Halee Jean
Biography
Hello! I am Hal (she/them) (b. 1992). I am a multifaceted presence in the Salt Lake City scene as an artist, performer, live sound tech, and composer. My roots run deep into the punk and DIY communities of salt lake city, and you will find me performing and organizing music and art shows on the regular. I joined my first band at 13 yr. It was an experimental rock group who fashioned themselves after the post-punk group Fugazi. From that point on, I have been/continue to be in countless musical groups with hugely varying backgrounds, styles, and educations, such as Jazz Jaguars (a jazz lead sheet reading group), Mananero (a doom country group), and Sculpture Club (a goth new-wave group). From those early and formative years, I dedicated myself to learning as many instruments as possible, such as guitar, mandolin, accordion, piano, flute, bass, cello, drums, and didgeridoo. And although I knew that a broad knowledge of many instruments would help me remain active in any music scene, my true ambition was composition. I did not receive a traditional music education, I did not believe composition or acceptance into "traditional" or "classical" communities a possibility. However, as in so many other situations in my life, I remained persistent, turned to my community for support, and found people in Salt Lake City with similar backgrounds and non-traditional music educations. I focused my energy on composing for a non-traditional ensemble and called the group Hoofless.
Hoofless' debut album, Mouth Feel was release in 2018 while the group was at it's smallest. It included Hal Jean (cello), Michael Nebeker (violin), and David Payne (drums). Mouth Feel was an album meant to illustrate the group's experience with sexual shame, loss, and coping with loving while living in a patriarchal system. Since the inception of Hoofless, I have collected as many musicians as I could to participate in the ensemble. Currently, Hoofless has 8 musicians (violin, cello, guitar, bass guitar, drums, trumpet, synth, and trombone) who may participate in any way, or as often, as they like. This allows for the compositions to be ever changing, as so often the instrumentation changes as well. I attempt to compose pieces that allow for musicians from various educational backgrounds to participate, which often requires a certain level of vulnerability and acceptance of "wrong notes" from the whole of the group. This has resulted in a highly supportive and quickly developing group of sensitive listeners.
Hoofless' second studio album, Ad Nauseam was released in March of 2022. The focus of Ad Nauseam was that of personal responsibility to things greater than oneself. Each composition is meant to both smother and sooth the listener. To gather up close and then cast away the listener. The goal was to make the listener feel both small in the greater scheme, but also empowered by their singular humanity.
During the pandemic, I lost regular access to Hoofless and to musicians who could help actualize my compositions. And so I spent the first two years of the pandemic writing music to played at a future date. This resulted in a small collection of pieces that I envisioned being performed by a string quartet or large ensemble. As the months eked by with no access to people, I became restless and decided to blow my savings and hire a string quartet called Tribeca Ensemble to perform one of my pandemic pieces. And so Sometime Come The Mother was recorded and released in 2021.
In 2021, I composed the score for the short horror film Casey, directed by Rylee Syme.
Since early 2021, I have reemerged from my pandemic isolation with immense drive and an urgency to make up for lost time. I have redoubled my efforts to organize with local musicians who wish to participate in Hoofless. I have also focused on live sound and event production, working as a Events and Production Manager at International Artist Lounge, a sound tech at The Beehive and Aces High Saloon, and as a Stage Manager at The State Room and Commonwealth Room, which allows me access to networking with musicians on a regular basis. I have also begun working on an app that will help bands and artists network, book shows and tours, and promote without having to sign to a label. My energy around creating spaces for live music and art has become unbridled.
In 2023, I created Hypha, a production company, with the goal of innovating, creating, and expanding the arts in SLC. I want to bring the joy of art to the city in a bolstered way, with the intention of celebrating my community and putting wind in the sails of artists.
I graduated from University of Utah in 2015 with a degree in Painting/Drawing and a second BA in Art Education. I live in Salt Lake City with my husband, Bret Meisenbach, and dog Watson.