HANSSØN- Indie pop singer-songwriter, dreamlike explorations of nostalgia and profound connections.
Interview conducted on Jan. 24, 2020
by Dan Locke
Hanssøn is a talented singer-songwriter who traded the sun and ease of the Australian coasts for the intensity and opportunities that New York has always offered ambitious artists. A strong and tenacious artist, the songstress infuses each song with a rawness and quiet nostalgia. She would spend her youth in Sydney wearing out her Michael Jackson cassette tapes and flipping her dad’s Sex Pistols and Johnny Cash records, creating her own world of musical inspiration away from the male-centric surf culture of 1980s Australia. “I had a walkman and was pretty introverted growing up in a huge family…I always had my headphones on with Michael Jackson on repeat on family trips or when our grandparents would take us out.”
Dan Locke: Why did you decide to just use your last name?
Hansson: It was a time for a change, I’d worked under loads of different names and band names as I was discovering myself through music and I’d got to a place in my life where my last name simplified who I was and I could build around that.
What influenced you while you were growing up?
I grew up with 2 sisters and a brother, it was a pretty suburban upbringing and I just gravitated towards music as a child, it was something I could get lost in it and do for hours, I loved watching Kylie Minogue and Jenny Morris and John Farnham on the TV and I’d always wanted to do what they were doing.
At what age did you discovered you have musical talent?
It was just part of what I’d do as a child, I didn’t think I was uber-talented or anything, and there’s always someone better than you but I’d always found comfort and solace in music and writing songs. I got better at it through practice.
Tell me about Rage and how old you were once you discovered it?
Rage is, I think, a staple of an Australian upbringing through the 80s and 90s (kinda like MTV for Americans) All the music videos were on there as a count down every week, I’d wake up on the weekend and dad would have it on.
What was the first instrument you learn how to play? Not including your voice?
I didn’t start with singing, I started on the keys, as I went through school, I played alto & tenor sax – I was Lisa Simpson, haha, and then went to guitar/singing and whatever else I could pick up
How is live music in Australia?
It’s a great scene, it used to be really male-dominated but things are finally shifting. There are not as many venues as there are in the USA (and not as many states, though geographically it’s as big), so the tour circuit is a lot smaller, but there’s a lot of love for the live music scene.
Tell me about the traditional music in Australia? I think it is Australian folk music.
We have folk/country music influenced by Irish and British colonization, but we also have Aboriginal music, and artists who’ve managed to preserve their culture and share it with us, growing up Yothu Yindi was a huge Indigenous music act.
Since you are from Australia, I am going to name a few bands from that part of the world, and I would like you to say something about each if you can.
SURE!
AC/DC – In Australia, we pronounce this as “Acca-Dacca”
Midnight Oil – Have you seen Peter Garrett dance? Google that shit
The Vines – This was Australia’s answer The Strokes
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – The man, the myth, the legend, I love Nick Cave so much.
Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream is such a beautiful song, there’s an acoustic version by Kate Miller Heidke (another fantastic Australian artist) and it’s beautiful
John Farnham – OKAY DID YOU KNOW HE IS MY LITERAL HERO??? He’s the GOAT. My mum would sit us in front of the telly when we were kids and put his concerts on, I would sit saucer-eyed watching this incredible man and his amazing voice and killer band put on a fucking show – he is a legend. I saw him play for the first time in my life earlier this year live and I nearly peed my pants. I also cried. He is so marvelous.
Keith Urban – A Brisbane to Nashville hero
INXS – RIP Michael, when I was little my mum and dad scored backstage/VIP tickets to their show got their autographs for me, I was so stoked, their music is also etched into our DNA growing up in Australia
Rick Springfield – okay, have you heard the song by Jonothan Coulton called “Je Suis Rick Springfield?” it’s so funny
Icehouse – Classic Australian music, would always be playing at BBQs growing up
Men at Work – We would always play their songs and this kind of music at pubs when I was singing in cover bands back home when we’d sing Down Under, we’d change the lyrics to cheeky stuff and see if the crowd would pick it up hahaha
Sick Puppies – I remember these guys and they blew up in the mid-2000s but at that time I was going to a lot of live shows and listening to Karnivool, Cog, Butterfly Effect
Hillsong Music – That’s… not my kinda circus.
The Easybeats – Evie is a classic track, my parents grew up on this music and it was always played at BBQs and stuff growing up
The Last Martyr – I have never heard of them, and it looks like they’ve come up in the last few years while I’ve been living here in the USA – but I just googled them and holy shit, her voice.
How was your sojourn in London? What are some of the jazz band you worked with while in England?
I got in right away with a bunch of ex-pats and just kinda went from there, we’d play local jam nights and stuff, it wasn’t hugely formal or anything, just a good group of musicians getting together to play, some nights I’d sing, other nights I’d be on keys or bass.
What scholarship did you get to study in NYC?
A talent-based scholarship to study musical theater, I was offered 2 years and ended up studying 1 year.
What was it like once you got to NYC?
It felt like I clicked with the city right away. It was pretty surreal, I’d always wanted to be in the city, and always imagined as a little girl I’d be living in a big city, and then when I got to New York it was like “Ahhh okay – that’s it!”
Tell me about the creation of the Apartment Sessions?
It was a very solo/isolating experience to create it – I recorded everything in my bedroom over a few months during the winter, and then once it was mixed, I wanted to keep that intimacy so I toured apartments to promote it.
Tell me about your performance at the Purple Fiddle. I do believe it was a 1 pm slot. Did you play both on Saturday and Sunday?
It was so heartwarming! I had a 2-3yo try and crash my set, so he came up and held my hand and sang with me, the crowd was really special.
How was the ice cream?
The best!!
Did you get the chance to check out Blackwater Falls?
I did, we took the band van out there after the first show and spent the rest of the afternoon out there, I still have the videos and photos on my phone, it was so beautiful (and loud hahaha)
How do you stay healthy while on tour?
We just made it a priority, I’m sure there’s tour footage of me driving while eating a cucumber, or whole green peppers. My tour manager Jesalyn and I just stayed conscious of it, there was a whole lot of self-care rituals and quiet time, we were both coming out of pretty toxic relationships and were super sensitive, we weren’t drinking either, and just made sure we got enough sleep. We would throw self-care rituals in every hotel we stayed at; it was a really fun girls’ trip in that sense.
Your new release ‘Colours of the Fall’ comes out this month. Tell me about it?
I met David Sisko in 2017 after being on tour, I wanted to start working with producers more and find a more cinematic pop sound, I was sick of playing on my guitar and wanted to collaborate more. We put down Ode and started building some other songs and it grew from there. All the songs were about relationships and friendships, and I wanted it to be about the arc of a relationship breakdown because that’s what I was experiencing at the time, and that’s how the concept came about.
It was a really healing time to get everything that I was going throughout of my system. When we started putting the visuals together, it became a really expressive and creative time. I had a hand in directing and storyboarding all my visuals and I was really proud to see it all come together.
Why did you spell Colours the way you did?
I’m Australian, and that’s how we spell it. I’ve made adjustments to words I use in the states, and walk and drive on the opposite side of the street, so for the album I decided to make the spelling as it would be in Australia hahaha
What is the most powerful track on the album and why?
Eeeeeeep, that’s a tough question. It would be probably come down to Fuck Fog or Ode, Fuck Fog is a liberation of and for women and their agency over sex, and Ode is really about the people in my life who’ve stuck by me, I’m so grateful for them, the songs are both powerful in different ways.
Any plans for any tour this winter to support the new album?
I’m playing a short set at the album launch party and will play some shows in the spring!
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