We spoke to her about the song, the recording process, and working with ACM alumnus George Hassall.
Hannah Harper is an up and coming solo artist making her way in London. She is a captivating, creative singer-songwriter, with her own twist on electronic art pop. Featured on BBC Introducing as having a ‘unique and sumptuous voice and style’, her debut single ‘Appetite’ is described as being ‘unlike anything else around at the moment’. The single has already been played on BBC Radio London Intro, Eagle3, and Wandsworth Radio, who even made it their track of the week.
Hannah, who studies on the Vocals Degree course at ACM London, has been busy promoting the new single with a run of gigs around London and live lounge sessions at Eagle and Wandsworth radio.
We spoke to her to find out more.
Hi Hannah! What’s the story behind ‘Appetite’?
I wrote ‘Appetite’ early in 2017 about self destruction and going through a state of losing all sense. Although ‘Appetite’ is about getting out of a hard place, I wanted to be lyrically playful and have a positive approach to overcoming a bad situation. The song is mainly about losing everything and everyone around you as a result of trusting the wrong person then realising your worth and karma coming back.
You worked with an ACM alum, George Hassall, on the single – what was his involvement and how did it go?
Yes, I worked with my producer Hassall for ‘Appetite’. He’s a great guy and we’ve built a really good relationship from working together. I wrote ‘Appetite’ and brought it in the studio to George and we co-produced the track together. George knows me very well and really understands the sounds I’m trying to achieve, he sound designs the synths I’m wanting and co-writes some of the music with me. I have a good feeling that we’ll continue to work together for a long time.
Tell us about the recording process for Appetite.
So to kick start the recording process, I recorded the majority of the lyrics for ‘Appetite’ before anything else. I always have a main idea of how I want my songs to sound so I then moved on to the drums for the beginning as I knew I wanted to start the song with my vocal and a simple drum kick. After that, I introduced the keys and started to build synth melodies. Everything then started to fall into place and it’s a blur from there!
How are you finding ACM so far?
ACM is great, I love it at Clapham and the lecturers are really helpful. I’ve definitely got a handful of the best by my side who are supporting me and my music. Apart from all the fab people, I love being able to use the facilities which I require for my music as much as I can and the great networking opportunities there are.
Anything you’ve got coming up you’d like to promote?
In December, I’m releasing the music video for my ballad ‘Blue Summertime’. It will be released on YouTube and VEVO before Christmas and nothing else, it’s a visual preview of what else is to come and will be on the album to download next year.
If you’d like to be a student at ACM to kickstart your career in the music industry, please call our Admissions Team on 01483 500 841 or visit www.acm.ac.uk/open-days/ to book a place on an ACM Open Day today.
