Biography
Adam Hattaway grew up in Woolston, Christchurch, with music woven into his earliest memories — Simply Red giving way to The Beatles, Bee Gees, and Rolling Stones, thanks to an extensive family record collection. His father took him to see The Rolling Stones at age 12, and a family friend named Brian mentored him on those same riffs not long after. By high school he was already performing at Christchurch youth venues Zebedees and The Media Club, where he crossed paths with future collaborators including Oli and Callum Devlin, Marlon Williams, and Brad Craig of Mini Simmons.
Two EPs under his own name followed in 2015 before Hattaway assembled The Haunters and released the debut full-length All Dat Love in 2018 on Melted Ice Cream. From the outset the band pitched a wide tent: alt rock’n’roll, Americana, blues, country, and soul all competing for space in the same song. Key to the sound was guitarist Elmore Jones, who engineered and mixed several records and brought a studied musicality to Hattaway’s instinct-driven writing, alongside bassist Liam Quinn, who has played alongside Hattaway since both were fifteen. Hattaway had previously played in Wurld Series and The Eastern, whose frontman Adam McGrath he credits as a formative influence: McGrath “helped me figure out what I wanted to do,” Hattaway has said. Mentor Al Park also shaped his approach, teaching him professionalism and an encyclopaedic command of other people’s songs.
The catalogue grew at a remarkable rate — seven studio albums in roughly seven years. The double LP Rooster (2021), produced entirely to tape, broke the band internationally: it reached number 16 on the New Zealand album charts and was playlisted on more than 40 US radio stations. Its 22-song sweep drew on alt-country and soul, with album art created by Hattaway’s great-great uncle Rolfe, an early twentieth-century outsider artist whose work was largely suppressed during his lifetime. Producer Ben Edwards oversaw Woolston, Texas (2020), the record named after Hattaway’s home suburb; Marlon Williams produced the darker, more stripped-back High Horse (2024) at Te Ra studio in Diamond Harbour; and Hot Variety (2025), the seventh album, was recorded to 2-inch 16-track tape at Sublime Studio in Otiake across three sessions spanning three years.
Hattaway has also produced for other artists, including Al Park’s Pony and Anthea Struthers’ debut album, and has joined Marlon Williams on stage. He took part in the 2021 Going Global Summit. The Haunters lineup has shifted across albums — a practical consequence of scheduling and geography — with contributors including Thomas Isbister, Tess Liautaud, Holdyn Skinner, Samuel White, Reuben Derrick, Lucinda Whiteley, and Lorenz Weston-Salzer joining the core of Hattaway, Jones, and Quinn across different sessions.
From his home in Otautahi/Christchurch, he has earned an international reputation for sweltering hooks, high kicks, and raw emotional narrative — a born frontman who deftly marries 60s swagger with 21st century sensitivity.
Under the Radar
I think it’s really important to go back and understand where everything came from.
Adam Hattaway, AudioCulture
Members
- Adam Hattaway (guitar/vocals — formerly of Wurld Series, The Eastern)
- Elmore Jones (guitar/piano — also of 3000AD, Katie Thompson)
- Liam Quinn (bass)
- Holdyn Skinner (drums)
- Tess Liautaud (vocals/keyboards)
- Thomas Isbister (drums/percussion)
Discography
- All Dat Love LP (2018, Melted Ice Cream, MIC0069)
- Crying Lessons CD (2019, Self-released, AH-002)
- Woolston, Texas LP/CD (2020, Self-released, AH-003)
- Rooster 2xCD (2021, Self-released)
- Bug Eyes LP (2022, Self-released, AH-005)
- Anthology 2018-2023 (2023, Self-released)
- High Horse LP (2024, Leather Jacket Records)
- Hot Variety LP (2025, Leather Jacket Records, LJR 47)