Hello, Hannah Aldridge
Hey Hannah, for any readers that don’t, please introduce yourself. And, tell me something about you that I won’t know.
I’m Hannah Aldridge, a musician from Muscle Shoals, AL. I like to write indie music with a Southern Gothic storyline, so it often gets called Dark Americana.
I finished a degree in film scoring and a minor in Gothic Literature while I was home living in my apartment in Murfreesboro, TN and writing my new record in 2020-2021.
What can you tell me about your new album, Dream Of America?
This record was written, recorded, and released completely remotely. I still haven’t met some of the people worked on it. Because of those circumstances it’s a completely unique album that I could never have created in a another time and place. It’s like a picture of an era for me.
Where did the title come from?
The title is a pun on the “American Dream”. All of these songs are about the underbelly of America and I was living in a time in America that was very dark and unstable. Theres a lot of murder and sinister subject matter on this record.
‘Portrait of the Artist as a Middle Aged Man’ is terrific (and the longest song title I’ve seen!), tell me about the song?
This is actually a song written by my co-writers and producers Lachlan Bryan and Damian Caferella originally and he was kind enough to let me re-write it a bit. The song was originally based on the book “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” and then adapted to a sort of Hollywood noir, Bonnie and Clyde story.
I also love ‘Beautiful Oblivion’, your voice sounds incredible on the song, what was recording that like?
For this song I really tried to capture a cinematic 90s rock vibe. It was definitely more of a challenging song to sing but I had in my mind what I wanted it to sound like and just did takes until I got what felt right for the song.
You cover ‘Pyscho Killer’ as well, which is a really unique arrangement of that song. What was it that prompted you to cover it, and how did you work out the arrangement?
Well most of these songs on the record are murder songs so we thought long and hard about what cover would fit well into that mix. We had a lot of ideas for songs but we kept coming back to this one. I sent Lachlan a little acoustic version of the song and Lachlan and Damian came up with the track for it. I spent months trying to figure out sing it. I would sit in my room and try to put pilot vocals on it and I just couldn’t figure it out. We saved it for last in the studio to put vocals on and I finally was able to figure out how to sing like the rest of the record but I also brought in my friend Nicole Boggs to help beef up the choruses on the backgrounds and that really gave it the sound you hear.
Which was the first song you recorded for the album?
The first song we wrote and recorded was ‘Dorero’. That song had such a clear vision from the beginning and we used it as a reference for the rest of the album.
It’s been six years since Gold Rush, what adventures have you been up to in that time?
Touring A LOT! Every year I play new places and I’m so grateful for that. I have also signed to a Dark Rock Label in Stockholm and put out a 7inch with them in 2020 before releasing ‘Dream of America’
I know you mentioned it briefly earlier but what did the studio process look like for you this time round? And did it differ from how you’ve recorded previously?
This record was unlike anything I’ve ever done because it was basically a bedroom record. In most cases you hire musicians and go into a studio and everyone spends time on the songs bouncing ideas off of each other in real time. For this project we were all on our own islands having to trust each other and our instincts. It took so much longer to record and was very painstaking but I am so glad I have this album to capture a moment in time and history that I’ll hopefully never experience again.
How important is budget when you’re creating an album?
I wish I could say it’s not that important but it’s very important. Your budget almost directly correlates to your ability to get your record in people’s hands. You can make the best record in the world these days but if you don’t have the budget to push it through all the billions of records out there on digital music platforms, it will just sink to the bottom. It also directly correlates to how good the packaging and visuals are which I would argue is as important as the music itself. Furthermore, unless you are able to play all the instruments and produce it yourself, it directly correlates to how good the record will sound as well.
You’re touring the US over the next few weeks, then heading back to Europe in Oct/Nov. Where’s your favourite place to play live? Either a venue or a town.
I love Edinburgh and the venue there named The Voodoo Rooms. It’s feels like my home in another life time.
I believe you’re playing both Oxford and Bristol when you come to the UK, two cities I love, what’s the thing you love most about the UK?
Yes i do! I haven’t even announced the Bristol show but now I have been coming to the UK from the very beginning so in a way it feels like a second home to me. I have so many friends that feel like family there and everynight that I walk out on the the stage it feels like a big Welcome Back Party. It’s such a special place to me and has been so important to my career. (Hannah’s full set of tour dates.)
Who’s another artist we should be listening to right now?
At the moment I’m spinning a lot of Boygenius and Christian Kjellvander. Two totally different artists but great into draw inspiration from. I also have been revisiting Bowie’s catalogue, especially Blackstar.
What's the best bit of merchandise you have available?
What’s your best story? Music-related or otherwise.
Oh God. I wouldn’t know where to start. I have too many. A good story from my last tour is that I went to an Oddities Store in Nijmegen because I collect weird and macabre things from around the world. They had bags of human teeth and so I decided to buy them and carry them around in a plastic bag that I put in my guitar case for the whole seven week tour. When we got to Trondheim I realized that whoever had packed up my guitar that night had forgotten the teeth and left them somewhere at the venue. I didn’t have the nerve to call the venue and ask if they had found my bag of old teeth so I just left them. I wish I had been a fly on the wall to see the look on the person’s face that found those.
The happy ending to that story is that I went back to Nijmegen a few weeks ago and not only bought a new bag of teeth but also a bat came home with me. His name is Roy.
That's a great story! Finally, you can ask me any question you like, what would you like to ask?
What is the best answer you have gotten to the question above?
To find out more, including all tour dates, visit Hannah’s official website. You can also check out what she's up to on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Hannah’s new album is also available on all streaming services (Tidal embed below, and you can buy Dream Of America from Bandcamp in all formats.
