Halestorm's Lzzy Hale shares love for "genius" Tobias Forge

Lzzy Hale and Tobias Forge — (Image credit: Harry Herd/Redferns, Per Ole Hagen/Redferns)

Halestorm's Lzzy Hale has revealed her appreciation for Ghost and their visionary frontman, Tobias Forge.

In a recent interview with Rocksound, Hale says that the occult party rockers' new album Impera is her current favourite, and adds, "I've listened to it about 20 times now, and I'm obsessed with it", before reflecting on what it is exactly about Forge as a person that she admires.

While noting that she believes him to be a "genius" and "such a smart man", she says, "And if you get to have a conversation [with him], he's the most interesting person, I think, that I've ever met — very well spoken."

In particular, Hale reveals to have great respect for Forge's well-in-advance approach to songwriting, despite apparently being the "complete opposite" and "more of a living-in-the-now person" herself.

Of his vision for Ghost, Hale says: "What I admire about him - I don't think I know any other band that does this, but Tobias always has a plan - he's thinking about five years ahead, where he needs to be with this band and this project.

"I remember talking with Nick Raskulinecz, the same producer that just did our last record; he also did an album with Ghost [2013's Infestissumam]. I remember him talking to me about how Tobias would show him all of these songs that were not meant for this specific record; they were meant for two records down the line.

"'Cause he has a timeline and he has the story already figured out and all of the production already figured out. And [Nick] was, like, 'Oh, these are such great songs. We should record them.' And Tobias was, like, 'No. The world isn't ready yet.'"

Hale continues, "[Tobias has] done the same thing with me in the past where he's shown me some production drawings and little things that he's gonna be doing a couple of years from now.

"And then a couple of years would go by and we would go and see [Ghost in concert], [and we would be,] like, 'Oh, yeah. That was that thing he was talking about. That's amazing.'

"So just to be able to think like that I really admire, as far as just a career plan and a mission statement. Because I am completely not like that. I've tried the five-year-plan thing. And every time I make plans, we finally get to that point and something has changed, so I have to pivot and do something different. So I'm more of a living-in-the-now person. [Laughs] So we're the complete opposite, me and Tobias, in that aspect, but I definitely admire him for the way that he is."

Check out the full interview below:

Artists

Liz manages Louder's social media channels and works on keeping the sites up to date with the latest news from the world of rock and metal. Prior to joining Louder as a full time staff writer, she completed a Diploma with the National Council for the Training of Journalists and received a First Class Honours Degree in Popular Music Journalism. She enjoys writing about anything from neo-glam rock to stoner, doom and progressive metal, and loves celebrating women in music.