Sometimes when I am listening to music, I want to just enjoy something in the background as I’m getting some work done or just relaxing. Other times, I want to just hear something with solid grooves and melodies to get me dancing, but most of the time, I want music to take me on a voyage. I want lyrics that reach into the depths of the soul and transport me to other worlds.
In my search for music that touches me deeply, I’m grateful to have come across one of the most prolific and sought after voices in electronic music today. Her name is Kelly, but her devoted listeners know her best as HALIENE (sounds like Alien). She has been on a musical journey across the last two decades that took her to places she never expected. Sometimes the journey has had some rough patches (which you’ll read a bit about in our interview below), but many times the journey has brought her to beautiful places both physically and metaphorically.
One of those beautiful places is Benaroya Hall in Seattle, WA where we sat down on Friday, September 25th to discuss the events of the night (the amazing Opus Harmonia concert with Seven Lions and the Seattle Symphony) as well as HALIENE’s new artist album “Eclipsed” (out now on via Black Hole Recordings).
If you prefer to listen to the interview as you read along, you can listen HERE.
HALIENE interview transcript:
Nick Wax (Magnetic): This is Nick with magnetic Magazine. It is Friday, the 25th of September 2026. I am seated backstage here at Benaroya Hall in Seattle, Washington, with HALIENE, or Kelly. It is a really exciting, momentous night.
We are about to watch a true first for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra as they are in collaboration with Seven Lions and a slew of amazing singers and songwriters. HALIENE is one of those featured this evening.
I cannot wait to see you perform.
So tell me a little bit about kind of your feelings this evening, and what’s the process been like getting ready for the show?
HALIENE: I’m very excited. This is, like you said, this is the first in so many ways, like for the Seattle Symphony, also for Jeff, Seven Lions.
It’s really so special to see his music and the songs I’m a part of come to life in this unique way. I think that his music lends itself so much to an orchestral, you know, symphonic experience.
(Magnetic: Agreed.)
HALIENE: And it’s going to be really beautiful. I’m really excited for people to experience it. I’m doing three songs tonight and process is, it’s just… I just came from Lost Lands and I’ve been on my album tour and it’s just been this week of, you know, listening to the MIDI versions of the Symphony.
(Magnetic: Oh, wow.)
HALIENE: And rehearsing with that. And so today was the first time that all of us singers got to rehearse with the actual symphony.
(Magnetic: Amazing.)
HALIENE And so we’re going into it, and it’s just wonderful. Everybody is so professional and so amazing at their craft that we can do that.
Magnetic: That’s really cool. That’s fantastic.
And I heard you mention Lost Lands… We’re obviously not going to dig deep on that. I know that there’s a lot of pain on the surface from what everyone experienced and honestly, my condolences with that.
(HALIENE: Thanks.)
Magnetic: And watching the stories (on your Instagram) has been great, though, but like seeing all the fans’ support.
Now, one thing that some of our readers may not know, if they don’t follow you, is you have recently dropped a brand new album full of, honestly, some of the best songs I’ve heard all year.
(HALIENE: Wow. Thank you. That’s really nice.)
Magnetic: You’re very welcome. I would love to hear you speak a little bit about the album… kind of the process of creating it.
(HALIENE:Yeah.)
Magnetic: Honestly, anything you’d like to talk about.
HALIENE:Yes, the album is called “Eclipsed.” When I chose the title for the album, I had no idea that there was actually a total solar sunset eclipse in Ibiza in August… August 12th, actually, this year. And we had already planned to release the album in August. And it was such a fortuitous moment that my label and I, we were both like, “We have to go there and you have to do the album live in front of the eclipse.”
And we actually did make that happen. And that whole live stream of the whole album live is up on my YouTube now.
Magnetic: Yes. And, we actually will link that as well. (HERE)
HALIENE: Wonderful. It was one of the most amazing spectacular experiences of my life.
But as far as songs go, this is some of my favorite songwriting I think I’ve ever done, really proud of these lyrics. I’m really proud of how deep we went on some of these songs. It’s raw and vulnerable, and yet I also gave myself the opportunity to play on this album as a songwriter.
I had surgery last year, and I was really in a tough spot in making the album because I was recovering. I couldn’t sing, I couldn’t use my diaphragm at all. And so I asked myself, “what is this album even going to be about?”
