Hannah Judson: "Stingray"
Sultry, raw and authentic, singer-songwriter Hannah Judson uses loops, poetry, science and fiction to deliver an engaging folk-rock set. Her songs are rooted in folk storytelling tradition influenced by Leonard Cohen, The Mountain Goats, Neutral Milk Hotel and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, and provocative critical observation like Liz Phair and Cat Power. Hannah Judson performs regularly in Europe and the US. Born out of the Chicago indie scene where she was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she collaborated with many musicians including Jim Pogozleksi (Mint Aundry), Leslie Santos (Stump the Host) and Brian Burkhard (Fondly), as the lead singer and songwriter for Sweet Bridget and Kite Club. She is co-founder of MUSEfest, an international festival to amplify women in music and film.
We had the pleasure to check in with Hannah and she was kind enough to respond to a few interview questions.
Welcome Hannah! Thank you for speaking with us today. You are doing something really neat. A backwards record release. Tell us more about what that means.
Thanks for asking! It’s been a really backwards year for a lot of people, and when I realized that my music was also turned inside out and backwards, I thought I should celebrate it. I am launching a Backwards Record Release for Stingray (Boneyard Records). I released the record Stingray in the early spring, a week before we went into lockdown. Suddenly all my activities for booking shows, and planning tour activities were put on hold. We didn’t know for how long, and it wasn’t clear for me what my next steps were. I went back into the studio and began writing my next record, but the results seemed really foggy, like swimming underwater through a murky thick bog. In the middle of summer my songwriting clarified, and the next collection of songs began taking form.
I decided I needed to wrap some kind of completion around Stingray before pushing the new songs too far ahead. So, I organized a socially distanced record release party in the open courtyard of a chateau near here. It was great, a not so cold night in September, with fire pits, picnics, wine and people! That live event was the last hurrah for a while as we work through this current wave of Covid-19. I am now taking the 8 songs of Stingray, and devoting one week per song, with various activities like interviews with colleagues about their process, lessons learning in a lockdown, official lyric videos, live stream performance, specialty merch, giveaways and much more. I am publishing the Backwards Record Release from my Facebook Page, but also pushing out info to youtube and Instagram.
Why is it so important for you to do this in a year like 2020?
To be successful, not just in 2020, but always, you need to adjust to new circumstances as you go. You have to identify what is changing while keeping your goals clear. 2020 is becoming a metaphor for the worst year ever, but history is actually loaded with difficult moments. You have to be clear about what parts of the bad times you have some control over, and figure out how to continue doing your thing. Or part of your thing. Or maybe how you will launch a new thing. But through your actions, you are representing your best self. You don’t lie down and roll over until you are really done.
Do you have a favorite song on the album, if so tell us why? When I write, the song I am working on is usually my favorite. Then it gets rolled into the set list I am performing. Once I have it memorized physically, I hear it differently. After the songs are recorded, I no longer hear them the same way and I definitely don’t have a favorite. The recorded versions have left the nest.
What do you hope listeners take away when they listen to "Stingray"? Stingray is a rock song describing a release from the shackles of an unhealthy relationship. It’s not about breaking up. It’s about understanding what was really going on, and no longer having space for the dysfunction in your life. It’s an anthem and a rock song and is fun to play with the band! It always makes me smile to play it. I had written the first verse very quickly and I knew I was on to something, but I wasn’t 100% sure what the song was about. I did spend some time researching narcissism and the stages of breaking the hold, and I kept those in mind as the remaining verses unfolded.
What does success mean to you as an artist? Success is not a place or thing. It should be a verb, like the way “architect” became a verb. Success is seeing the small challenges through to where you have something exciting and worthwhile, that allows you to hop to the next lily pad. Success is housed in confidence (not ego) and its results are worthy works circled in red pen with arrows pointing to the next thing.
Have a listen and connect with Hanna Judson on social media:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6CuVDP4o8OYR2vorUnZkdv
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnEEjJe5QaSkyp4St9Vbgkw
