The story of electro-pop duo the Halamays is a love story. Katie and Pat Watkins met cute — as college kids playing open mic nights in Bowling Green, Ohio, where they were going to school. Both were regulars on a particular night, and the owner suggested they perform together. It started with some goofy covers, moved to accompanying each other’s songs, then the two started dating and fell in love.
After graduation, the couple moved to Chicago and found some success performing as folk duo Katie and Pat. Katie joined another band on the side, and the situation became a catalyst for knowing that the Watkins were meant for something more.
“I joined Very Truly Yours, and when I started playing with them it meant putting my acoustic down and playing keyboard again,” Katie says. “We toured a lot, and so Pat was at home alone and started messing around making electronic music. At the same time, I was realizing I could write on any instrument, not just guitar, and I felt really inspired. When I came home we started trying to put these sounds together, put them into Katie and Pat songs, and we just realized we were not the same band.”
After seven years of playing together, they broke up one band and formed another — Katie and Pat became the Halamays.
“It had been coming. There had been frustration. We tried to liven it up by doing a record of songs on just ukelele. That was fun, but all put together we only had 15 minutes of ukulele songs, and it just wasn’t enough,” Katie laughs.
The Halamays’ sound couldn’t be further from earnest ukulele tunes. The band’s debut EP features five songs of delicate electronic pop, the standout being “This Boring Party,” a tale of furtive love during a dull evening.
Watkins says that she and her husband never truly collaborated until after they were married. “Bringing your spouse into that creative space, writing songs together, it’s a matter of being really vulnerable. It’s hard to do even with the person you are closest to,” says the singer. “You think they are judging your fake words you sing while you figure out your melody, it’s nerve-racking. You have to feel comfortable to look like a total idiot in front of them!”
Being a married band works for the duo. “We don’t play well with others,” Katie jokes. “We could have gotten other people in the band — almost all our friends are musicians. We just don’t have the interest. We have great communication; we have our own thing going.” Being in an electronic band aids the situation. “We can use technology — drums machines and other things — and so it doesn’t sound like we are just two people.”
Twitter @chitribent
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
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Where: Schubas, 3159 N. Southport Ave.
Tickets: $10 (18+); schubas.com