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Images: Adam James Richardson | Words: Danielle de Wolfe
Any shoot that begins with two female music producers screaming “OH MY GOD ARE WE WEARING MATCHING SOCKS?!” whilst sat at a Steinway is bound to be an interesting one.
Needless to say, our day with HANNIE was just that. The vibrant production duo – comprised of Hannah Koppenburg and Annie Wagstaff – first joined forces whilst studying at London’s Academy of Contemporary Music. Now tucked away in a chic East London warehouse appartment-meets-fully fledged recording studio, the production outfit are riding the crest of an Instagram wave.
Between churning out regular hook filled samples and funk smothered original tracks (Target feat. Ralph anyone?!) for their combined 170k+ followers, we caught up with the pair to discover more about the faces behind the music…
So, how exactly did the whole name melding thing come about? Were there a series of names before you hit upon HANNIE or was it first time lucky?
Annie: We didn’t actually think of it! It wasn’t until about 6 months into uni that people started using it because we did everything together.
Hannah: Not even on purpose. People were saying they were going to see Hannah and Annie and it just happened.
You’re basically Brangelina (minus the romance)?
H: I find the whole ‘name finding’ thing a little bit cringey. That’s why we decided to just go with it, it was pretty natural.
A: A lot of people call us Hannie and Anna without even thinking. We did initially try and find other names because I bet some people are like ‘Oh god, they decided to call themselves HANNIE?!’
In terms of your sound (and for those who may not have heard it) how would you describe HANNIE?
A: [Our sound] is influenced by a lot of stuff we hear on the radio because that’s what we enjoy listening to. We try to incorporate it all. I would say it’s quite synth-based. It’s kind of Jamiroquai and Nile Rogers-y – but with a lot more pop and loads of synths.
H: Yeah, it’s fun, funky pop. We try to keep it upbeat. Nothing… I want to say nothing too deep, but I mean, we don’t make a sound that’s depressing or drags you down. We don’t really right love songs. Ever. We sometimes turn around love songs – like “I don’t need you!” sort of thing. I just feel as though there are so many love songs around, you can easily go and find one. We try to write about other things.
Did you ever consider going The BRIT School route?
A: No, we never wanted to be artists. We wanted to play for other people. We were practicing all day and night and it all just worked out. No, Brit School wasn’t an option, I didn’t even consider it.
H: I think for us it really worked. I think lots of people hate it because they go in and expect to come out as pop stars – and they don’t. But if you put the work in then it’s great.
So we’ve noticed a theme involving guest female vocalists. Do you have your eyes on anyone when it comes to future collabs?
A: Loaaads of people. I mean, I love RAYE, she’s awesome. Tove Styrke too. You sometime hear a song and you’re like ‘How does no one know these?!’ The thing is, neither of us really sing. Well, we sing but we’re not singers – we’re instrumentalists. It means you get to work with a lot of different people.
H: At the moment it’s really cool because there are so many up-and-coming artist we want to work with. People who aren’t necessarily big right now but will be in the future. Amanda Delara – she’s great. I think she’s Norwegian but she’s got a really really cool voice and some amazing songs. That’s the cool thing about Carys [Selvey] – the girl singing on Cosmic Bound – she’s still super young, she’s only 18, and someone played us her song and we we’re like yes, she’s amazing! We’ve written a few songs with her so there will probably be a few more to come featuring Carys…
The subject of females in music is a pretty big deal at the moment. A recent study of 600 Billboard Hot 100 tracks showed that in the last 5 years only 2% were produced by women. Do you find those figures surprising?
H: We haven’t met a single producer yet that’s female.
A: That’s mad.
H: But why? So often people have sessions with us and are like, ‘wait, all girls?! This is amazing!’ It’s so strange because it makes you think, ‘why not?! What’s caused this?’ We were actually speaking to a singer yesterday and she’s doing workshops with kids who are currently in secondary school. Because becoming a singer (or even an instrumentalist) is more likely [to lead] to someone becoming a producer, kids need to be aware that it’s actually a job you can do. So yeah, being good role models and telling the next generation about the industry is important.
Do you often find it intimidating when you’re continually placed in such a male dominated environment?
H: I think it’s very different with us as it’s always the two of us. If we go and write with another producer who’s male, it’s still two girls and one guy. I think it would be completely different if it was just one girl going into the studio. People really respect you if you know your stuff, play your own instruments and know which plugin you want to use. What kind of sound you’re after. I think we’re fine because we’re always together but I do sometimes think, ‘ugh, there are guys everywhere!’
So, what’s HANNIE’s live setup then?
A: It’s us, a drummer, two… hopefully three singers. And it’s quite similar to our videos but we’ll be playing most of it, just with a live drummer. Live drums add so much!
H: It’s got that energy, right?! We’re still auditioning and we know you play drums so…
I mean, we’re based down the road so…
H: That would be so fun! Totally. When we play, we’ve both got our little hubs y’know. Keys, more keys, bass, guitar, pedalboard, guitar, SPD… we try to do as many things as possible at once.
That’s all folks! Be sure to catch HANNIE on insta here, Facebook here and Spotify here.
