Interview With: Lucie Crichlow (Old Hannah)

-What is your musical background? Do you have a musical family or did you just fall into music playing all on your own?

I have a very musical family. Myself and Luke are cousins and our mothers actually play in a couple of bands together and have done since we were kids, so we learned a lot about music, particularly harmonies, from them. And they're not the only ones - uncles, aunts, and cousins on both sides of my family are musical - some classically trained, some playing by ear, some writing, some arranging. I picked up the guitar when I was about 11. My mother taught me G, C, D and how to use a capo, and I took it from there.

-What's coming up for you ? What are you working on now and where do you feel your music is headed?

We've just finished recording our second EP "Iron and Wood" with Rian Trench of Solar Bears. On this record we really experimented with new sounds and arrangements and brought a lot of new energy to our songs. It's opened a lot of doors for me in terms of songwriting too. I'm definitely thinking beyond the instruments that we all play when I'm writing now, which is really invigorating. It's made me want to introduce a lot of new instruments to our line up too!

-What are your inspirations when it comes to songwriting ? Any favorite books or mentors you'd like to talk about?

Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, The Band - these are the best songwriters I know and I never stop going back to them, never get board. I could never, and would never want to, imitate them, but I do try to learn from them - about honesty, expression and the aesthetics of a good song. I don't think any of my songs are like any of theirs, but they're the bar I hold myself to. And they're the reason why I'm still so critical of everything I've ever written!

-Do you ever experience writer's block? If you do, what do you do to get over it?

Yes. And writers release, if I can call it that, when everything just flows like it was meant to be there all along. I ride the latter for as long as possible. I've never quite managed to get over the former, but I just keep plugging away. I suppose, it's important to move on from songs that aren't going anywhere - start something new and come back to it when the time is right. Or force yourself to finish it, even if you're not 100% happy with it, and then move on. I suppose the main thing is to just keep writing. If you don't like it you don't have to use it, but writing something holds more promise than writing nothing.

-What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

I don't think musicians should be under pressure to give their music away for free, but that's the situation we're in. We made our last EP available for free online, but still managed to sell copies at gigs. The audiences are there to support the artists, but to make ends meet, you need a much bigger audience these days, and that means online exposure, and that means making content easily accessible - and the expectation people have these days is that you get something for nothing. I don't think it's right, but it is what it is and I guess you have to manage that. I'd be inclined to try to educate audiences on the importance of supporting new artists, rather than restricting content. Unless you're already huge, that would be shooting yourself in the foot. I've never downloaded music for free but I stream regularly, and what I like, I buy.

-Thank you for this conversation Lucie. Is there any piece of musical advice you would like to give to our readers before we finish?

Just play. Play well, play badly, play alone, play with people, play in front of people, just play any chance you get. It's eternally enriching.

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Iron and Wood E.P. Launch :

8th May, The Button Factory, Dublin

9th May, The Model, Sligo