Two years ago, I discovered an extraordinary female rocker who was touring with Greta Van Fleet. I couldn’t believe that she would be performing at L’Escogriffe and was really looking forward to seeing her in a smaller venue.
In the cramped and cluttered green room, amid the din of boisterous drunken fans, Hannah Wicklund sat graciously before me, smiling serenely, unfazed by the chaos. Dressed in a floral velour robe with fuzzy slippers on her bare feet, it was hard to imagine that she was the same person that I saw shredding like Hendrix in front of thousands at the Bell Centre not that long ago. I had so many questions, but I only had seven minutes. That’s rock ‘n’ roll.
You’re doing your first Canadian headlining tour.
Yes I am.
You’re promoting your album that was released in January called The Prize. How’s the tour going?
Oohh it’s been fantastic. The entire tour has just been extremely heartwarming and a really incredible experience. I’ve gotten to connect with lots of people but especially a lot of women and young women who have connected to the record and really received what I put out into the world in a beautiful way. So it’s been really amazing and happy to be back in Montreal.
I saw you a couple of years back when you were opening for Greta van fleet in Montreal, and I was blown away. So I said next time you’re in town, I will see you for sure.
Thank you.
So you wrote this album when you were a couple of years younger. How do you feel revisiting songs that were written when you were in a different time and place? And now, are you still connected to these songs?
I’d say I’m more connected than ever and they’ve certainly developed in meaning and in depth through the years. So when I was 21 I was definitely writing, I think messages that I needed to hear at that time but starting to work through some things that umm I’d say now at 27 years old I’m able to apply these things that I learned along the way in a totally different way. And the true meaning of the songs certainly revealed themselves with time and they brought me full circle and back to the little girl in myself. So there’s been a lot of feeling and manifesting as well that went into this record. The making of it, the releasing of it and the writing of it.
Well, you started when you were like 8 years old, and then, like, by 16, you graduated from school.
Yes, I skipped 2 grades.
Wow.
I was actually a very studious young person, but I did it the right way.
You knew at 12 that this is what I wanted to do. I’m going to finish school as soon as I can, and that’s it. I’m going to make music.
Exactly yeah. I never took the SAT’s. I never bothered thinking about college and yeah, I’m really lucky I had a family that really supported me and promoted my creativity.
When I was 12, I wanted to be a Charlie’s Angel.
Oh, it’s still a viable option. (We both laugh)
Most people at 12 don’t know, I mean most people at 30 don’t know what the hell they want to do. So that’s pretty amazing. Your family’s artistic. Your mom’s an artist, and your dad is a musician. You grew up in a very nurturing environment, so that’s great. I know it wasn’t easy, and I’m sure you had your challenges.
Mmm-hmm, definitely, I’ve had a few, yeah.
I’m loving the album. There’s a lot of anger and there’s a lot of growth and like you said, healing. What songs do you enjoy performing the most?
I’ve really been enjoying playing Dark Passenger and Sun to Sun at the end of the set. I’ve basically more or less been performing the record from beginning to end live, a little bit of changes and some other songs kind of thrown in but remained true to the album order. So by the time I get to Sun to Sun, I get to see all of these women belting out.
“A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.”
We both say it together and Hannah grins.
It feels so good to be sharing that energy in the room and to also have there be a ton of men in the room that are soaking it up and that came to see it. It’s very much so a female empowerment record. And I am so happy and proud of the men who have supported it and embraced the message. So, yeah it’s just a really awesome feeling show throughout.
You started your own label, Strawberry Moon? What is the significance of the strawberry moon to you?
I actually named the record after a song off of my last record called Strawberry Moon. I wrote that song a few months after my first breakup. I think I found out that he had a new girl. I had broken the relationship and had remained friends. I wanted the best for him, but it was kind of just like this release, like, OK, I can truly let go of this now. I wrote it in June of 2017 during the strawberry full moon at about 4:00 AM which is why I referenced the strawberry moon and it’s 4:00 and I referenced the address of the house we lived in together in Charleston. So that song is dripping with meaning but the ultimate message of that song was I’ve got dreams to be thinking of and so it’s about following your heart, following your dreams and moving on, choosing yourself. And so yeah, that song seems pretty appropriate to kind of encompass the breadth of what I do.
You did the artwork on your album cover. It was really cool.
Thank you
I’m glad you have your own label. I’m seeing a lot more women and girls in rock music.
One of the most inspiring things is hearing from young women that they’re either picking up the guitar or that I’ve inspired them to start songwriting or that I’ve inspired them to pick up a paintbrush or that they’re going to school to be audio engineers, or that they’re entering into the music business. That I’ve helped in any little way is the coolest thing to me.
I think it’s cool that more women are headlining rock tours and writing, producing, and leading their own bands. We still have a long way to go, but with artists like Hannah Wicklund taking the reins, I am hopeful for the future.
Annette Aghazarian
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