Photo Credit: Ian Rees
Every once in a while, a singer-songwriter comes along and leaves the competition standing. She recently supported Cara Dillon and her new EP ‘Falling into spring’ is out next month. Marty Drury chats about language learning and music with Hannah Scott.
Which languages can you speak?
French, Italian, some German and a little less Spanish!
Why did you decide to study modern languages?
If I’m totally honest, it’s because those were the subjects I was best at at school! I’d done a couple of French and German exchange trips and had really enjoyed the opportunity to meet people from different cultures and more importantly, be able to communicate with them. Just before I went to University, I went to Italy with my family for the first time and totally fell in love with it, although I was frustrated that I could not communicate with the people. It was this trip which inspired me to take up Italian at University alongside French and German.
You spent a year in Tuscany and Monaco. What was that like?
An amazing experience. I was 19 and as part of my degree was required to spend a year abroad. I had the choice of going to a University abroad, doing a language course or looking for work. I chose the latter in order to earn some money and gain some experience and organised a 9 month placement on a Tuscan estate and a 4 month placement at a hotel in Monte Carlo. The two experiences were very different but looking back they have given me so much and I am still close to a lot of the people I met when I was there.
Would you ever consider recording a song in a language other than English?
I have done! I’ve written one song in French and three in Italian. Italian is a great language to write in since all their words rhyme!! I’ve not written anything in a different language for a while though – I think living in the countries inspired me more to write in their languages and now I’m back in the UK, English seems to come more naturally.
This is Hannah singing “Ghost Town” Live At The Institute, Kelvedon. It’s from the Youtube Video Channel, HannahScottUK. I’ve been alive for nearly 28 years, I’ve listened to a lot of music and I cut my teeth as a music journalist- but I think I’m ready to say this: “Ghost Town” by Hannah Scott is now my favourite song. Not just my favourite song on her album. My favourite song full stop. I know, I know, bold praise indeed. But “Ghost Town” is poetically haunting and breathtakingly beautiful. Hannah’s songwriting prowess is off the scale. She’s a breath of fresh air in the music business and she’s headed all the way to the top. Time to stop taking my word for it. Instead, buy her album here.
Back to the interview….
Who are your musical influences?
I grew up listening to classical music and am classically trained on the piano. Once I got to high school it was no longer ‘cool’ to listen to classical music so I began listening to chart music. Once I got to about 15 I began listening to artists I still enjoy today, people like Alanis Morrisette, Counting Crows and Sarah McLachlan. Now I listen to a lot of singer-songwriters, for example Tom Baxter and Paolo Nutini.
Which is better: recording an EP or album or playing live?
Playing live without a doubt. Recording is really satisfying, especially as I perform and write acoustically – putting drums, bass, strings etc really can bring a track to life. But playing live is where the emotion is and where the real connection with an audience is.
Which would you choose: number 1 single or critical acclaim?
Critical acclaim. A number 1 single might mean I’d never have to work again but I’d rather people thought I was a great songwriter than everyone buying one song and me disappearing off the radar like so many one hit wonders have done in the past…
This is “Grey” by Hannah Scott, performed live at High Barn. The video is taken from the Youtube video channel: Hannah Scott UK.
Back to the interview…
What do you think of my language learning challenge?
I think it’s a great idea! Languages on school curriculums continue to lose importance and I think this is really sad and will only continue the general British feeling that everyone else should speak English in order to communicate with us. Anything done to challenge this concept can only be positive in my mind. Best of luck with it!
Download Hannah’s album from iTunes here.
Once upon a time, I was a music journalist. I used to turn up at gigs and have long conversations with the door staff along the lines of: “No. I’m Marty. I’m on the guest list. No, not David…Marty”. On the odd occasion, I actually got inside the venue and was able to review the gig. Seriously, I loved my early years writing about music. The money was awful and the hours were long but, every now and then, a real gem of a singer-songwriter would come along and make everything worthwhile. Of course, money talks and I went where the money was. Not because I wanted to but because I needed to. You can only survive on Marmite and crumpets for so long. I wrote features for women’s magazines and PR people sent me moisturiser samples through the post- an “interesting” experience for a young, straight man who is constantly trying to preserve his “manly” image whilst concealing the fact that he is probably the only straight man for five miles with his own Jane Austen collection. But then, whilst I was working in the world of features, I chanced upon a Myspace page and heard a voice. A voice of poetry, passion, emotion and energy. A voice for the present and for the future. Hannah Scott’s voice.
I’m by no means the first person to discover this amazing musical artist. In fact, in some respects it feels as if I turned up late to the party because it is quite clear Hannah already has many fans. But that really is Hannah’s skill as a singer-songwriter. Whether you see her live or you listen to her album or you watch her Youtube videos, you feel as though she is singing directly to you. Not to a room full of people. Just to you. Her songs speak to you on a deep, emotional level. It’s something you’ve never seen before and it’s something you’re not going to forget. Without really thinking about it, I’ve been humming one of Hannah’s songs whilst writing this interview. Her songs stay with you in the same way your closest friends stick by you- through the good times and the bad, through the happiness and the sadness, through the challenges and the all night parties. Through life and through love. Through everything. Constant musical companions that suddenly cast a ray of sunshine on the most cloudy of days.
The author, John Banville said of the late John Updike- the author who merged the emotional, evocative and exotic with the ordinary- that: “simply no one writes this well”. Sorry John, someone does write that well and her name is Hannah Scott.
