Band Of The Week #144 - King Hannah
This week’s Band of the Week is Liverpool based King Hannah, who have just released their debut EP ‘Tell Me Your Mind And I’ll Tell You Mine’ via City Slang. The natural grit in their sound within this small collection of songs speaks mountains on how raw their talent is, creating a magnetic field that instantly pulls you in. They took a moment to talk us in more depth about the release.
Hey King Hannah - how are you? How does it feel to be releasing an EP during this strange time for music?
Hannah - Very honoured! It's what we spend all our time doing so in a way, it's been a great distraction from everything that's going on.
Craig - We've never released an EP before so we've got nothing to compare it to! We just feel very lucky and very grateful for all the support we've received so far...and hopefully everyone likes it!
Your EP is titled ‘Tell Me Your Mind And I’ll Tell You Mine’ - does that hold a certain meaning to you?
Hannah - It's a lyric from one of the tracks from the EP called, 'The Sea Has Stretch Marks'. We struggled with the title for a bit, so I wrote down all the songs and read them line for line, and this one made the most sense. We love it because it's a request for people to open up their minds (should they want to!)
Craig - I love this lyric that Hannah wrote. To me it sounds like an intimate line of dialogue, it's vulnerable and timid but has a confidence to it as well, depending on how you read it. It's also trying to start a discussion with the listener, inviting them to open up to let something in. I just love it.
It is being released via City Slang - how does it feel to be part of their little family?
Hannah & Craig - it will never ever sink in. They're such a supportive label and we feel right at home with them, as cheesy as that sounds! We're really lucky in that they trust us to make the music we want to make.
Where was the EP recorded and any behind the scenes stories from the recording process?
Craig - It was recorded here in Liverpool in a few different places. We tracked the drums and most of the bass in The Cabin studio, then most of the vocals and other parts were recorded in Ted's (our producer/ synth player) small studio. When lockdown hit I recorded some extra guitar and synth parts in my bedroom and we mixed them together with Ted over zoom. I actually recorded the echoey synths on Bill Tench at about 2am the morning before we had to send everything off to get mastered. I sent my minilogue through this oil can delay pedal and stayed up until I was happy with what I had. We got up early and Ted mixed the new synths into the track and that was that.
Hannah - The Sea Has Stretch Marks was an entirely different song for so long. I decided I hated it very close to the deadline date and so wrote many, many, many new versions and finally settled on what I think was the 15th. It was worth it though, we really, really like that one.
What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
Hannah - Really, it's just to be as honest as possible, both musically and lyrically.
Before the band was formed Craig had seen Hannah sing a few times, and it wasn’t until a bar job connection pulled you together. What was it about Hannah’s voice that drew you towards her?
Craig - Yeah I had seen Hannah sing once at a university band showcase night. My friend was playing bass in one of the bands so I had gone to see him. The quality of music that night wasn't the best, but I remember Hannah playing a song solo, just guitar and vocals, and I was blown away. It was a little fingerpicking folk-ish song that I still remember and sometimes sing to Hannah to annoy her. Her voice is so unique, it's deep and powerful but also intimate and her range is incredible - it just gets me, there is so much emotion and honesty in it. Then years later I started working in a bar and Hannah was assigned to teach me how to clean tables and set cutlery up.
There are a lot of Americana sounds on this EP, do you feel as a genre it is making a modern return?
Craig - I'm not sure it has ever gone away, but for sure with modern acts like The War on Drugs, Bill Callahan and Kurt Vile it is definitely a genre that is being pulled and stretched sonically in new ways. I guess I've never actually taken time to sit and think of what Americana actually is. I grew up loving acts like Springsteen, Neil Young and The Band, and those influences just seep into the way I think about music and the way I play guitar, and that's where the Americana aspect comes from I think.
Do you have a favorite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
Hannah - I keep referring to The Sea Has Stretch Marks, but it's probably the EP title for me!
Craig - I absolutely love the first verse of The Sea Has Stretch Marks, I love how Hannah's telling a little story in such a romantic way.
Now the EP is out there, what next for King Hannah?
Hannah - We just want to keep getting better and better as a band. I'm quite black & white in my thinking...the harder we work and the more we push ourselves, the bigger and better opportunities will come our way (hopefully!) ...although we are making an album!!!