On March 17th, the Bad Time Records tour stopped in Santa Ana, California. Kill Lincoln, JER, and BAD OPERATION took over The Constellation Room for a packed night of ska fun. Joining them for the West Coast dates was Orange County’s Half Past Two! After playing 924 Gilman Street the night before, they got to play a hometown show packed with familiar faces and longtime friends. After their set, we caught up with frontwoman Tara Hahn about the local ska scene, bands that she’s into right now, her fashion style, and more.
Dying Scene (Spike): Thank you so much for taking the time to do this, it means a lot to me. That was such a good set! How does it feel to be playing in your hometown?
Tara: I mean, we’ve only been gone for one day so it’s fun to come back, but yesterday when we joined up with everybody on the tour they asked the same thing “are you excited to go home?” and i’m like, “I just left… haha like I just came up here and now i’m going back home”, but yeah, it’s exciting.
Who are some local artists from Orange County that you like? Current bands or ones that have influenced you?
It’s so funny because I feel like I can say these names and maybe it’s like, not cool to say them right now, but I mean back in the day I started listening to Save Ferris and Dance Hall Crashers and stuff. They really influenced me to want to play. But now, there’s some new bands in Orange County like we had one of the members of Chudson up tonight. They’re new and doing a really cool thing. Chase Long Beach is an old one that we’ve been playing with for like 20 years now, but they’re still making music and they’re fun to play with. Also Hooray for Our Side. There’s a lot of bands, it’s hard to say.
What about some newer bands that you want more people to know about?
There’s a band on the East Coast, it’s my friend Kay and her partner, called The Doomstompers. They have some music coming out, and it’s really good. I love Kay’s voice. They’re really new and I want more people to know about them. Like I said, Chudson is doing some good things. I just like how they have a good following of young people, and I think that’s important that we keep the scene going. One of the things I experienced when we started was everybody was like kind of the old guard, and I would go to these shows and I’d be like “why are these like creepy old guys around” you know. I like that ska music’s become more young and queer and it feels a lot safer than it used to so I think those sorts of bands are progressing the scene, and that’s why Bad Time Records is good too. There’s just so many bands on the label that do that. Just check out all the bands on Bad Time Records and I think you’re in good company and got good listening.
Who are some people you feel have helped pave the way to help get you where you are today?
I think Mustard Plug does a good job of helping bands get out there, and The Toasters. They used to take us around and those were some of our first tours. We were like “this is so cool!” It’s really nice when those legacy bands help other bands out. Reel Big Fish used to do that with us. Reel Big Fish… we owe a lot to them. Aaron produced our first album, and he went to our high school. So we ran into him at this burger place and we were like “here’s our demo” and he listened to it and was like “I want to record you guys!” And I kind of think that’s a reason why we’re still here.
To me, your stage presence feels very natural and confident, like you just own the stage when you’re up there. Have you always felt such confidence?
I have been performing for a really long time. I did show choir in middle and high school, but I always thought I would be like a backup singer. When I started pursuing alternative music and being in bands, I really just wanted to be a backup singer, but then this happened! So it took a while to get to the confidence spot, and I still get nervous before every single show, but I guess that’s why it feels “natural” because I’m just like trying to have fun with my friends.
What advice can you give to women right now trying to make it in the scene?
I think first of all, just don’t give a fuck about what other people are saying you can and can’t do, and just don’t be afraid. There’s so many times where I felt like I had to shrink myself to sort of have a seat at the table, and I don’t think it’s necessary anymore. I feel that when women show up, and are their true authentic self, then people just receive it. It’s really important to be authentic.
Being a mom, a wife, the frontwoman of a band, how do you balance it all?
My partner is a very big supporter of what I’m doing, and I don’t think I could do it without his support. I don’t know how I balance it all. I’m literally always putting things on my plate and it makes me crazy sometimes, but I just try and remember, if I wasn’t doing this, I’d probably be even more miserable. I like to say yes to a lot of things. Music is everything, and my kids. I fully, 100 percent show up for them and support them and all that they do. And they support me! I just want them to know that you can pursue and do whatever you want to do. Be a mom and be in a band, that’s totally fine.
I’ll never forget the performance at Garden Amp with your daughter Neely, it was so touching. What do you hope she takes away from the song “Shine” as she gets older? It’s about her, right?
Oh gosh, it is about her. It makes me cry when I think about it.
