Band Interview: Sano Hill (Written)

Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life bring you an interview with folk rock singer/songwriter, Sano Hill.

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1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

I’m a singer-songwriter who writes melodic rock songs that are influenced by life, love and loss – and my musical and literary influences. I come from quite a musical family – my mother leads a traditional music band and still performs regularly. She was probably the first to encourage me to get involved with music as a child. I learned to play guitar in my teens and that has continued to be the main instrument I write and perform on. I think I probably started writing my own songs partly out of frustration at not being able to play the songs of others very well! Over time music became more and more part of how I interpret and come to terms with what is going on in life – life is very generous and there are always plenty of material to inspire songs either going on in my life or the world more generally – the pandemic, I suppose, encouraged me to get back into music and to finally record properly some of the songs I’ve been carrying with me for some time. The working title of the forthcoming album is “If not now, when?” which I guess says it all.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

Melodic folk-rock with soul.

3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.

The big ambition of 2023 is to get the album – ‘If Not Now, When?’ – out. It’s nearly there – final mixing and mastering is ongoing and I’m incredibly fortunate to be collaborating with a fantastic and hugely talented Irish producer Larry Hogan who has brought my songs in really unexpected but glorious directions. I’m also grateful to Braddon Williams (who has previously worked with a range of top artists, including Beyonce, Snoop Dogg, Mark Ronson, Il Divo, Wyclef Jean, Billy Joel, Kelly Clarkson, P Diddy, and The Script) and is currently contributing on the final mixing and mastering process. If any of your readers would like to hear more about how the albums coming along, view my music videos on my YouTube channel here.

4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?

The feedback to the singles I’ve released since January 2022 has been extraordinary and hugely encouraging. You never know until the music is out there if it will connect but the response has given me the lift I needed to keep making the music.

5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?

An an emerging indie artist, it’s always challenging to get the music out there in a commercial way, particularly getting airplay on mainstream radio something I’m still struggling with.

6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?

Hugely challenging. It seems you have to spend half your life in the online space – but it’s a critical part of how you get the music out there now.

7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?

Two things- the miserable returns on streaming which make it impossible for indie musicians to get anything like what is needed to survive as musicians and the huge challenge in trying to get radio airplay.

8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?

If you stream the music, and you like what you hear please go to my bandcamp site and download [https://sanohill.bandcamp.com/] – or you can make a small contribution on ‘Fan Support’ Spotify or on my linked tree, whatever you think the track is worth – it all goes back into the music and the cost of completing the album project.

9. Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?

Watch films and read.

10. Where can people find you?

All my links are here: https://linktr.ee/SanoHill -Thanks!




Author

  • Owner/Administrator/Editor/Writer/Interviewer/YouTuber - you name it, I do it. I love gaming, horror movies, and all forms of heavy metal and rock. I'm also a Discworld super-fan and love talking all things Terry Pratchett. Do you wanna party? It's party time!