Interview: Half Dizzy
Half Dizzy are a 5 piece punk band from Long Island, NY. With clear influence from bands like Lagwagon and Millencolin, they have a call back sound to the 90s era of skate punk.
Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Dizzy- Vocals. Dan-guitar/vocals.
Mitchell- Lead guitar
Nick- drums
Brett- bass.
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Half Dizzy? How long has the band been around?
So Dan has been in separate bands with everyone in the band before, except for Brett. Dan and nick were in a metal core band named RESTWELL, but Nick and Brett are currently in a hardcore band named Godseyes who are awesome! They're still playing shows and touring. Half Dizzy is also Dizzy's first real band she's been in. But the rest of us have been in a number of small local bands.
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
So, originally when Dizzy and Dan started this band it was just the 2 of them. So litterally half the band was Dizzy... the name is very on the nose, but we thought it fit us pretty well. Haha.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Dan is the main song writer, but we as a band create the songs as you hear them. They wouldn't sound anywhere near as great without every member of the band working together. As far as the topics, we kind of have 2 reoccurring themes of broken past relationships and not trusting the Media/Government haha. Our first single with Punkerton records, Broken Down, is about just keeping your head up staying positive especially in bad situations.
But, Never Been Happier is about overcoming toxic and manipulative people. So our topics range. And I'm sure the topics will change as we grow and get older and life changes. But im pretty sure not trusting the Media and Government won't change. Haha.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
I think we've been listening to a lot of fat wrechcords bands. Stuff like Get Dead, The Last Gang, Badcop Badcop. But we're also huge Old AFI fans, like AFI's Sing the sorrow album is brilliant front the back. But at any given time we each listen to different styles of music. So it comes from everything all at once.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
It wasn't necessarily a particular band, but it was a culmination of Covid keeping us home more than usual, and watching a lot of music videos on youtube at the time haha.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …
Dizzy drinks a lot of tea. I think we all drink a ton of water, and we SHOULD be flexing cuz we're old... but we don't. Mitchell probably does, he's very health conscious, so I could see him stretching. The rest of us, just willingly hurt ourselves, and we're ok with it. But maybe we should start stretching haha.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
So far signing with Punkerton Records has really been such an awesome accomplishment. It's easy for you to write some songs and have a few people say hey your songs sound nice. But it's totally different to have someone you've never met from a label say I'm willing to invest their time and effort into your music. It's really an awesome feeling and makes ys excited for the future of the band for sure.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
I think touring with someone like Nofx or Bad Religion would be awesome, the crowds would definitely be the demographic our music is geared toward. Touring with Get Dead would be a ton of fun too. So probably one of those.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Just a shout out to Brandon at our label Punkerton Records and shouts out to Matt Murphy who recorded, mixed, and mastered our EP. Shouts out to our main photographer/videographer Sean from Internal Visions for being the best. And Lance from Heart Riot Media who's helping us get our music in front of New people. Without these people we really wouldn't be moving forward the way we are, so we're truely thankful.