I’m sorry.
No no it’s okay, I mean I think that’s the important thing about music, it’s like a cathartic thing. I know that she really likes the song, and I hope when she gets older she realizes that I’m gonna be there for her and support her in all the different ways. No matter what she wants to do, and I just want to see her thrive. That’s kind of what “Shine” is about, making sure that you nurture the person to be who they need to be.
Recently Half Past Two came out with a new song “Nightmare of You“, and it’s not really ska. It’s more hardcore, kind of pop-punky. Do you think you will ever release an album that isn’t ska?
Um, not that’s not ska. We actually didn’t mean to make that song not a ska song, but it just happened to be that way. You know, we want to show people we have range. We like ska music, but we like other music too. And I think it’s important to let people in the ska scene know, don’t gate-keep the other music, you know. We have other influences, too.
Like who?
I like to listen to a lot of post-hardcore stuff. I really love Scowl, and really girly indie bands too. I was just here at The Observatory seeing this band called Bad Bad Hats, and there wasn’t that many people here, but I was like “I love this band!” It was just girly, vibey music.
One thing that really got me into Half Past Two was your covers. You cover lots of songs.
We do!
Do you have a favorite cover that you’ve done?
I think my favorite cover is one we did recently. It wasn’t even a big band, but it’s our friends’ band Tiny Stills. It was a really slow song and we were like, “What if we just made it really fast?” I think it’s like under a minute because when I made the reel for Instagram, that thing went by. It just flies, and it’s so much fun. When we showed it to the band they were like, “woah, it’s so fast!”
So that one, and it’s fun to do other styles too. We did Suicide Machines and people always love to hear that song, just because it’s so not us.
My favorite is Holiday by Green Day, that was what first introduced me to you guys.
We were going to play it tonight! We took it out of the set because our horn player Patrick was like, I don’t know if I know it very well, and I’m like, ugh. We were going to play it and we could have dedicated it to you!
Hoping that Patrick knows it by the next time they’re in town.
You have a great fashion style, I love all of your outfits. I have to ask, who inspires it?
Actually my friend Tabby that’s here tonight! I mean, I own a lot of clothes, and I love dressing up, but Tabby and I have even more fun sitting together and coming up with outfits. He is like a fashion icon on his own. He’s really into ska and J-fashion, so it’s kind of like a match made in heaven. We literally do that thing like on Clueless where they piece the outfits together, we just like sit on the phone and like cut out my clothes and put the together. He like micromanages, he’ll tell me what to do with my eye makeup, my hair, all that stuff. But it’s fun. It’s so much fun.
What can fans expect from Half Past Two in the future?
You know, we’re a band that’s always working on stuff so we have some new stuff in the pipeline. We’ve been working on it for a really long time. We have, like, a concept album that we’ve… a concept album? That’s so weird. But we’ve been working on that for a while, and we’re hoping that it comes out this year. I just need to fine-tune a couple of things, so that’s what we got!
That’s so exciting to hear! I cannot wait for that. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
I think what you’re doing is really cool! As far as I can remember, there hasn’t been a lot of people that go out and, like, report on music, especially in little communities and scenes like this, so keep it up. I think it’s really cool.
From talking about her early influences in the Orange County ska scene to opening up about confidence, family life, and the band’s future, Tara Hahn showed us exactly why Half Past Two has remained such an important part of the community for so many years. Whether she was shouting out new bands, reflecting on the ones who helped them get their start, or talking about pushing expectations, one thing stayed consistent. The scene only survives as long as we keep putting our energy into it. As the conversation wrapped up, Tara’s words about the importance of documenting and supporting local music communities really stuck with me. Scenes like this thrive because people put their time, energy, and passion, whether it’s on stage, behind the camera, or in the crowd. Being able to capture these stories and share them is something that means so much to me, and it’s a great reminder that keeping local scenes alive can take many forms. The important thing is simply showing up, while contributing and supporting however you can.
A few days after this conversation, Bad Time Records released 4 songs from Half Past Two’s new side project with Omnigone, Half Gone. It was a great surprise, with a perfect blend of both bands sounds. They also released a music video! Watch it here:
Follow Half Past Two on Instagram and stay updated on their website so you don’t miss any news on their upcoming concept album and future shows. When you get the chance to see them live, don’t pass it up!
You can check out the full video of the interview here!
