluctantly “gives us a chance.” I don’t know if that answers this question. But I do know that if someone leads with “Half Nelson is a femme-fronted band…” I will be tempted to throw myself off the nearest roof. That said, I’m excited about all the amazing bands you can introduce your daughters to!

What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do.” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?  On the flipside to that one… Who are some non-MWFF bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think they should?

Ann: Personally I have been deeply invested in music since I was little. It started with the (Dixie) Chicks and then I discovered My Chemical Romance in seventh grade and went from there. I’m not sure I can say there’s one specific band or album that made me be like, yeah, I want to play music (I mean, it actually might be Paramore, because they are and have been everything to me since I was 14.). I started learning guitar when I was 8 years old because my dad played and I was in choir for 14 years, so I’ve always had music in my life. But I grew up in the middle of nowhere where there were no bands and no shows so I kind of assumed I would never be in a band. It wasn’t until I was 29 years old that it even became a possibility. And now we’re here!
One album that has been hugely influential on me the past couple of years is Retreat from the Sun by that dog. That’s a perfect album. Other bands people should check out are Quasi (Janet Weiss from Sleater-Kinney), Scrunchies, Laura Stevenson, and Louisville bands Nowhere Fast (also playing MWFF!), Lavacado, The Daddy Sisters, Spit City, Future Fossils, The Delighters and the band I play bass in, Bungalow Betty. And in Cincy check out Maura Weaver, EATT, Tweens, Eugenius and Girl Gordon!
Kelly: The Spice Girls were my first concert and likely my first influences on wanting to perform music in front of a crowd. In a small town in Ohio, Avril Lavigne introduced me to pop punk and I wanted to be just like her. I headed down a similar path to Ann with My Chemical Romance and Paramore, and also Fall Out Boy and Panic! At the Disco. All of these bands made me want to get up on stage and sing my lungs out! 
I really like the band Pom Pom Squad. Recently we played a show with The Dreaded Laramie and they were fantastic. Locally I’ve really enjoyed FMK!

I don’t know if you’ve heard about this newcomer by the name of Taylor Swift. Her growing fanbase trades friendship bracelets. If you made a bracelet for MWFF, what word or phrase word you put on it?

We do in fact have friendship bracelets at the merch table and they say “Half Nelson.” I feel like that sums it up.

Post show jam session in a large, empty field. What song are you singing around the bonfire? (Pardon my playful biases, but everything I know about the Midwest comes from shitty movies and songs by the Kinsella Bros. so I assume everyone playing here has spent some time at bonfire parties in the fields off some lonely county road)?

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t grow up going to bonfires in fields. Shocking lack of these in Louisville though – we should change that. If I am in charge of the music, we’re probably going with some classic Kelly Clarkson or Fall Out Boy. Or if I’m feeling really wild, we’ll go straight to show tunes, Wicked is up first (Original Broadway cast recording, no disrespect to Ari and Cynthia).

Midwest Friends Fest is a smorgasbord of fantastic acts. Which bands are you most excited to see?

So many! Signals Midwest, Tooth Lures a Fang, National Barks, Boy Clothes, Cinema Stare, Young Animals, Over Anna and of course our friends in Nowhere Fast.

Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?

It is crucial to the essence of Half Nelson to know that I actually love pro-wrestling and watch it every week and that it is real. I will hear no arguments otherwise. I want to play a show in a wrestling ring, so if you can make that happen, hit us up. Freshly squeezed, baby.