Discover...Hana-Without Further Adu

It’s rare to describe music as sweet but that’s exactly what you get when you listen to Hana. The South-East Londoner released her “Confessions” EP last year and it was the 3rd track “Mr. Jones” which caught our attention.

We talk more about life under lockdown, growing up in London with mixed heritage and music she enjoys listening to.

———

Firstly, how have you been doing during Quarantine?

During the first few weeks I used my time to just relax if I’m honest. I’ve always worked so it was a good chance to just take it slow and catch up on much needed sleep. From mid-April is when I started using my time to be more creative. I haven't been recording as much but I have been writing and pouring my energy into other creative mediums such as fashion, DIY and collages.

Have you found that it has pushed you to be more or less creative?

I feel like there was a lot of pressure from the outside world to get things done during this time, learn a new skill, be super productive etc. But for me, it’s been a bit of both, there are days where I’m super inspired and there are days when I’m not feeling it at all. So I’ve just been taking it each day at a time and going with the flow.

WFA first came across your track “Mr. Jones” and thought it was sweet soul; how would you describe your music?

This is always a hard one as I don’t have the right words but it’s a vibe. It can make you feel good, sad, happy, anything you want. I love listening to music that moves me so that’s all I could wish for when people listen to me. Listen to the lyrics and if they resonate; great, if not maybe just take some time to listen to the beat/instruments etc. That’s something I really enjoy, selecting beats and using live instruments when I can to give it that extra level of raw musicality.

As an artist, how do you separate yourself as a person from your persona as an artist? Or are they one and the same?

I’m the same person to be honest. I don’t go on stage with an alter ego or anything like that. I’m still me, I dress like me and I talk like me. It’s important for me to be my real self when I’m on stage and in all aspects of my creative process. I’m very chill so the only time I separate myself a little bit is when I’m doing music videos, I feel like thats when I might have to add a little more energy to the performance to make it more relatable on-screen.

How has growing up in London, coupled with your Moroccan and Brasilian roots, influenced your artistry?

Growing up in London has made me super aware of all the different cultures and music genres so I guess that has opened up my sound palette.

Being Brasilian and Moroccan is really interesting as I’m made up of two completely opposite but rich cultures. They both contribute to my style, my music choices, my influences and definitely how I carry myself. I haven't had the opportunity to really dive in and explore all the different elements/sounds and implement them into my music yet but, it’s 100% in my plans. At home I play a lot of the music so I can stay in tune since I’m so far away and occasionally I sing in Portuguese like on my song ‘Be With U’.

You released your “Confessions” EP in 2019, what inspired this project?

Confessions is a collection of songs I wrote over a period of 2-3 years whilst at Uni. All of them are an accumulation of real life scenarios and all the various emotions and situations I dealt with during that time. Ultimately it’s inspired by human relationships. Me and my friends have a podcast where we speak quite freely and thats where I took all of the interlude dialogues from.

We featured you on our Quarantine playlist, but what are you currently listening to?

I haven’t really kept track of what I’ve been listening to but I have tried to listen to a new album/ artist everyday. But my go to right now is anything Bryson Tiller especially his song ‘Right My Wrongs’.