Hannah Epperson

Back in August, a handful of folks experienced a night of incredible music in support of Megaphone magazine, a vital and important project facilitating independence, storytelling, and social justice in Vancouver. Musicians and bands, one after the other, took centre stage at the Biltmore and told us a story of the past and of the present through songs of their own choosing. At one point a young blond woman with a violin stepped into the spotlight, and told us about growing up Mormon in Utah and her family’s decision to leave the church. She told us how even as a little girl she couldn’t help but question the doctrine, that she knew something wasn’t ringing true for her. And then she plugged in her violin and arranged her pedals and looped us all inside a dizzying, daring universe that made me cry.

Her name is Hannah Epperson, and has so far only recorded five songs in her bedroom, the charmingly titled Home Batch EP. But I think she’s somebody who will change the world. At the very least, her music's changed mine.


(the interview)
Where are you while answering these questions? Set the scene, please.
It's another uncharacteristically sunny September day, so I've set up a workstation on the haphazard deck-roof just outside my bedroom window. It's quite a crawl to get to my makeshift desk - a very long piece of plywood resting on two red sawhorses. It wouldn't be so precarious were it not for the less-than-gentle gradient of the roof itself, but in Vancouver, a taste of sun is well worth the trouble.


What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done for money?
Most of the dumb things I've done in life haven't been for money, as it turns out. But I do remember a 6-year-old me sweeping our family's driveway in a Salt Lake City windstorm with quiet hopes for high returns. I was pretty disappointed with a measly quarter on my pudgy palm and a wind(un)swept driveway on my heels.

How does a book get under your skin?
This sounds like the beginning of a riddle. I think a book's capacity to 'get under your skin' really depends your willingness to let it do so. Picking up a book is like committing yourself to exploring a new relationship ... the effect goes both ways. I've had some elated experiences with a few less-than-formidable reads in times of great openness!

The movie scene that gave you nightmares?
Oh geez, ok you know that scene in The Shining, where Shelley Duvall starts reading through the stacks of manuscripts that Jack Nicholson's character has been working on? And all the script is just the same sentence over and over again, configured in various syntactical patterns: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? MAJOR heebie jeebie moment, holy shit. The score for that movie alone is chilling in its own right!

Song lyric that still cuts you deep no matter how many times you hear it?
Bjork's 'Joga.' That song is an entire universe. Bjorks lyrics are so stunning, and have over the years taken on so many layers of meaning for me. Her reference to "emotional landscapes" in 'Joga' predates some of the most cutting edge and progressive rhetoric being used in the field of Human Geography, which - yes - is the academic faculty I buried myself in during my undergraduate years. Academics aside, her words are just so painfully human: "emotional landscapes/they puzzle me/the riddle gets solved and you push me up to this state of emergency/how beautiful to be!/state of emergency/is where I want to be..." and on and on. Incredible.

What’s the best thing about your favourite comedian?
Stephen Colbert - what a guy. Ceaselessly attaining to the impossible by bringing every aspect of human existence within the rays of his comedic prism. Specifically, he brought his punches to the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006 (check it out on YouTube if you haven't seen it!), where he delivered an incredibly courageous act, splitting seams in so many fabrications. That was a very important act, I think. Colbert is king.

Person you always hoped you’d be like when you grew up?
Jane Goodall! She is so cool. I saw her give a speech when I was in grade 6, and I went home with her book In the Shadow of Man, which delivers some incredible sketches from her time in 1960s Tanzania studying chimpanzees. She spent so much time alone, in silence, patiently reveling in the world around her. In many ways, I think it was in that silence and solitude that she was able to revolutionize the way we understand and define what it is to be human, which is pretty far out if you think about it. Her reverence for life and her way of observing the majesty of the mundane has always moved me and felt very significant. Yeah, Jane Goodall - what a woman!

The best advice you ever received and from who?
'If you go home with someone and they don't have books, don't fuck em!' - amazing hand-me-down advice from the legend John Waters. Ok I admittedly gleaned this gem from the interwebs, but it's potent advice nonetheless.

- Andrea Warner (via Pop This bog)

Back in August, a handful of folks experienced a night of incredible music in support of Megaphone magazine, a vital and important project facilitating independence, storytelling, and social justice in Vancouver. Musicians and bands, one after the other, took centre stage at the Biltmore and told us a story of the past and of the present through songs of their own choosing. At one point a young blond woman with a violin stepped into the spotlight, and told us about growing up Mormon in Utah and her family’s decision to leave the church. She told us how even as a little girl she couldn’t help but question the doctrine, that she knew something wasn’t ringing true for her. And then she plugged in her violin and arranged her pedals and looped us all inside a dizzying, daring universe that made me cry.

Her name is Hannah Epperson, and has so far only recorded five songs in her bedroom, the charmingly titled Home Batch EP. But I think she’s somebody who will change the world. At the very least, her music's changed mine.


