Nashville based witchy southern rock artist Hannah Flora has just released a stunning debut EP “I Keep Your Pills in My Locket,” which is a project full of intimate lyricism and raw emotion. We had the chance to chat with Hannah about the new EP and all things music. Read more in our interview below!
Hi Hannah! Thanks so much for taking the time to answer our questions. How are you and how have you been spending your days recently?
Hey, I am so so good, I hope you’re doing well!
I have been busy playing shows around Nashville, and trying to enjoy this release while also trying to rev myself up to keep creating even more. I’ve been keeping myself busy and focused on my art even more so after the release of this project!
Congratulations on the release of your new EP “I Keep Your Pills in My Locket”, we really love it and it is truly something special! The cover art is so cool, where did the idea and inspiration for it come from?
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! For this whole EP I’m kind of telling of a relationship I had, and the rise and fall of it all. In the last track on the EP, “Worst Version of You”, I say, you’ve got blood on your shoes, a year ago I would’ve cleaned it up for you.
In the EP cover art I’m holding up a locket and my hand is covered in blood. I wanted to be holding the locket I’m referencing in the title, but with the blood on my hands.
Throughout this EP there’s a consistency of me explaining I was made to feel as though I was a burden, or I wasn’t enough, or I was crazy, or like the blood was on my hands.
So in this cover art I’m kind of alluding to the idea the blood was on his shoes as if it was dripping off of me, like the imagery of carrie. It’s me feeding into what my antagonist has made me out to be, portraying a version of myself he’s wrongly perceived me as.
Could you talk about some of the themes and undertones that exist within the EP?
When I began writing for this EP I was in my last semester of college and I took a film class on the genre of horror. I’ve always loved horror and the connection it has to biblical troupes, and I found this seeping into my writing; quickly it became a major part of this EP, and my artistry as a whole. This EP is about one relationship over the course of 4 years, and it’s a rollercoaster of pain, helpless desire, and the horror of being made to feel like the monstrous feminine sick in love.
Your sound is reminiscent of powerful predecessors like Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks, are there any artists that you find yourself drawing inspiration from?
I’ve always been extremely inspired by women who have the ability to somewhat haunt their past lovers with their art, and I strongly take the comparison to Joni and Stevie as a compliment - because they do exactly that. We obviously see this in songs like Silver Springs and A Case of You, and I think these songs are so iconic and objectively good because of this ability to encapsulate such reminiscent universal feelings. I don’t think the goal as a writer is truly to torment our past lovers, but I’ve always been drawn to dark and broken love songs and I think people will always long for that unapologetic gut spilling kind of writing. People like to hear other people admit what they’re too afraid to.
I’m also heavily influenced by other artists such as Phoebe Bridgers and Ruston Kelly, they both also have this unnerving sadness to their sound that compliments their reflective and cutting writing - which is something I strive for in my own art.
Were there any songs that didn’t make it onto the final project? If so, what made you decide to stick with the ones that ended up on the EP that we were given?
Honestly, there was a period in time towards the end of wrapping up my final mastered products of this EP where I couldn’t stop writing. I very much write songs about events and heartbreaks in my life in real time, it’s just how I function, and so it was hard to cut myself off and accept this project was complete.
There were so many songs that seemed to be such important pieces to the entire story I’m telling in this project, but I eventually had to tell myself that like - I’m allowed to keep creating and talking about real shit that’s happening in my life. I don’t have to shove it all onto the same project just because it’s the same subject matter.
To be completely honest, the relationship this EP is entirely about was still very much intact as I started to release this EP, and I had to know when to not only let this EP be done, but also when to let the relationship be done. I wrapped up this EP and the excruciating 4 year long toxic relationship I was in - released the project, and got clean all at the same time.
You were raised in North Carolina but are now based in Nashville, so what was your musical upbringing like?
My parents and eldest brother were both extremely talented. My mom had me singing in church as soon as I could talk, and I was performing, writing, and teaching myself guitar by 10. I’m very grateful to have had such a musical family, I always felt I was born to make art because it was all I really knew. There never was really another option for me, it was just instilled in me from such a young age and it was all I really ever wanted.
What are some of the items on your bucket list music-wise? Do you have a dream venue or collaboration in mind?
I am dying to go on tour! There are so many venues I’d love to play someday, and so many cities I’d love to visit. Overall I’d love to just fully be able to sustain myself by creating art and sharing it.
There are also so many creatives I’d love to collaborate or write with one day if I’m cool enough! I dream of working with Jack Antonoff, Ethel Cain, and of course anyone from boygenius; there are simply too many talented people whom I admire and would be honored to work with!
Words by Sara
Keep up with Hannah!
