INTERVIEW: HANNI on her divine new single 'Undermine': "We all need to work together, support each other, lift each other up, not tear each other down."
Image: Michelle Pitiris
Brisbane based singer-songwriter HANNI recently released her first new music of 2022 with the single ‘Undermine’, accompanied by an emotive music video.
The track is an glorious rush of pop, synth with a touch of indie thrown in that will have you immediately reaching for the repeat button. Quiet, stripped back verses gradually build up to a chorus that bursts out of the speakers and ripple through your soul. Lyrically, the song is an awakening that the relationship you are in may not be as healthy as you thought it was. “I was at my breaking point in the relationship and for so long I had turned a blind eye to all the things he had put me through mentally,” HANNI says. “I think this song really showcases the fucking hardship of the relationship. I felt like I wasn’t allowed to be myself, and I had known for a while that the relationship was no longer healthy.”
The music video was directed by Dom Gould and portrays the point in a relationship where it is obvious it is at the point of no return and a breakdown is inevitable. Fellow Brisbane singer-songwriter Love, Marco features as HANNI’s love interest.
HANNI has been an artist to watch ever since she released her debut single ‘Wired’ in 2019, which won the School Award at the 2020 Queensland Music Awards. At the end of 2020 she scored major international attention when her single ‘Goldeneyes’ was featured on the BBC Sound The Best New Pop of October 2020 playlist and collected over four million streams. With her delicious melodies and gorgeous vocals, and now signed to record label Dew Process, HANNI is destined to only get bigger and better in the coming years. We recently caught up with her to find out more about ‘Undermine’ and her career to date.
Hi HANNI! Thanks so much for chatting with us. How’s life with you at the moment?
Thanks Women In Pop for having me. Life at the moment has been a little hectic and surreal! It has been a busy start to the year with my first headlining show, releasing my new single ‘Undermine’, including the music video and the announcement of my label signing all within days of each other. It has been a little bit of a worldwind, but so much fun.
With everything going on in the world right now I feel very grateful to still be able to live my dream.
Speaking of that glorious single, congratulations on the release of ‘Undermine’. It is an absolutely brilliant pop track! You have said the track is about the breakdown of your relationship, can you tell me a little bit more about the inspiration behind the song?
100%. ‘Undermine’ is a break up song but for me it is also a song to tell myself that I deserved better than the bare minimum and I feel as though a lot of people can relate to this.
Last year just before I went on my first solo writing trip to Sydney I had a flight with my partner at the time and we didn’t talk for the whole week that I was away. I’m an over-analyser so the only thing on my mind the whole trip was about the relationship. These feelings and emotions leaked out in a very special and beautiful way, creating ‘Undermine”.
Can you tell me a little about the creative process for the track?
The creative process for this track was really just letting myself feel what I was feeling. I got in the studio with the two loveliest humans, Thomas Porter and Hannah Brewer. They had asked me what I wanted to write about and I laid all my problems out on the table. There was no judgment, just support and I think that really shows how vulnerable the song is. This was also the first time meeting them and they legit went through a whole therapy session with me.
You are also releasing a music video for ‘Undermine’ which is both beautiful and heartbreaking. What was the experience like making this video?
Oooh thanks, you're too kind. Making the ‘Undermine’ music video was an amazing experience. The video was shot over two days. The first day was shooting the relationship scene in a strangers house, where I acted alongside my best friend and fellow artist, Love, Marco. This music video was my acting debut and I'm not the most serious person, nor is Marco which made shooting some of these scenes a little difficult. There was a lot of laughing and singing from the two of us on the day, so I really did feel for the production team. I’m not sure how they managed to control us, but I know we had loads of fun. The second day was filmed in a studio on the Gold Coast. These are the scenes in the video with all the TVs which have video clips from the day one shooting. That day was a little more familiar to me as it was more like my other music video and didn’t require my lack of acting skills. All in all it was an enjoyable experience, I love that the storyline of the song is captured in the video, I’m so proud of how it came out.
I detect an affinity with scandipop in your music, maybe I’m completely wrong! What type of music, or artists, influence and inspire your creativity?
