We’ve only heard two songs from Brisbane artist Hannah Shepherd – performing under the moniker, Airling, but it’s more than enough to have us hooked. Her dreamy synth style has a way of echoing inside your body, leaving a lingering lush melody that replays in your head for hours. Having recently won a Triple J Unearthed contest for Splendour In The Grass, Hannah is gearing up to release another single next month, as well as her debut EP – and we know that there are big things bound ahead. Fall in love with her breezy and airy – no pun intended – track to ‘Ouroboros‘ below as we talk to Hannah about her first make-out song (a boy band favorite), and her dangerous (is there such a thing) coffee addiction.
Photo via Elle Australia
CULT: Tell us about yourself – was there a pivotal moment when you knew that your future would involve music?
Hannah: I don’t think there was one particular moment. For me it’s more a constant feeling that I’ve carried for years.
Nothing else makes me more happy or excited to be alive.
It’s the way that I express myself creatively and emotionally, and is probably the thing that keeps me sane (while also making me crazy!).
CULT: What record(s) influenced your style of music and/or changed the way that you make music?
Hannah: I feel that I’m constantly being influenced by the music that I’m listening to. Some records which I have the utmost respect for though are Thom Yorke’s solo album The Eraser, Overgrown – James Blake and the Darkside album ‘Psychic’. There are so many more too.
CULT: Do you remember your first make-out song? First break-up song?
Hannah: I think my first make out song was actually to a Justin Timberlake song at a highschool dance. I can’t quite remember which but maybe even ‘Rock your body’. Pretty romantic. First break up song was Sparks by Coldplay, tears.
CULT: If you could have an exclusive 3-course dinner with 5 musicians, dead or alive, who would you invite and what would you have for dinner?
Hannah: John Lennon, Jeff Buckley, James Blake, Thom Yorke and Beyonce. We’d probably eat some kind of delicious Tofu curry and drink lots of wine. Epic!
CULT: What’s the ideal environment that you envision someone listening to your music in?
Hannah: Maybe on huge speakers at a shack right on the beach so that you could go swimming in the ocean and still hear the music from the house. That would be cool.
CULT: Any big collabs or projects ahead that we should keep an eye out for?
Hannah: The release of my next single ‘Wasted Pilots‘ and my debut EP next month! Also, I’ve done some guest vocals featuring on tracks for a couple of cool artists as well (#1 Dads and something else which I think is still a secret at the moment)
CULT: What are 5 things that you can’t live without?
Hannah: My dog, Molly. Carrot juice and coffee. Friends and family. Sunshine. Music
CULT: What feelings, emotions and reactions do you hope that your music evokes in others?
Hannah: Just honest and instinctual ones, I think.
If my music naturally inspires real emotion from someone then I’m stoked, it doesn’t matter to me what those feelings are.
CULT: Where are some of your favorite local haunts where we can spot you on your days off?
Hannah: The footy park down the road with my puppy, my local gym, Black Bear Lodge (cool bar and venue in Fortitude Valley) and anywhere that makes yummy coffee, I’m so in love with and potentially addicted to coffee.
Words to live by:
Be kind to yourself and to others
