Icon for Hire

Ohio metalcore outfit Miss May I have debuted their new single "Sanctuary" via Solid State Records.The track is accompanied by a music video directed by Garrett Drake and Josh Hart.

Lzzy Hale is all set to conquer Louder Than Life this September as she and the rest of Halestorm mount their headlining performance as part of the fest s all-female Stage 3 lineup. The crowd at Louisville, Kentucky’s Expo Center will no doubt be blasted with the quartet’s signature life-affirming and fun brand of hard-rock energy — as heard on anything from 2012’s Grammy-winning Love Bites (So Do I) single up to the masterful heights of last year’s epic Everest album. It’ll be electric, for sure, but Hale suggests the scene backstage — where the vocalist-guitarist will be hanging out with artists including In This Moment’s Maria Brink and 2025 tourmate Lindsey Stirling — is also going to be “a little nuts.” She describes it as a “ladies night summer camp” that ll reconnect her with some of her favorite musical friends. To say the least, Hale’s eager for the hang. “The camaraderie is what it s all about for me. It s a different energy when there s so many of us in one place,” Hale says of the upcoming fest experience, adding, “I m most excited about being surrounded by my sisters and being supportive of each other, but also [for] looking out into the audience, seeing all of the women and feeling that inspiration come full circle.” The all-female Stage 3 lineup takes over Louder Than Life on September 19th, and it will feature a number of women-driven projects across various spectrums of the heavy-music scene, including Orianthi, Icon for Hire, Kami Kehoe and Diamante. The day is set to celebrate a diverse array of artists making an impact in the current musical landscape, something Hale suggests wasn’t always the case when she was growing up as a horns-raising, headbanging youth in Pennsylvania. “When I was a kid, I didn t have a whole lot of friends because of the genre that I listened to,” she says. “At this point in time in my life, being able to host a party and being surrounded by all of these girls that are just like me that love the music that I love… It s going to be one of those moments that I m going to be thinking about for a long time.” Ahead of making memories at Louder Than Life — and just as Halestorm launch the opening of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “Women in Metal” exhibit with a performance tonight (July 10th) in Cleveland, Ohio — Hale discusses her thoughts on the upcoming festival, advice she got from her “foremothers of rock,” and why she’s gladly holding the gate open for the next wave of female musicians. Steve Thrasher In your eyes, what is the greatest strength of having this specific space carved out at Louder Than Life, rather than integrating female-driven projects across the various stages at the festival?Lzzy Hale We re a lot louder together, and I think that makes a hell of a statement. And all of us are extremely different, so having us on one stage — “Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am” — is really going to showcase that, rather than spreading us out across the stages. Each one of us represents the different [sides of] femaledom in rock roll. It’s gonna be a powerhouse, a complete experience with all of us celebrating who we are and what makes it powerful for a woman to be in this business. The fact that there are so many of us — that we re able to take over a stage like this — is pretty amazing. Are there any acts you’re looking forward to reconnecting with, whether onstage or behind the scenes?Oh, my goodness… all of them! I mean, we ve toured with everybody on this lineup, except for Kami Kehoe — who I haven t met yet. That ll be fun, to actually discover her. But then, I ve known Ariel [Bloomer] and everybody in Icon for Hire for years. They actually live close to me, so I see them more when they re not performing. Obviously we ve been friends with In This Moment for years — we’ve toured with them many times, so it ll be great to connect with those peeps. I haven t seen Orianthi in many years, since I was spending some time in California and we had a lot of mutual friends. We did a co-headlining tour with Lindsey Stirling last summer. Diamante is one of my best friend’s girlfriends, we see each other in random spots when we re not performing. So, it ll be great to see all my friends do their thing, and be inspired by that all in one spot. How has the music industry changed for women since you first entered the game?It s not so much of a novelty anymore. It was probably only about a decade or so ago where I d be playing any of these festivals and I wasn’t the only one there backstage. That s just not the case now, and I think that’s beautiful. It s not such a strange notion to have a woman carving her own path in this genre. I always talk about how if there is a genre tailor-made for the woman s psyche and female rage, it is hard rock and heavy metal. You gotta put it somewhere, and this is the perfect outlet for all of that. With every generation, the women become more and more unapologetic about liking what they like. My foremothers of rock — the women that came before me in the Nineties and the Eighties and Seventies — had it harder than I had it. I never had to sit in somebody s lap to get my record played, [but] I went through my hurdles. I ve had this conversation with Amy Lee: I think our only job is to hold the gate open for whoever is coming in next. Just by existing and not giving up — and not letting this industry walk all over you — you are automatically [holding the gate open] for whoever s coming in after you. If that s what we accomplish in this particular timeline, then I m doing my job. Had anyone from that older generation of musicians held the gate open for you?A lot people in the local community in Pennsylvania were huge in believing in me. And there was, specifically, a female-fronted rock band called Aslan — Andrea Aslan was the lead singer of that. This was when I was a teenager, but they were making a name for themselves regionally. I looked up to them, and I remember her being one of the first people to take me aside and be like, “Don t let anybody tell you what you can or can’t do… everything is absolutely possible.” I ve made it past where they ended up — they never really got to the point where it was like a major label scene — but I do cite those moments with her as helping me later on, like when we were shopping to labels and everyone was like, “Women in rock really aren t a thing right now,” or “We ve already got a girl on the radio, we don t need another one.” Because of those early conversations, when you find yourself in front of a roadblock, you re like, “Well, that s ridiculous. I m gonna find a way around this, because I ve been told that anything is possible.” That was very helpful. I ve gotten to have conversations with nearly all of my female idols: Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Anne Wilson, Lita Ford. I made sure I thanked each of them for not giving up, because I think that if their story had been like, “Well, I tried to do this, but the industry wasn t looking at me in the right way,” and then they gave up, maybe that would have been my story, [too]. The fact that they stuck it out, and all of them are still extremely successful, made the bridge to my dream possible. It almost gave me permission, like, “You can do this because of these women who came before.” In that same breath, I’ve had conversations with my peers about [how] it s very important for us to remind young girls, “I m doing this, therefore you can too.” It s very important for young girls to see themselves reflected in something. Steve Thrasher When we spoke last year, you d mentioned that industry insiders were initially trying to pivot you away from metal towards pop. Do you know if younger artists are still faced with those kinds of scenarios?No matter what your chosen path is, there s always gonna be people that are like, “If you just did this, you d be more successful.” I don t think that the opinions of other people necessarily matter as much as they used to, [and] I feel like the majority of young women right now just don t give a fuck about what anybody thinks. I love that so much. There s always been the illusion of rules in this business, whereas actually, there are no rules. The veil has been lifted. There are so many young artists doing everything all by themselves, without the need for outside help or advice. That’s part of what s empowering these young girls to literally do whatever they want to do and be their own weird. Don t try to get on a train just because it s trending right now. You wrote in a recent Instagram post that you’re fighting for women in the industry — past, present and future. What’s the fight like right now, and how is that different than it had been in the past?I think we re fighting to maintain what we ve already earned. We are living in a society that is constantly trying to drag us back, but I feel like the majority of us just want to be seen and heard. And the more of us that stand up, the more it seems that we have ownership over this genre. With each and every one of us just taking the smallest steps toward living our truest life — making yourself visible in order for young girls to see that it s possible to do what we re doing — the more that stigma breaks down. This interview has been edited and condensed for flow and clarity.