Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Hokit.
Hi Hannah, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started writing songs at 7 years old. I was constantly surrounded by music as a child, whether it be my parents playing Patsy Cline in the car, or blasting the Hannah Montana soundtrack in my bedroom. At such a naive age, I believe that whoever was singing each song wrote those words. This inspired me to write my song. Looking back now I can say without a doubt that the song was horrible, but it made me fall in love with the process.
I quickly began writing every day and using it as my own private confessional. It gave allowed me to learn about myself and explore every emotion that I didn’t necessarily want to share with others. I’d say at about 13 years old, I was confident this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I had a fair share of original songs under my belt and slowly started sharing them with people outside of my family.
The encouragement I received from everyone pushed me forward and confirmed my dreams. However, my parents didn’t want me to perform much while I was still in school and insisted I wait until I graduated. So after years and years of waiting and honing in on my songwriting, I performed at my first Songwriter’s Festival the day after my high school graduation. It truly felt like the beginning of something special.
After a year, I recorded 5 original songs and released them as a self-titled EP on all digital streaming platforms. This was a huge step for me and lead me to fall in love with the studio production process. I learned a lot about having a clear vision for yourself and following your gut. Putting that music out into the world was probably the most nerve-racking thing I’d ever done but helped me grow more than I can put into words.
When Covid hit, performers took a huge hit, including myself. All shows were canceled and I had a lot of time for self-reflection. I ended up changing my sound quite a bit and leaning toward a much more introspective light. With this new sound and songs, I recorded an EP, “Heartbreak City”, with 6 songs written and produced by me.
Along with these songs, I released a music video for my song, “The Day I Stop Loving You”. I had such a clear vision and knew exactly what I wanted and knew I was the only one who could give me that. I filmed, produced, and edited the entire video by myself. It was incredibly stressful, but I am still so proud of that video and proud of myself for proving that I could do it.
As of now, a little over a year after my last EP’s release, I’ve been very busy playing shows and writing new music. These new songs portray a different part of my life and new maturity. I am hitting the studio this week to get things started on a new album and I could not be more excited!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not everything has been smooth sailing in my music journey. I think a lot of musicians experience extreme waves of doubt that get in their way. I’ve had my fair share of doubts, crying on the floor thinking that I can’t do this. It can be overwhelming, but even if the doubts never fade, I can never shake the feeling that this is what I was meant to do.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am most proud of my dedication to songwriting. At this point, all of my released songs are 100% self-written. If you look at a lot of the music put out today, they can have upwards of 5 writers. True self-written music can be hard to come by so I’m proud of myself for prioritizing my songwriting even when it gets difficult.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
My favorite childhood memory would have to be our family game nights. Every two weeks or so, we’d all spend a night in and play a bunch of games like Guesstures, Yahtzee, Apples to Apples, etc. Things would get heated, as we are a competitive family, but it was always so much fun and we still talk about the memories together and reminisce on the nonsense that took place back then.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hannahhokit.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannahhokit/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannahhokitmusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HannahHokit
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdhLTJ8174D0lrzc-how5EQ
Image Credits
Benji Neuman
