Special To FutureMusic
By Dan Brotman, Editor-At-Large
In the world of music, most can be described as either a producer, an engineer, a keyboardist, a singer, a guitarist, a writer or some other singularity. Sometimes you can get a hyphen, a singer-songwriter, a DJ-producer, but what what if you’re all of the above?
Considering how digital technology has lowered the entrance fee for motivated individuals to start making their own music, “hyphens” are not unusual these days. In fact, most people making electronic music can be described as a hyphen. But what if you’re a super hyphen who decided to create their new album in front of a live online audience? That’s what I wanted to discover when I tuned into Twitch to observe, and interact, with Hana as she developed her new album.
Hana, who some may know from her previous work, or posts on social media which often feature her best friend Claire Boucher, aka Grimes, is an incredibly talented musician who has been in the game for close to ten years. Toiling away alone in her studio, Hana realized that her audience, and even those in the industry, didn’t understand her songwriting process. “I noticed that people don’t necessarily comprehend the work that I put into my music/art,” Hana reflected. “Many assume collaborators that I work with, especially if they are male, did most of the work. Making an album while live streaming the entire process seemed like a perfect way to combat this and show my process, while also creating a body of work in a really interesting and experimental way.”
Creating her new album in front of a live Twitch audience is a concept that is tailor made for the Millennial generation who has no problem making their lives “open source.” Now the idea of composing songs, singing, playing guitar, programming drums and so on in front of a chat room of people who are constantly chiming in with comments would certainly be daunting to most, and send the rest to an asylum with nightmares, but Hana is so comfortable in front of the camera and so engaging with her audience that you feel like your hanging out with your best friend, who just happens to be making an album.
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If it sounds easy. I can assure you this is no small feat. Starring in your own Make An Album Reality Show for hours at a time is far from easy. Being able to answer questions from fans in your chat room in the middle of your creative flow takes it to a whole new level. And not picking your nose while engaged in all the above is really only for individuals who are either supremely confident in themselves, don’t care what others think of them at all, or are able to ride the fine line of being themselves and self-awareness. Hana is the latter, but you’d never know it because she exudes a natural charisma.
“As someone who works by themselves in a studio all the time, having an audience help guide my decisions has been a welcome help.”
I asked several people to tune into Hana’s live stream, since I wanted to see if others found her concept as compelling as I did. One of my more cynical female cohorts, who hates everything, described Hana as “friggin’ adorable.” Of course, nothing ruffles feathers faster these days than calling a woman “adorable,” but if you look up the definition, it’s spot on.
a·dor·a·ble — adjective — inspiring great affection; delightful; charming.
The reason is clear. It’s pretty easy to fall for Hana. She’s engaging, upbeat, genuine, light-hearted and sweet to her Twitch fans. Her charisma is downright infectious. After a few days, I noticed something that I didn’t expect. I actually looked forward to carving out some of my work day to hang out with her.
Now all of this would have been just fine if I needed a virtual pal to lift me out of the doldrums of daily life, but behind the veneer of the Twitch stream, is a artist fully in command of her craft. The tracks that I was able to hear when dipping into her stream, were quite good. The sheer variety of music, from ethereal progressive house to heart-felt ballads to harder-edged bangers showcased her diversity, as well as her compositional strengths. I particularly liked “Orca” – a trippy track with a driving groove provided by a Moog DFAM, as well as “Cowgirl Bebop,” which combines acoustic guitar with electronic elements to create an emotional fusion full of texture and delicate vocal touches.
Judging from the 100+ people who were online in the stream’s chat room at any given time, everyone had their favorite track. We asked Hana if she had an album theme going into the project. “I have gotten very into melodic techno in the last few years so I knew that and my new love of modular synths would inform the music, as well as my past of guitar playing,” Hana mused. “The album art is very evocative and inspiring, and it has been informing a lot of the lyrics and sounds.”
