Hannah Wants

Hailing from Birmingham, bass girl Hannah Wants has been turning the garage house scene on its head. An accomplished deejay in her own right, the Brit has spent 2013 giving fans phat bass-lines and a house groove to match. This is best exhibited through her recent releases on the prominent “Food music” label, which pair summer house vibes with choice vocal samples creating tracks that bang. Set to head down under in the coming month with shows in just about every state, prepare to lose your mind to the bass driven madness that is, Hannah Wants.

First up, Happy New Year! We imagine you were pretty busy over the festive season, any standout shows over that time?

Thank you! Happy New Year to you too! The festive season was crazy busy this year but NYE was definitely a standout night for me. I had three gigs in Birmingham, Sheffield and Nottingham and they were all so good! I brought 2015 in at Birmingham, which was amazing and the last two gigs had unreal crowds!

Did you make any resolutions before New Year’s, and have you already broken them since? (We did, and we have, so we’re just trying to make ourselves feel better)

I’m afraid to say I didn’t make any resolutions this year – I never do because I’d probably forget what they were anyway.

The beginning of a new year is always an exciting time for an artist, do you have some ideas/goals in your head regarding where you wanna take Hannah Wants in 2015?

Yeah – I’m actually currently sitting in a secluded lakeside cottage on a short holiday which I’m using productively to plan and set ideas / goals for 2015. I’ve definitely got an idea of what I want to achieve this year - the list is quite large but you’ve gotta aim high right!? 2015 is looking real crazy already and one thing I do know is that I’m literally going to be living out of my suitcase for most of it but I’ll be living my absolute dream so I’m sure I can live with that!

From looking forward to looking back, you killed a few DJ comps a couple of years ago that really set the wheels in motion. Can you take us through your experiences with them a little, and then what you had to following those wins to really kickstart your career on a much larger scale? 

The DJ competitions were won in Ibiza 2010 when I spent the whole summer out there. I’d just finished University and so I just took the opportunity to go and stay in the music capital of the world to gain some experience – It was probably one of the best decisions I ever made. I met some great people, DJ’d regularly, won competitions and landed my first residency for back in the UK. I’d say the whole Ibiza 2010 thing definitely kick-started my career – it got my name out there for the first time and I’ve been on the best journey ever since then! 

What got you started in DJing initially – I read somewhere it runs pretty deep in your family right?

Music does. My Granddad was one of the first men (if not the first) in England to play music via a turntable back in the 40’s. It was all live bands back then but my Granddad bought a turntable and amp with his money received from the war and starting playing music to crowds instead. Knowing that your Granddad was one of the first ever DJ’s is pretty cool.

Music has always been my passion and for some reason I’d always wanted to DJ. I used to go out (at an early age) and watch the DJ in the club thinking about how much I wanted to be that person playing the music. For my 16th birthday I got bought some belt-drive Numark vinyl turntables (they weren’t very good), locked myself away and just taught myself.

Did the production follow DJing? Can you tell us a bit about how you got into production and which artists/acts have inspired you along the way?

Yes it did… I’ve been DJ’ing over ten years now but only really started getting into production a couple of years ago. I wanted to be able to put my own unique sound / stamp on my sets and I have been really fortunate to have a good friend like Chris Lorenzo to work with. He’s been in the production game a very long time and is definitely one of the most talented guys I know. I’ve been able to learn from the likes of Chris and Kane (the Cause & Affect duo) and the experience has been invaluable. It’s another aim of mine to release solely my own productions this year.

Do you think there’s room in 2015 for higher-level DJs who don’t have that production bow to their arrow?

I’d like to think so! DJ’ing and producing are completely different talents! I remember back in the day when the producers made the music and the DJ’s played it – now it’s common knowledge that producers who have never DJ’d before will get booked for an event, play a pre-mixed CD and fiddle with some filters and effects. For me personally, that’s not ‘DJ’ing’ - it takes years and years to master the art and how to play / react to crowds etc.  

Unfortunately nowadays, without making music it would arguably take longer to reach the top but DJ EZ is one exception to the rule and shows it can be done! He is my DJ idol and is a complete GOD on the decks in my opinion – a true DJ and for that I have so much respect. 

You’ve released a lot of free music, and regularly post new mixtapes for your fans, do you feel that’s a really important part of growing your profile, especially online?

Definitely! My bi-monthly mixtapes are something that I do religiously and I’ve gradually built them up from getting 100 plays a month to 250,000! I make mixtapes to give back to my fans – to the people that pay their hard earned money to see me in a club and / or to the people that follow and support me around the world. It’s a great way for me to showcase my sound and what I’m about and it’s built up a great hype and fan base which I’m really happy about.

Are you working on any new releases at the moment, can we expect some new tracks any time soon?

Yeahhhh, Chris and I have been on major remix duty this month and we have a Disclosure remix coming out in the near future along with some other remixes but I can’t say who for just yet! Other than that, we have an EP out on Food Music in March that will consist of ‘Girls’ and ‘Breathe’.