MUSIC SPOTLIGHT:
SINGER-SONGWRITER LIV HANNA By Adam Kluger
L
iv Hanna has got a lot to say. After telling Liv that her voice reminds me a bit of Nelly Furtado who I once interviewed for CNN Showbiz Today for her breakout song “Like a Bird,” Liv was off and flying, revealing among other things that she loves Nelly Furtado and was listening to one of her songs earlier today. As a former longtime entertainment producer for CNN, I’ve been lucky enough to interview a “who’s who” of female singers from Madonna, JLO, and Mariah to Whitney, Beyonce, Bjork, and beyond over the years. Even a young “Oops, I Did it Again!,” Britney, who burned with ambition and dreams of fame. And I’ll tell you, Liv Hanna impressed me. A quick chat with this super-talented singer-songwriter revealed that she has a really good head on her shoulders to match her angelic voice. Liv credits her family with guiding her on the right path and protecting her. Intelligent, self-aware, and hardworking, Liv Hanna she has a creative team she adores and soulful songs that are born from personal relationships and self-reflection. Liv loves 70’s fashion and candles is not dating during the pandemic and has written a song called Bedroom to provide solace for young people who have negatively impacted by Covid. A staunch advocate for mental health, Liv meditates and writes songs and does all the normal stuff a soon-to-be college freshman at U of Miami would do. Liv thought that Harry Styles was a scream at the Grammys. And like a young Britney who once told me about how super excited she was to have an acting cameo on, Dawson’s Creek, Liv Hanna also wants to act and sing-- and do it all. Q: So you have two songs that are ready to drop in Bedroom and Self-Made? A: Yes, they are different than anything I’ve done before. In the past, I was mainly pop and I was only 14 or 15 when I was writing the songs that I’ve been releasing lately and these are the two songs that I’ve written most recently and they are just more my vibe. They are kind of Indie Bedroom Pop like R&B Soul Indie instead of regular mainstream pop and I’m really excited for them to come out they are just edgy you know and one of them has a bit of rap in it and I’m really excited for everyone to hear that. Q: How important is it for today’s musical performers to understand their niche or musical categories? A: I think it is a little bit of both because when you put a song on Spotify there is a whole process to uploading it and you have to select the genre and subgenre and you really have to categorize your song. (laugh) and it is very difficult for me to do that because I like to believe I’m a little bit of everything and I don’t really like to categorize myself as an artist because all the music I listen to and get inspiration from come from R&B, come from Soul, from pop even, rap, indie, bedroom pop you know all of it. I usually put indie and R&B when I upload my songs but you have to understand it to kind of label it. Q: Who else is in your musical niche? A: my niche is a lot of genres so here is a list for you of musicians that inspire me... Fleetwood Mac, I love Stevie Nicks. I listen to their album Rumors every day... Amy Winehouse, a little bit of Billie Eilish, Tyler the Creator, Rex Orange County, Frank Ocean, some Kanye West are my favorites. I love that vibe, Daniel Caesar, and a little bit of Quaro. so it’s just indie R&B and then ‘70s is my favorite genre in general. I listen to 70’s music every day any artist any day I love 70’s music. Elton John, Billy Joel I have a whole 70’s playlist, and the 40’s, The ‘50s, and 60’s too.
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Metropolitan Magazine | 25AMagazine.com
