Ladies & Gentleman Meet Halen, from the Band Hakeem ! 

Explain your self in 5 words?

Rock n rolls new king

What “style” genre would you consider your self to be?

I would say HAKEEMs main genre of music is heavy metal, but its a big blend of rock n roll, heavy metal, ska, reggae and punk.

Where did your band name come from?

Our band name came from a character we invented in the video game Mass Effect, he was the black version of Hulk Hogan and a complete badass

What age were you when it hit you to want to become who you are today?

I was at the young age of 12 when I knew I wanted to be a musician, I had just seen my favorite band Van Halen as my first ever concert and after that I did whatever i could to make some money and buy my first guitar. 

What are or who are some of your influences/inspiration ?

The people i draw from for my music are a huge variety of the best front men/guitar players. Zach De La Rocha, Bob Marley, Mick Jagger, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Eddie Vedder, Axl Rose, and plenty more along the lines of the greatest

How long has your band been around?

HAKEEM started a year ago this month, we've gone through a couple line up changes (changing the lead singer, getting a new drummer) but the core of the band has remained the same.

What is your plan for the next year? How do you plan on expanding?

HAKEEMs plans now are to get a ten song demo recorded and starting to do major shows, we've done a few shows around town and we have some other bands who have our backs but once we have our demo done we'll really be rolling. We're gonna start expanding through social medias and doing shows in the smaller towns and cities near Calgary

Where do you see your self in five years?

In five years I see myself still doing what I love, which is making music.  Whether I'm famous or with the same band won't matter, I'm just not wasting my time on anything else.

What kind of people are drawn to your work? How do you market your self? Do you have a online shop? local store? 

So far our fan base includes mostly people who have seen us play at our shows, which is quite a wide variety because of all the styles of music we play.

Favorite place you have traveled?

I've been to Australia, that was pretty cool

Have you traveled for your work?

I did a few solo acoustic shows the last time I was down under, but I wouldve preferred the rest of the band to be there.

Any impressive accomplishments you’d like to brag about?

I think our biggest accomplishment was that our first show was a Calgary flood relief concert, not to much money was made for it but to be involved was awesome

Do you have any fun adventures coming up?

By December 1st I'll be living in Lethbridge Alberta and my plan is to start a hip hop side project with my best friend and maybe some of the people i meet there, gotta keep the music rollin

What does your product say about you? what do you try to get across in the way you do business?'

The music we make is a part of ourselves, its heavy and dirty at some points, loving at other points, and just has some deeps blues at the ends. We just try to get across that we're the next big thing of music, we're out there to have a good time and bring true rock n roll music back to life.

Do you have any pets?

nah

What’s your favorite bar to go to ?

To be honest I much prefer going to house parties, much cheaper on the wallet and you can do whatever you want at the parties. 

What’s your dream vacation destination ?

I think I would like to see Jerusalem and the middle east, lots of interesting history in that part of the world 

If there’s one place/thing in the world that makes you feel most safe, where/what is it?

Just being at home, where ever the home may be