Hannah Hu
Hannah Hu is a London based singer songwriter. She is currently touring with The Specials and features on two tracks of their new album Protest Songs. Hannah’s EP Prisoner of Love featuring new songs such as; Secrets, Electric and Stargazer is coming out very soon.
Le Document (LD): Your mother Sarah-Lin is an artist. Do you like her paintings and has she always encouraged you to sing?
Hannah Hu (HH): My mother's paintings are embedded into my consciousness, they have surrounded my childhood and I am so thankful to have been taught many things from my mother and one teaching that is very coherent with my EP is that you can create through pain. I love her work so much and I am so proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and letting the world see her work.. which is quite relevant to me too. We are both going through a transitional stage. She has always encouraged me to sing since I was a baby, although apparently I didn't need encouragement, which is pretty good for being born at 28 weeks and spending the first chapter of my life on a ventilator keeping me breathing.
LD: Are you proud of your work in the bands; The Snides or Call Cat? What are your happiest memories of those projects?
HH: The Snides was definitely a learning curve! I look back at it now and have a little giggle to myself.. It was my first band when moving to London in 2015 to Study at Goldsmiths.. I think it's definitely one for the memories box.. put under the bed...in a deep grave in the garden.. Call Cat was a short lived project in the final year of my studies. I left due to wanting to pursue my solo work - I look back at images from this time of myself. I was anorexic, quite mentally ill and struggling to survive in London.. whilst holding the heaviness in my heart of music. Takatsuna Mukai is an absolute genius and extraordinary musician. I would like to work with him again some way in the future if our paths would cross again. We played a show at Théâtre de Ménilmontant, Paris. It was a really beautiful experience and I loved walking around the Père-Lachaise cemetery.
LD: How did you become involved with Primal Scream? Are you still in contact with them or have you parted ways for good?
HH: I met Bobby at the back of The Moth Club, Hackney, whilst partying at a Telegram gig. He was stood next to Pam Hogg, a fashion designer I have adored since I was in my early teens! Queen of Catsuits! I introduced myself and the rest is history. I sang with them filling in for Sky Ferreira as she was filming Twin Peaks and joined them on a UK tour. I still speak with Bobby, he listens and gives advice to my music. He said that I'm a modern day torch singer and I should keep going and keep singing. I'm hoping to release a cover version of Broken which he said he wrote with me in mind ...
LD: What do you love most about life in North London and what do you miss most about Bradford?
HH: I love the Jewish bakeries and wandering the back roads at dusk looking for cats! I miss the air, the water and of course my family!
LD: What are your most precious possessions?
HH: I've always said if there was to be a fire I would rescue my TeddyBear Bruce. He has been with me my entire life and he will always make me feel safe and loved. Never be ashamed of having a TeddyBear. Especially one you got your Nana to knit a jumper for in Lockdown!
LD: Are you at your happiest on stage?
HH: Yes, I’m free.
LD: Who are your favourite female singers and songwriters? Did you have any heroes when you were growing up?
HH: A very tough one to pin point, I'm constantly listening to music and have many moods which fall into different genres and era's. I'm hugely inspired by 1960s girl groups such as The Shangri-Las, The Ronettes and The Supremes and the themes that they explore. Over the past year I've been listening to a lot of country & western and this has definitely had an influence in songwriting. I'm really liking American Song-writer Phoebe Bridgers track Motion Sickness at the moment. I love the way the lyrics are honest and she has no fear. Growing up I was a huge Avril Lavinge fan... all hail the alternative queen of pop for the 2000s! I still know all the lyrics but unfortunately her songs are not the best key for me.. so that sound is only a memory for my family!
LD: You sing Listening Wind on the new Specials album. What was it like being in the studio with The Specials? Was it a song you were familiar with?
HH: Yes I do, what an opportunity and honour! The studio experience was a combination of excitement and surreal disbelief that it was actually happening.. I honestly had to pinch myself. I went there with the lyrics to Listening Wind and my fingers crossed that they would like my voice.. I left singing on half the album and now touring the UK with some of the most friendly, kind and talented musicians and tech team. I've never felt more at ease with a group of people. It feels like family. I'm so excited for the album to come out ...
LD: What’s the best thing you've recorded so far?
HH: I'm now almost ready to release my debut EP Prisoner Of Love, I wrote three of the songs last year (Prisoner Of Love, Secrets, Stargazer) and one before the lockdown which would've been around 2019 (Electric). It's been a journey to say the least, I've had to put up with a lot of emotional abuse which I'm still shaking off but I hope that my listeners will join me at the start of this new path. I'm working on new material and ideas ...
LD: Does life seem good right now? Do you feel positive about the future?
HH: Life feels like a blessing at the moment, I am constantly grateful and grounded. Last year was an eye opener to my mental health and lifestyle. If you don't have your health whether it be your mental or physical or both.. you have nothing. Just before the lockdown of 2020, I packed my things and moved back to Bradford to be with my family. I'll never forget my mum's words I don't recognise you/ You need help and she was very right.. I had been lost for a good few years...burnt out.. exhausted...depressed. I feel really positive about the future, I am healthy, loved and loving myself. I have set boundaries with those that have pushed them, I limit my time on social media and talk about what's on my mind. There is no shame in receiving mental health treatment and I encourage those who need to talk to someone to do so because people will listen and they do care.
Hannah Hu is on instagram here.
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