Trevor Hall: He’s Different Because…He’s Different

By Jeannette Madden
Staff Writer
A different kind of singer, a different kind of artist. That’s what you get when you listen to musician Trevor Hall. Originally known for his song “Other Ways,” from the “Shrek III” soundtrack, it turns out that there’s a lot more to this South Carolina-born twenty-two year old singer/songwriter than a song from a children’s movie and being a dead ringer for Kurt Cobain.

When I met Hall I didn’t even know he had a song on the Shrek soundtrack. A friend told me about it after the fact. Instead, I spent several days prior to our interview listening to his newest album, “Trevor Hall,” and I loved it. From its Indian-style chants and its pounding drumbeats to Hall’s lyrics that I found both soothing and questioning, I was hooked.

I caught up with Hall, who forgot we even had an interview scheduled, hours before he was leaving for India for a month-long sabbatical. Even so, he assured me the timing was perfect and in his words, “We’re talking, let’s take our time and chat.” Luckily for me, for the first time in my writing career, I didn’t have any questions planned. Instead, I found Hall’s music and background so interesting that all I wanted to do was listen to what he had to say…

The first thing Hall shared was that he was leaving the country to “get away from people.” And then he laughed. “No, no, I’m just joking. I’m going to India and this is my third trip. I’ll be there for a month and I go there to just charge up my batteries, spiritually reconnect, get some juice. It’s just a great place for that kind of thing. Visiting holy places and all that stuff…”

Hall said this was important to him because “the music is an expression of my journey through life I guess, spiritually and in this world. But the songs are more like detours for me, coming through me and maybe trying to teach me. I’m a listener as well, so I go over to India to try to quiet down and listen and to try and get in that space and try to hear clearly and see what the Most High is trying to tell me. It’s just a time of going into seclusion.”

“It can be done anywhere but India’s special. India is a golden bird. It is saints and sages and I’ve been coming out of India for thousands and thousands of years and all of the stories, the ancient stories took place in these certain areas and you can go and visit these areas so the areas have a kind of special power to them. It’s a little stronger vibe.’

Hall’s love for India shows on the lead single off of his newest album, “Unity,” which he wrote and performed with hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu. He and Matisyahu were touring together when they learned of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India. Hall had already been to India twice, once on a pilgrimage with two monks’ temple in Southern California, where he still lives, and again to celebrate his twenty-first birthday. The violence in Mumbai was more traumatic for Matisyahu, who knew some of those who’d been murdered in a synagogue that had been targeted by the terrorists.

Hall is able to channel his thoughts and beliefs into his singing and songwriting. “Music is everything for me. I don’t know how to describe it…Bob Marley said ‘who feels it knows it,’ right? My music is an expression of my journey and also where I want to go and maybe where I want to be. Sharing that with others, maybe that inspires them, maybe they learn from it but also maybe they hear it and they share with me how the song affected them or something like that. Maybe that will help me in my journey. I believe that man’s highest duty is to serve others so whatever way you can do that it should be done. My thing that I’ve been given is music so I should share that with other people?

For Hall, performing also means everything. “If you think back in the ancient times before IPods and CDs there was no way people could hear music unless they went and saw it,” he said. “Music is supposed to be live, that’s where you get the power, right? Playing live for me, that’s where I am able to serve and I can see who I am serving and see the effects, maybe, of the music on the people. The live part is probably the most important part, I would think, because that’s where you get the taste of other people, that’s where you get their feeling.”

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