HWLS Press Photo 2016

Justin Elwin – the frontman of production duo HWLS – recently came off his first US tour with Flume, and we had the pleasure to briefly catch up with him and talk about the exciting happenings revolving the HWLS project. Check out what the Australian duo has been up and peep their new single “Gamma” with ShockOne here.

TMN: First of all, congrats on your first US tour with Flume! Is it your first time in the US?

J: First time touring as HWLS in the US but been back and forth over the years for different things. Nice to be back here though touring and playing in different venues and people each night so it’s a super exciting time at the moment.

TMN: What are some things you have to cross off your bucket list after this trip to the US? Especially California?

Playing at the Shrine was a tick of the list but during the down time I wanna check out the country sides and nature so Yosemite is definitely on the list, playing at red rocks is a bucket list tick as well!

TMN: With you now being the chief in the HWLS project, how has the dynamic changed? 

The dynamic hasn’t changed at all. We work on multiple projects in and around this so the studio dynamic has always stayed the same. I’ve always handled the live aspect of things from day one so that will continue the same way – I’m touring across the US over the next few months with some support slots, festival shows and some club plays so excited to get out on the road more.

TMN: “Gamma” has caught us by surprise because of how different sounding it is compared to HWLS’s precious work. Can you tell us about the direction of this new sound you’re working on?

That’s good thing. I want to be able to make music that can catch our audience off guard and also bring new ears in. The direction of the next release is to just keep exploring new sounds and directions, try not to make things stale and interesting for us.

TMN: Last but not least, our readers want to know how the name HWLS came about. Can you tell us the story behind it?

We were throwing around ideas and the word “howls” because of its meaning stuck. It made sense for what we were going to push with our sound. We had a few troubles with the name in some territories so we had to drop the O so then it became HWLS. It didn’t bother us so much, the music should always come first.

HWLS Press Photo 2016 - 2

(Credit: LA Weekly)

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