Music <\/p>\n
Metamorphosis is never simple. It\u2019s the end of a phase and a new beginning; a continuation of life and at the same time the emergence of a new one. That is the challenge Hana Lili<\/strong> is meeting with enthusiasm.<\/p>\n The Welsh-born, Welsh-bred and Welsh-speaking artist is discovering the joys of artistic development, finding out how to let her music speak for itself and form a conduit for her ideas and feelings.<\/p>\n \u201cThe music\u2019s evolved as it\u2019s gone on. I feel more connected to what I do now \u2013 more than ever,\u201d Hana says, reflecting on her journey as she prepares to release her (partly) eponymous EP, \u2018Hana\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cA big part of my music from the start of\u00a0Hana Lili<\/em>\u00a0has always been about being true to myself and not trying to do it for any other reason than the fact I love making music,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s my way of being able to tell the things I feel \u2013 because I\u2019m not always the greatest at talking about it in real life!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith this EP, for the first time I\u2019ve allowed myself to not have things figured out so much and not always have a formulaic answer for why I feel a certain way,\u201d she continues. \u201cThis EP\u2019s all about [being] good enough as you are \u2026 Just focus on trying to make the music you want to make and stop trying to kind of have it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n Hana\u2019s choice of an eponymous title for the EP came after she discovered the liberating creative freedom that results from putting aside image and no longer seeking the approval of others.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about being me \u2013 and that\u2019s messy sometimes,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Hana is the definition of someone who grew up immersed in music. As a child, she performed songs at the Eisteddfod; as a teenager, she began to write her own songs, driven by a need to form her own musical identity.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been notoriously bad at talking about my feelings; I think I\u2019ve never really allowed myself to take up that space in conversation with people,\u201d she reflects. \u201cSo when I was 13 songwriting felt like the appropriate outlet, instead of just talking to people. I remember one evening picking up a guitar, teaching myself to play very badly, and then writing a song over it.\u201d<\/p>\n Having Welsh as her first language gave Hana a different perspective on language.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes writing in English is quite fun \u2013 I can think about it slightly differently than if it\u2019s my first language\u2026 The sound of words resonate before the meaning,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Hana is keen to shout out the \u201creally cool community\u201d of modern bands writing and performing in the Welsh language, including Adwaith<\/strong>, Breichiau Hir<\/strong> and Gwilym<\/strong>. It is bands like those that have given young people the space to enjoy music in the Welsh language, and have been a great inspiration, Hana says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Welsh language scene is a big part of what I\u2019ve learnt,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ve had ample opportunity to perform in Welsh, chat on the radio in Welsh\u2026 you really get to learn so much about yourself. Those opportunities don\u2019t really exist in the same way outside of Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n Thanks to support from projects such as Forte, Hana was able to connect with other Welsh musicians and perform in different genres in grassroots venues across Wales. Lockdown allowed Hana to focus purely on making music, and brought the \u2018Hana Lili\u2019 project into being. Her newest material seeks to express that sense of creative purity.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all about: \u2018You\u2019re good enough as you are, and you don\u2019t need anything frivolous or fancy around you to make it anything more than just about the music,\u2019\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n Creating the EP allowed the singer-songwriter to return to her first love: the unfiltered rawness and realism of the pre-smartphone, pre-social media, pre-24\/7-online era that produced \u201990s rock.<\/p>\n \u201cWeirdly my music has done this kind of 360 back to the music I\u2019ve always listened to as a child. Growing up I was obsessed with Nirvana, The Cardigans, Radiohead, No Doubt, Deftones\u2026 those bands I found on CDs in drawers in our house,\u201d she says. \u201cThe music just feels like it\u2019s come back around to what I\u2019ve always been obsessed with.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe it\u2019s because of the day and age we\u2019re in where everything is so perfect all the time online, it\u2019s quite refreshing to be like, \u2018Actually I\u2019d rather be a little bit less put together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n So, songs such as \u2018Sick Of Myself\u2019 see Hana taking up space with her own feelings and thereby allowing other people permission to feel theirs, she says.<\/p>\n Although the EP was recorded in a studio in Hastings, Hana explains how each of its tracks had a different genesis and went through a different process.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018Ur Girlfriend\u2019s a Lawyer\u2019 was a track that existed as a couple of melodies and production, but the lyrics and most of the melody didn\u2019t exist for a really long while\u2026 so that was a really tedious process of jigsaw-piecing the song together,\u201d she says. \u201c\u2018Not Fair\u2019 came out in one go in my bedroom; then \u2018Sick of Myself\u2019<\/a><\/span><\/strong> was kind of an easier process.\u201d<\/p>\n Hana emphasises the ethos of honesty and reality which pervades her EP: this sits in fascinating contrast with her almost obsessive focus on making sure her music sounds exactly right.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really passionate about the sounds of instruments. I will be myself, but I do care how it sounds\u2026 it\u2019s the fusion of two worlds,\u201d she admits. \u201cI think I\u2019m just a music nerd! Maybe I care too much about how it sounds, but it\u2019s a fun journey to go down.\u201d<\/p>\n The next step in that journey is inevitably testing the new sounds on stage \u2013 a setting Hana is always excited about. She relishes the chance to connect with fans and find out what the music is saying to them; and playing live also provides a vital outlet for her infectious energy.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019m too hyperactive to stay still\u2026 I think I feel more comfortable on stage than I do off it!\u201d Hana says.<\/p>\n Following some extensive touring and a slot at SXSW<\/strong>, Hana will be showcasing her EP at Focus Wales<\/strong> in May.<\/p>\n \u201cTo come back and do a gig in Wales feels romantic in a way,\u201d she says with a laugh.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n \n