And then I rediscovered the joy of writing because when you’ve been doing this as long as I have, like 25 years, it’s really important to always be rediscovering the joy because it is a business and it is what I do every single day. And the sophomore album is always really hard.
You know, your first album is your mission statement as an artist. Like, “Here I am. This is what I stand for. This is, this is what my brand is. This is my, this is my perspective on my life and everything I’ve been through.” Well, what is the second album? How have you evolved? And I’m like, “How have I evolved?!”
But I’m really proud of how it came out. We explored really interesting time signatures on the album, like “Dark Side of My Heart” is in 15/4. Really interesting modes. “The Other Side,” which is my favorite song on the album, it’s a Picardy 3rd.
(Magnetic: It’s actually mine, too.)
HALIENE: All right! It also goes from like heavy bass into like drum and bass and I love doing that song live.
“Solar Waves” is a really fun song. That’s the one I wrote during my surgery that I sing really, really softly because I couldn’t use my diaphragm. And that song was so fun to write. I’m really proud of a lot of the lyrics in it.
So it explores all kinds of different genres that really make up Haliene and all the collaborations that I’ve done, but it also at its center, it’s really about songwriting. It’s about my voice and it’s about heart, and it’s about real life.
So I think my voice is the through line through all of those genres. It’s got trance to dubstep, but that’s what makes me… me.
Magnetic: I love that, for sure. As far as like… the recording process…
(HALIENE: Yep)
Magnetic: You know… I know our readership, there’s a lot of people that are kind of interested in the tech side. Let’s pick something at random.
Who do you prefer to use for like in-ear monitors, for example?
HALIENE: I’ve been using Ultimate Ears since I started touring. I love my in ear monitors. They are they’re just so crisp and so clean. And also, I mean, if you can send them in and they’ll fix them for you. And it’s like so fast.
(Magnetic: That’s good customer service.)
HALIENE: It is. It’s wonderful. Like, Nancy Kuo, I love you. She’ll always fix my ears and they’ll clean them. They just do whatever you need to them. They sound amazing and they keep up. I had a previous brand of in-ears back in the day and they would break on me all the time.
Ultimate Ears has been with me since the first Armin tour I did in 2020. And they’re staying strong.
Magnetic: Cool… Being that we are in Seattle, you know, I don’t know how many of our readers are around the Seattle area, but if they happen to be around the Seattle area, I do happen to know that you have a show coming up. Would you like to tell us about that?
HALIENE: Sure. So I’m on my album tour right now. It goes all the way through to the end of the year, and I’m coming back to Seattle November 13th, back to Ora Nighclub, which I played a few years ago. And I also have, next up, I’m playing Maui, Hawaii, and Honolulu, Hawaii, Tempe, Arizona… So… Phoenix area, Minneapolis, Seattle, Houston, Texas, and we’re adding more dates as well.
Magnetic: Great. How about your website where they can get the tour dates?
HALIENE: haliene.com/live
Magnetic: Fantastic. Okay, well, I really appreciate your time speaking with Magnetic Magazine here this evening.
Again, this is Nick Wax, speaking with HALIENE.
I hope you guys have an amazing show tonight. I know I am truly looking forward to the entire performance. Thanks.
HALIENE: Thank you. It’s awesome.
Important Links
Stream or buy Haliene’s album “Eclipsed”
Watch “Eclipsed” performed live during the total solar Eclipse in Ibiza
Check out my interview with Seven Lions about the Opus Harmonia concert with the Seattle Symphony
Quick Final Thoughts
Now, more than ever, support live music is so crucial to the success of continuing to build strong community. Art and music play such an important part in bringing joy into all our lives. Whether you are DJ’ing at home with friends, or going out to a music festival, or like I did on September 25th… going to see a Symphony orchestra alongside some of your favorite singers and a former metal drummer turned electronic music composer/producer, GO!!
Make the plans! Buy the tickets! Get some friends together. Support MUSIC!
And go see HALIENE!!!
Thanks again to Paulette, Jordan, and the team and MLennial for arranging the interview.
Nick Wax is a producer, singer/songwriter based in Seattle, WA. He has more than 2 decades networking in the music business. He’s passionate about connecting people through their shared love of electronic music. Most people know him as the guy who makes that one mashup they like. When he’s not nerding out in the studio, you can usually catch him hanging out with his wife and cats.
