Jan. 17, 2013 - Issue #900: The ongoing musical evolution of Hannah Georgas
It just keeps getting better
Hannah Georgas continues momentum with more touring—lots of touring
» Hannah goes electronic / Tristan Casey
Past the heartache and tumultuous emotion that rings at the center of Hannah Georgas' latest album— a self-titled release that sees the Vancouver-based artist channelling a contemplative look at life and love—is a shift in sonic direction, bringing the songwriter further into her own sound.
She's often been compared to Feist, but Georgas' evolving sound is something all her own, and her latest record brings in the help of Graham Walsh from Holy Fuck as producer, a collaboration that helped Georgas add a heavy electronic influence to her signature honest and mellifluous sound without losing its human touch.
Walsh and Georgas spent three weeks meticulously jamming away in pre-production, giving the songs space to breathe and creating strong, simple melodies to set the tone for the words to carry through. Georgas compares Walsh to a scientist, tinkering away on different instruments to make the concept a reality. As her sound continues to grow and evolve, so does Georgas' approach to songwriting.
"I've just kind of refined how my process is as a songwriter and demoing and I think I've gotten better at that ... for the last record, I wanted to make sure that I was sitting down every single day and writing and practising the piano," explains Georgas, who moved to Vancouver eight years ago and, after a short stint in university, made the decision to forgo academia in favour of pursuing music. "I think that kind of channelled things easier and bettered me as a musician. I think it also comes out in the live stuff, too, and just conducting and getting a band together, and I think all that is making me a better musician."
The diligence has paid off, with Georgas—who is a two-time Juno nominee—recently earning a CBC Radio 3 Bucky Award for "Hottest Pipes" for the Best Vocal Performance on "Robot." Georgas has also logged some serious miles on the odometer, sandwiching her recording process for her self-titled album in between two lengthy tours. She set out again after finishing recording her latest release in the fall of 2011, this time for a four-month international tour with Kathleen Edwards, pulling double duty as the opening act and a member of Edwards's backing band.
"I think, for me, I just learned a lot on that tour," Georgas adds of the Edwards tour, which began with a breakfast meeting between the two and went from Georgas learning Edwards's songs in a matter of days for a performance video to singing harmonies with her on the road. "I was kind of on the go all day. As soon as you get to the venue, you're there until the end of the night, but it was really fun because Kathleen and her crew are absolutely lovely, and I love to sing and play with her band. For me, opening was great too, so I ended up having a blast doing it."
From there, the momentum didn't diminish. This time, Georgas' musical talents were on display as the opening act for Mother Mother. For Georgas, the tour was a chance to catch up with old friends from the band, something she says is easier to do on the road than it is back home since each have their own hectic schedules to deal with.
Going from playing open-mic nights playing for a handful audience members to packed houses and supporting act to headliner is something Georgas is continually getting used to, though she says that the feeling she gets before stepping out on stage in front of a new crowd remains the same.
"And that's like, 'Oh man, I feel like I'm going to barf.' It's just normal," Georgas laughs, adding once she starts playing the butterflies subside and she can enjoy the experience. "I don't think that feeling will ever change for me and I've kind of accepted that. It's just the way it is."
After a quick break back at home, where Georgas says it always takes a few days to switch from on-the-road mode to life at home, she's heading back out, trading in daily routine for another round of living life out of a suitcase. While this means she'll be singing the same set of songs night after night once more, Georgas has found ways to keep things fresh for herself and her perspective on the lyrics often changes as time goes on.
"I think once you're so deep into a record and you're playing those songs night after night, you're trying to find ways where you can still get really excited about them, too, and try to figure out how to make them sound the best live. Those are the challenges I face," she admits. "You know when you first get a record and fall in love with it? After a while if you listen to it and play it like a million times, you just feel different about it. It's kind of the same when you're playing those songs night after night. You just want to try to make them sound the best that they can and channel that energy when you first heard the song, to try to get that feeling every night."
Fri, Jan 18 (6:30 pm)
Hannah Georgas
With Early Doors
Starlite Room, $20
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