Hana’s followers had no problem making their thoughts and ideas known. Often chiming in during the song writing process with feedback. Considering how I personally need to be in the zone when composing, I asked Hana how she deals with the constant interruptions during her creative flow. “I’m really not sure — I do occasionally put another window over the chat so that I don’t have a distraction at all times….but I think a lot of it has to do with being comfortable on Twitch already. I’m used to gaming while talking to chat, and I have done some streams from the studio before this, so I’ve really just gotten used to having a stream of consciousness chat feed going on while I’m doing something.”
It is an incredibly odd experience though – it took some getting used to in the first week. I think I’m a little numb to the chat, it kind of passes through my mind rather than really getting fully digested.” Hana often solicited the advice of the chat room about song structure, track names and politely considered each suggestion. One of the more passionate discussions pertained to the track order of the album. Considering the industry has been single focused since downloads and streaming has taken over, why was there so much emphasis on track order? “The chat had so much to say about it!”
“That has been the first time that the feedback was ALL over the place,” Hana recalled. “Everyone had a different opinion and I just thought that was really interesting. I think although not everyone makes music, most people do have experience making playlists…and everyone has a different idea of how the songs should be presented. That morning I was just very fascinated by the chat and everyone’s differing views. I’ve also created a really wide array of music in the last few weeks – some of it is very heavy with guitars and some of it sounds extremely happy and cute, so I think the track order is going to matter when listeners listen to the whole album. I haven’t made an album in a long time and I love arranging tracks – it’s an art form I haven’t been able to play with in a long time and I’m excited I get to do it.”
Album Gear List
» Digital Audio Workstation: Ableton Live
» Computer Audio Interfaces: Universal Audio Apollo 8 & RME Fireface UC
» Keyboard & Desktop Synthesizers:
— Moog Sub37
— Moog DFAM
— Elektron analog four
— Elektron analog rytm
— Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08
— Abstract Instruments Avalon
» Guitars:
— Fender Jeff Beck Signature Stratocaster
— Fender Jim root Signature Stratocaster
— Fender Telecaster
— Taylor PS14ce
— Fender mustang GT 100
» Eurorack Synthesizers:
— Intellijel Makenoise
— Erica Synths
— Industrial Music Electronics
» Microphones:
— Shure SM7b
— Neumann TLM 103
» Guitar Gear:
— Tube Tech CL1B
— Chandler
— Strymon Big Sky
— Strymon Volante
» Sequencer:
— Arturia Beatstep Pro
» Monitors:
— Focal Solo 6
» Plug-Ins:
— Omnisphere
— Serum
— Reaktor
— Soundtoys
— Nectar
— FabFilter
— Antares Autotune
— Kontakt
One of the great benefits for Hana’s fans is to witness exactly how she writes, engineers and produces her songs all by herself, including all the gear she employs. Using Ableton Live as her digital audio workstation (DAW), Hana has created a tight home studio. Front and center is the Shure 7b dynamic microphone she has mounted on a boom arm. She runs the mic into a Universal Audio Apollo 8 computer audio interface going into an Alienware laptop, running Ableton Live. She’s usually surrounded by her collection of guitars, including a Taylor PS14ce acoustic, and a couple of her trusty Fender signature Stratocasters. She’s also acquired a nice collection of synthesizers, including a Dave Smith Instruments Prophet 08, Moog Sub37, and several analog Eurorack synths from Intellijel Makenoise, Strymon, Erica Synths, Industrial Music Electronics and more.
Seeing Hana perform, produce, program and engineer her own music is clearly an inspiration for the dozens of female musicians in her fan base who have their own career aspirations. I asked Hana what advice can she give them: “Don’t wait for someone’s approval or permission to do what you want to do. People may treat you like you don’t know what you’re doing, ignore them. YouTube tutorials are amazing! Utilize them and never stop learning. Practice, get comfortable on stage by getting on one as often as possible (if you want to be a performer, that is). Whatever you want, go for it, and if/when you fail, learn from it and keep trying.”
Hana plans on releasing the album on November 8th and will be having an album release party in Los Angeles, California on November 6th. You can keep up with Hana by visiting her on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch.
