Interview & photos by Alondra

Singer-songwriter HAYLA closed the North American leg of her THE DARK TOUR in Los Angeles, California, on Friday, September 4, 2026. Before the show, Voltage Live Media got the opportunity to catch up with her, talking about her latest album DARK, touring, and her pre-show vibes.

Is there anywhere specific in LA you like going to when you’re here?

“I just kind of like, wherever I end up being, having a walk around and just taking in, you know, the city, 'cause I don't, sometimes I don't really get a chance to do so, you know? But I always go and get coffee somewhere and then have a walk around and yeah, just it's been fun.”

Have you had any favorite shows on the tour?

“It's hard to say because honestly everything's brought its own kind of incredible vibe, and I’ve obviously been so looking forward to tonight because we have some added elements and yeah, I think it's also kind of bittersweet because it's the end of the tour too. So yeah, I feel quite sad that it's over, you know? I’m a bit sad about it, but I’m so happy that the tour has been amazing.”

Are there any places you haven't toured yet you’d like to go to?

“I mean, I've never really done any in South America before. And I would love to. I'd love to do, like, Japan, Seoul; I'd love to do things more kind of like China, around Thailand, which I hopefully will be going to this year. I think there are so many places really, I think, just around the world that I would love to get to go to that I haven't yet. And I, I have an app that has like a, not for my touring life, but me personally as a, as a traveler. I just, I've put down the places that I've been, and I'm like, there's more, there's many more.”

Has touring with other people and working with them changed how you write or perform?

“I think performance-wise, because I’ve experienced so many different sizes of stage, I think the first time I performed to a massively larger crowd than I ever had was actually out in the States in Vegas at EDC.

In 2022 with KX5, I think that definitely pushed me into kind of like I had to push myself out of my comfort zone.

It was the most thrilling thing I’ve ever done. I think the more that I travel, the more that I perform, the more that I realize how much more connection we all need. So I think for me, it's kind of if I can be on stage more, meet more people, be in different places.”

Did the album start with a concept, title, or was it a collection of things?

“I didn't anticipate I’d write an album; I didn't know I was going to. I didn't think about style, genre, or anything. I went into sessions to basically find the joy in writing again, the love of writing again.

I basically went in after this loss that I'd suffered. I genuinely didn't know if I had anything to give, really. I was totally kind of not okay, and I'm still kind of not, to be really honest, but, like, I wrote these songs with some amazing people who truly were moments of light in all the darkness that I was surrounded by and, you know, things that I'd been going through.

It was honestly the most fun I've had in the studio for such a long time because we were like, I was like, there's no plan. I spoke to them really openly about what was going on, just to kind of put them in the scene of, like, this is- I'm just- I'm literally here to create, just to feel something, really, you know?

And I think it was kind of like that non-pressured environment that allowed these songs to flow through. And I think if there had been pressure or some expectation, then maybe, well, this album wouldn't have existed, and I probably wouldn't have an album still.”

How did you decide on opening the album with the song “HEAL”

“Do you know what we did? We did the show in St Pancras Church in London, and the set list for that show is the album track list, and it was actually me and my MD, my musical director. We're going through like all of the track listings to see which ones would flow in a live performance in a live setting. And actually, after we'd worked that out, we were like, oh, this actually fully works. We should probably have this as the album listing.”

When asked about the static in her song “HEAL”

“I mean, it's funny really, because we were listening to quite a bit of Bjork. I remember it, I think it was that session, and there's a song called ‘Possibly Maybe.’ Which maybe we might have listened to beforehand, but haven't thought about that in retrospect. And it's kind of like a phone call. Literally, it's a phone at the start of that.

But it's been like, but maybe that was that session. I was listening to quite a bit of Imogen Heap as well, and there's a song called ‘What Have You Done to Me?’ And the start of that is very almost like, um, you know, like when you turn on the radio, and you can't get the sound or the station, It's kind of static.

I think maybe we did, but it wasn't like we'd set out to do any of those- but maybe those things have flowed into that.”

Did the static in “HEAL” flow into the song “I Hope We Don't Run Out of Time”

“I Hope We Don't Run Out of Time was actually one of the 2 songs that were written about a year to a year and a half, just before the other 9 songs were written. I was at a film writing camp, and I just loved that song. I wrote it with 2 other people, Brenda and Nigel, and honestly, it was one of those songs that I think really set me on the way to just playing around with style and genre, being more cinematic, you know?”

Was “I Hope We Don't Run Out of Time” intended to be more of a song about love or loss?

“Well, in hindsight, it's a loss song really. Yeah, it's about kind of the moment, the moments that we take advantage of when we realize that actually we need to really be present because actually we don't have long here.”

HAYLA and her fans were truly present in the moment during her show at The Fonda, delivering a memorable performance filled with dancing and emotion while performing songs from DARK, including “In My Arms.” HAYLA ended her North American tour on a high, bringing audiences closer together and connecting with fans while leaving them excited for where her music takes them next.

Scroll down to see our photos from HAYLA’s final night of THE DARK TOUR in Los Angeles, capturing the energy, emotion, and unforgettable moments from the tour finale.

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photos by Alondra