Hana: "Bad Company"
HANA is an award winning singer-songwriter and composer based in Nillumbik. Her classically trained piano skills and intuitive vocals create music reminiscent of Regina Spector, Yiruma and Missy Higgins; with creations that explore intricacies of life, love and identity.
HANA’s works have been performed locally and worldwide. Hana has also composed and conducted for organisations such as the Australian National Academy of Music, The Australian Children’s Choir, Creativity Australia, The Chamber Strings of Melbourne and The Ballarat Symphony Orchestra.
2020 sees HANA completing work on her debut Album, Black Balloons whilst teaching privately from her studio in Research.
“Bad Company” is about the trouble we get ourselves into when we're not clear about who we are. Have you ever stayed with someone for way too long?
We had the pleasure of checking in with HANA recently and she was kind enough to respond to a few interview questions:
Q1) Congratulations on the release of ‘Bad Company’ What’s the story behind the track?
I had been in a relationship with someone without really having a handle on who I was, who I wanted to be, and the things that I liked… so I ended up getting totally absorbed in the other person’s life! (Can you relate?) Sometimes that can be fine… but I ended up in places I didn’t want to be, with people I didn’t like, convincing myself to live by ideologies I didn’t believe in… basically I didn’t know myself well enough at that stage to be able to say ‘no.’ Bad company was the song that I used to encourage myself not to wait for the answers but to actively search for them. To be clear about my own direction before asking someone else to steer the ship.
Q2) What kind of message do you want to convey to your listeners through this song?
I hope that Bad Company can inspire some sass and confidence into people who tend to just follow along with whatever their partners, friends or families are doing, and help to inspire them towards their own opinions, beliefs and interests.
Q3) As we are facing this unfortunate pandemic, is there anything specific that you are doing in order to stay creative?
Yes! I am a classical pianist… so I have personally been loving all of the extra time to stay at home and delve deep into expressionism and the Romantic Period. Lately I’ve really been enjoying playing the music of Chopin and Liszt, as well as reading extensively about their lives and experiences. I find the historical and social context of the composers’ lives fascinating and very inspiring!
Q4) What are some of the long-term goals that you hold for your career?
Oh you know, the usual! Write a hit song, win some awards, have my music played in film and TV. But most of all, I’ve always wanted to compose music for orchestra. One of the coolest things would be to write a programme of music for voice, piano and orchestra. I went to see Joe Hisaishi with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra a couple of years back and would absolutely love to do something similar myself!
Q5) If you could go back in time and be able to give a message to your past self, what will you like to convey?
YES! “Be yourself.” “Trust your gut.” “I believe in you!” and “perfectionism doesn’t pay.”
Q6) What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects/music you would like to hint your fans about?
If you’d like more from me then you should definitely make your way over to my bandcamp page! soundslikehana.bandcamp.com…. because I’m very happy to a) tell you all about my next single “I’ll Get There” coming out on Dec 23rd, b) get you excited (because I’m excited!!) for my album release in January (YAY!) and c) hint at lots of cool musical perks that I’m releasing for bandcamp fans and subscribers in the lead up to Christmas and my album release.
Have a listen and connect with HANA on social media:
