War on Hannah Wicklund: An Album Rooted in Adversity and Triumph

(Photo Credit: Fay / Money Studio, @faymoney)

1. War on Women: Calling All Good Men is an album that comes on the heels of the music industry doing it’s best to keep you down. You financed this one through selling your art and through sheer determination. Can you speak a bit about the process of making this dream a reality?

“Every single day for the last year I chipped away at this record. Whether it was writing, recording, creating art to sell to fund it, planning the release, or building the accompanying magazine, this record truly became my entire life. It truly is a dream come true because along with this project my world has become so damn big. The sheer amount of artists and creatives that have rallied around me in this process has been wildly humbling and I couldn’t be more grateful for this experience. It’s funny how the music industry can have you travel the world yet feel so lonely and isolated at the same time. That is no longer my reality, and I couldn’t be happier about that.”

2. You recently relocated from Nashville, back to your native South Carolina. Can you speak to how your environment shaped this one theistically and sonically?

“This record was mostly written in my afternoons on Folly Beach. I’d bring my guitar & journal down to the beach and the songs truly just flowed out of me. I resisted ever writing about the ocean or the coast, because it felt so cheesy having grown up in the heart of the tourist economy. In a lot of ways I submitted to my deepest truths on this record, including that I’m a South Carolina girl born and raised on an island that loves the ocean.”

3. You not only experienced a move, a death threat, a conspiracy to silence you, but also a breakup with your partner as well. Any of these things happening singularly would be enough to inspire a record. In combination, they represent a four-de-force of circumstances that would make most throw in the towel. Can you share how the ending of your relationship with your partner shaped your inspiration for the record?

“Having a relationship end in betrayal is an unfortunate shared experience among many humans. What made mine a bit different was that it was a betrayal in business, not a betrayal of bodies. I had been on a very certain path with my music well before I ever met him, and to see the toll my love life took on my deepest, truest passion and purpose broke my heart in a unique way. I found myself asking him at the bitter end “is there more you know about my career that you’re not telling me?”, to which I already knew the answer. In the entertainment industry there are snakes galore, but I never expected I’d be sharing my bed with one.”

4. You might be my favorite guitarist on the scene today. Your work is virtuoso level for sure. What goes into building a guitar solo for a Hannah Wicklund track?

“Firstly, thank you so so much. What a generous compliment! For me, my guitar playing is pure intuition and emotion. It’s very rare that I actually build a guitar solo by thinking and testing out different phrasing and such. Usually, it’s a capture of a moment in time instead. For example, ‘Cowards & Kings’ was only one take. I had gotten myself riled up, talking in the control room with my band about the collusion and conspiracy I had uncovered that inspired this song in the first place, then went into the room with a true fire in my belly. That solo is pretty much pure rage, which has proven to be a powerful tool when playing my guitar.”

5. You not only tackle the issues surrounding the setbacks and wild circumstances that went down in your personal life. You also, touch on issues of the environment (including an ode to Harambe the Gorilla), religion, and the patriarchy on the album. How did these issues also impact your songwriting process?

“I feel the world around me quite deeply. I look at each of us a drop in the ocean of a greater consciousness. For me, speaking on larger, politicized issues is very akin to speaking about my experiences as an individual. Intertwining my innermost emotions to the dynamics of the world around me is a holistic and natural way of being. I absolutely love my fellow humans, the earth, and our animal brothers and sisters that inhabit it, so speaking on issues that affect all of us just feels right.”

6. In my review, I discussed how your vocals are so full, rich, and warm, almost like a tube amp as opposed to a solid state. How did you find such a dynamic vocal style?

“I have been singing since I could speak, and I’ve always been drawn to the more guttural, emotive artists as inspiration. If you’re going to use your voice, I think doing so boldly and bravely is the best way. I don’t hold back from emotions and see them as my palette instead. Life is like a rainbow; I aim to use all of the colors.”