There’s a sign on the cover of Hataałii’s Waiting for a Sign, bearing the words “authentic real deal.” It’s the kind of billboard familiar to anyone who’s driven through the large swaths of Native-held land in the American Southwest. Signs hocking goods, promising hearty meals, beckoning you off the road and into some cafe, trading post, or casino. But that’s only scratching the surface. He joins us for a conversation to dig deeper.
Category: Hataalii
Transmissions :: Hataałii
Hataaliinez Wheeler grew up in Window Rock, Arizona, the capital of the Navajo Nation. And though he’s just recently released his Dangerbird Records debut, Singing Into Darkness, he’s spent the last few years creating as much art as he can—recording music, making lo-fi videos, and writing poetry. Today, he joins host Jason P. Woodbury to discuss his run-in with and shout-out from Mac Demarco, discuss the influence of his father’s record collection, and discuss what its felt like for his personal art project to find a life outside of his own head.
Hataalii :: S/T/First Take
Hailing from Window Rock, Arizona, Hataalii’s songs are weirdly genreless and out-of-time, yet constantly reach for some sort of cosmic agency. You can frequently hear him experimenting and trying different personas on, but the force of his charisma unites all the disparate elements he puts together, conjuring a kind of Southwestern saudade.