I will take that as a massive compliment! For me there really wasn’t an influence for this song. I do listen to a lot of different music, but I always try to create music that is me as I don’t want to feel like I’m just recreating someone else's music. Maybe the amazing producer Thomas Porter was influenced by other music in making this track but I have never asked him!
Speaking of musical inspiration, what role did music play in your life when you were growing up?
I always loved music growing up, I was always in choirs and school bands but never really thought that I could make it so I didn't really bother if I'm being brutally honest. I was constantly singing no matter where I was or what I was doing and I can't even count all the people that I used to annoy.
In 2020 you won a Queensland Music Award for your debut single ‘Wired’ and the same year your single ‘Golden Eyes’ went global, being featured by the BBC and to date has over 4 million streams on Spotify alone. How did it feel to get that recognition so early in your career?
Winning a QMA for my debut single ‘Wired’ was mind blowing. I was against some incredible artists including one of my now great friends Toby Hobart. I honestly was in shock when I won it was totally unexpected. I love the work that Qmusic does in supporting QLD artists so it is a true honor to have one of these awards.
‘Golden Eyes’ being featured on BBC was also unbelievable, I remember being in total shock and disbelief when I received the email. Then for the song to go on and achieve incredible streaming numbers it is also still hard to comprehend.
It is truly amazing to receive this recognition so young and at the beginning of my career, but also somewhat overwhelming as I’m still trying to navigate this industry. Thank goodness for my amazing team, friends and my parents or I would be lost. I'm extremely grateful for everything and every opportunity as I know that people work their whole lives to achieve some of the things I have already achieved. This doesn't stop me however from aiming for my next goal or pushing my next boundary.
I love what I’m doing and feel very blessed that I get to live my dream everyday. I know I have an incredible future ahead of me, with lots of hard work but I'm super excited for the journey.
You just did your very first headline show in Brisbane - how did that go?
Yes I just had my first headlining show on the 5th of March, which may I add was my 20th birthday. I played at Black Bear in my hometown of Brissy. There is something so completely different when you are the headliner. On the night I was extremely overwhelmed by the amount of people and the number of friends and family that came out to support me. With so much going on in the world at the moment, including the recent floods in Queensland, I just wasn't expecting the turn out I received. The feedback I received was that the show was amazing but for me it was all a blur. It was the first time I was on stage where it felt like I wasn't there, the whole show was like a dream. After the show I was going to head out to celebrate my birthday, but I was so exhausted, which has never happened, that I couldn’t even walk. My amazing partner Ethan basically carried me to the car. I honestly think I left all of myself on that stage, but what an experience.
For probably forever, the music industry and the whole structure built around it (including the media!) has not been the kindest to women, in the main because it has been run by older, white, straight men since its inception. What are your thoughts on gender equality and sexism in the music industry?
I haven't experienced either gender inequality or sexism in the music industry and I’m super grateful for that. But I’m not so naive to think that it's not happening. It’s crazy to me that gender equality and sexism is still an issue in 2022, or the fact that it is a much bigger issue than just our industry. It is time for change.
This is a IG post made by my record label, which was written and posted for International Women's day this week:
“To all women in the music industry, whether you’re an artist or an industry worker, we see you, we celebrate you, and we appreciate you. To everyone in the industry, no matter your gender, this is your reminder that the fight for equality does not just rest on the shoulders of women, it relies on everyone.” - Dew Process
This post gives me hope that there are changes already underway in the music industry and makes me grateful that I'm signed to an incredible company that acknowledges that there needs to be change. We all need to work together, support each other, lift each other up, not tear each other down. Isn’t it time we changed our mind sets by just seeing everyone as human beings, respecting each other equally, and embrace each other's differences. If we were all the same the world would be a very boring place. A value my parents instilled in me was ‘Treat people the way you wish to be treated’ and I know that is a simple statement, but I wish it could be just that easy.
‘Undermine’ is out now, what else is on the cards for HANNI in 2022?
Well I’m currently hard at work finishing my debut EP, which is super exciting and overwhelming at the same time. So I guess the answer to the question is you will be hearing a lot more of HANNI in 2022, so watch this space!
‘Undermine’ is out now via Dew Process. You can download and stream here.
To keep up with all things HANNI you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
