Band: HAG
From: Shreveport, Louisiana
Their formation story:
(Mallori Sanders, vocals): "Kevin, Adam, Spencer, and myself have all been playing music together for roughly 20 years. Most of us met back in high school in the early 2000s and bonded over our love of punk rock. We put all of our projects on hold for a bit due to kids, marriage, regular life stuff.
"In 2023, the four of us came back together and decided we wanted to write a few songs, maybe play a show or two a year - nothing crazy. But then, we added Nick to the lineup and he had all these really fresh and exciting ideas. It reminded all of us how much we love writing and performing - and we decided to get a bit more serious about it."
Their sound in their own words:
"I think the best description of our sound is 'hardcore punk.' Personally, my vocal style is heavily influenced by Keith Morris of OFF!, Circle Jerks, Black Flag. I think you can see that in my stage performance as well with the crazy faces and wild eye contact with the crowd.
"All of us except Nick grew up worshipping punk rock bands like the Germs, Adolescents, Bad Brains, Descendents. We used to sit around and watch the Decline of Western Civilization in complete awe of Chavo, Keith, Exene. At some point, we found heavier stuff like D.R.I., Verbal Abuse, and Poison Idea. You can hear those heavier influences in our songs. Kevin and I are also huge AFI fans and I think that shows in our lyrical style, particularly with our character creation.
"Nick is the outlier. He’s really into 2000s Equal Vision bands like Fear Before… and Fall of Troy. His love for this music has definitely helped elevate our sound."
Latest release info:
"We spent two years writing Rise. We’ve all released albums with other bands in the past, but I think this one was really special to all of us. Every single one of us brought something to this album and it’s really rad to see folks enjoying it, singing along at shows, and to have it on vinyl - in hand - wow.
"At its core, Rise is an anthem for women and other marginalized individuals who are often cast aside, forgotten, abused. We took the idea of a 'hag' - this ugly, evil, hated thing - and turned it into a revenge tale.
"The first song we ever wrote on the album, 'Endless Darkness,' was actually inspired by a story I read about a Mennonite community where women and girls as young as 4 were waking up bruised and bloody and confused as to what happened to them for years. The elders in the community were convinced it was a demon coming to punish them for their behavior and these women walked around carrying all this shame. When the truth came out - it was actually their own brothers, fathers, husbands who had been drugging them and raping them.
"So, it’s a lot of powerful stuff. And it was incredibly cathartic to put it all out in the world."
Future plans:
"We have actually already started writing new stuff. It’s a bit heavier and I’m pretty excited for everyone to hear it. I think the plan is to throw out a couple of EPs over the next year and hopefully play a lot more shows."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"People have really been sleeping on the Louisiana hardcore scene and it’s been rad to see more folks tuning in and paying attention recently.
"In Shreveport, we’ve got a few really killer bands that I can’t scream about enough - Whether, NOZE, Defect, Feral Daughters. We also wanna shout out our besties, Inside Voices. And, of course, all of the South Louisiana fam - Heavy Mantle, Gratitude Jar, HoleOpener, SickSickSick, Weeping Hour, Obsidian Soul, BRAT. All the babes are completely destroyin’ it down there."
HAG on social media: Facebook | Instagram
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