Half Film

Half Film“Low-key underground guitar atmos that’s very moody indeed… Stark like Joy Division and darkly melodic like Neil Young”Melody Maker

Before [The] Caseworker, Conor and Eimer Devlin fronted slowcore trio Half Film, whose two acclaimed albums – East of Monument and The Road to the Crater – are now lovingly reissued by Hidden Shoal.

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Discography

The Road To The Crater


October 2012

Before releasing music on Hidden Shoal as [The] Caseworker, Conor and Eimer Devlin, along with drummer Jason Lakis, made up slowcore trio Half Film. Their two acclaimed albums – East of Monument and The Road to the Crater – are now lovingly reissued by Hidden Shoal. With a sound mapped out so definitively, it’s difficult not to immerse yourself completely in this music’s shadowy topography.

Right from East of Monument’s languid opener ‘Weather Patterns’, it’s clear there’s a deliberate, measured and deeply rewarding melodic map unfolding, akin to classic releases by Codeine and Low. This aesthetic is explored, refined and distilled across the two records, and by the time The Road to the Crater’s finale ‘Themselves’ has played out, the special pocket of indie-rock that Half Film inhabited completely in the late ’90s has been revealed anew.

East of Monument


October 2012

Before releasing music on Hidden Shoal as [The] Caseworker, Conor and Eimer Devlin, along with drummer Jason Lakis, made up slowcore trio Half Film. Their two acclaimed albums – East of Monument and The Road to the Crater – are now lovingly reissued by Hidden Shoal. With a sound mapped out so definitively, it’s difficult not to immerse yourself completely in this music’s shadowy topography.

Right from East of Monument’s languid opener ‘Weather Patterns’, it’s clear there’s a deliberate, measured and deeply rewarding melodic map unfolding, akin to classic releases by Codeine and Low. This aesthetic is explored, refined and distilled across the two records, and by the time The Road to the Crater’s finale ‘Themselves’ has played out, the special pocket of indie-rock that Half Film inhabited completely in the late ’90s has been revealed anew.

Biography

“Here’s how I remember it: Me and Eimer moved to San Francisco in 1995 from the UK. We chose San Francisco because we loved two bands from that city: Swell and American Music Club. We also figured the winters would be kinder than New York.

“Neither of us had been in a band before, or played live, so we were pretty clueless, and in hindsight it was all quite na ve: to just up sticks and head to California with our guitars. We tried out a few drummers but they were all too rock for what we were doing – we were looking for a quiet drummer who could play slow. We got introduced to Jason Lakis at a barbeque; he d been around the SF music scene for a couple of years, and was also a veteran of the east coast thrash metal scene. He was an extremely accomplished musician, but he d no idea how to play drums, so it suited us perfectly when he asked to join our band as the drummer. So that was all three of us kind of learning our instruments together, and the sound and the songs developed from that inexperience. I think we felt our way towards a sound. And I think we somehow wrote memorable songs too. Things after that seemed to happen for us pretty easily: we ran off a demo in the fall of 97 and and sent it out to various labels. Buzz Records in Chicago, who had Idaho on their roster, liked it enough to offer a deal. We recorded the first lp (East of Monument) in San Francisco over a weekend. We seemed to play shows constantly my old diary shows two rehearsals a week and a show every weekend, and often midweek too. We played anywhere and everywhere, up and down the west coast ..we even had our own van ..so we were a busy act…..

“1998 saw the release of the first lp in the spring, the second album taped with Jim Putnam (of the Radar Bros) in LA over the summer, and a 6 week European tour with our idols Swell in the winter. We were happy to work hard, and we all had that specific energy and drive that bands in their 20s have. 1999 was less busy, but the shows kept coming, and the second lp (The Road to the Crater) came out in the summer. We taped a 7inch (The Only Direction is South) for AIP records in late 99 with Monte Vallier (of Swell) and handed that in before Christmas. Then me and Eimer took off for a long 3 month break in Spain in February 2000.

“When we came back, we all kinda threw in the towel. And that was that.

“We did way more than I thought we ever would, and we re all proud of the records. Hey maybe we ll make another one at some point. The important thing to remember is that none of us could play at the start, but we still managed to make records, tour, make a real go of it: the whole thing. Because we wanted to do it. And so we did it.” – Conor Devlin

 

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Licensing

Half Film’s music is  available for licensing (master & sync cleared) through Hidden Shoal. Please contact us with some basic details about your project and the track(s) you wish to use and we’ll be sure to get back to you straight away.