(the interview)
Where are you while answering these questions? Set the scene, please.
It's another uncharacteristically sunny September day, so I've set up a workstation on the haphazard deck-roof just outside my bedroom window. It's quite a crawl to get to my makeshift desk - a very long piece of plywood resting on two red sawhorses. It wouldn't be so precarious were it not for the less-than-gentle gradient of the roof itself, but in Vancouver, a taste of sun is well worth the trouble.


What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done for money?
Most of the dumb things I've done in life haven't been for money, as it turns out. But I do remember a 6-year-old me sweeping our family's driveway in a Salt Lake City windstorm with quiet hopes for high returns. I was pretty disappointed with a measly quarter on my pudgy palm and a wind(un)swept driveway on my heels.

How does a book get under your skin?
This sounds like the beginning of a riddle. I think a book's capacity to 'get under your skin' really depends your willingness to let it do so. Picking up a book is like committing yourself to exploring a new relationship ... the effect goes both ways. I've had some elated experiences with a few less-than-formidable reads in times of great openness!

The movie scene that gave you nightmares?
Oh geez, ok you know that scene in The Shining, where Shelley Duvall starts reading through the stacks of manuscripts that Jack Nicholson's character has been working on? And all the script is just the same sentence over and over again, configured in various syntactical patterns: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"? MAJOR heebie jeebie moment, holy shit. The score for that movie alone is chilling in its own right!

Song lyric that still cuts you deep no matter how many times you hear it?
Bjork's 'Joga.' That song is an entire universe. Bjorks lyrics are so stunning, and have over the years taken on so many layers of meaning for me. Her reference to "emotional landscapes" in 'Joga' predates some of the most cutting edge and progressive rhetoric being used in the field of Human Geography, which - yes - is the academic faculty I buried myself in during my undergraduate years. Academics aside, her words are just so painfully human: "emotional landscapes/they puzzle me/the riddle gets solved and you push me up to this state of emergency/how beautiful to be!/state of emergency/is where I want to be..." and on and on. Incredible.

What’s the best thing about your favourite comedian?
Stephen Colbert - what a guy. Ceaselessly attaining to the impossible by bringing every aspect of human existence within the rays of his comedic prism. Specifically, he brought his punches to the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2006 (check it out on YouTube if you haven't seen it!), where he delivered an incredibly courageous act, splitting seams in so many fabrications. That was a very important act, I think. Colbert is king.

Person you always hoped you’d be like when you grew up?
Jane Goodall! She is so cool. I saw her give a speech when I was in grade 6, and I went home with her book In the Shadow of Man, which delivers some incredible sketches from her time in 1960s Tanzania studying chimpanzees. She spent so much time alone, in silence, patiently reveling in the world around her. In many ways, I think it was in that silence and solitude that she was able to revolutionize the way we understand and define what it is to be human, which is pretty far out if you think about it. Her reverence for life and her way of observing the majesty of the mundane has always moved me and felt very significant. Yeah, Jane Goodall - what a woman!

The best advice you ever received and from who?
'If you go home with someone and they don't have books, don't fuck em!' - amazing hand-me-down advice from the legend John Waters. Ok I admittedly gleaned this gem from the interwebs, but it's potent advice nonetheless.

- Andrea Warner (via Pop This bog)

It’s time for our second ever (possibly in the world) Beer and Song pair! We hope this is making sense to you, and feel free to give us as much feedback as possible!

Day 2: We’ll Host A Party and serve Storm Brewing Black Currant Lambic

Today I chosen Hannah Epperson. She performed last night at the beautiful St James Hall, and she blew away everyone. The crowd was silenced for her amazing performance and her stunning, daring violin playing was off-set by her soft voice. I had seen some of her YouTube performances before thanks to a common friend (UBC community!) but it was 100% worth it to see her live - I would recommend it to anyone.

Things they have in common:

1. They are both perfectly sweet.
2. They are both amazingly complex.
3.. Just as the lambic is special edition and hard to find, Epperson’s talent is absolutely rare.
4. Just as Storm’s Black Currant has a bitter edge and lingering after-taste of sourness, Hannah’s music is left unperfected. The video below leaves a slight off-beat here and there, which reminds you that yes, she is in-fact human. I totally love this, and it adds a genuine layer and makes sure to create an extra edge. - Vancouver Music Review

It’s time for our second ever (possibly in the world) Beer and Song pair! We hope this is making sense to you, and feel free to give us as much feedback as possible!

Day 2: We’ll Host A Party and serve Storm Brewing Black Currant Lambic

Today I chosen Hannah Epperson. She performed last night at the beautiful St James Hall, and she blew away everyone. The crowd was silenced for her amazing performance and her stunning, daring violin playing was off-set by her soft voice. I had seen some of her YouTube performances before thanks to a common friend (UBC community!) but it was 100% worth it to see her live - I would recommend it to anyone.

Things they have in common:

1. They are both perfectly sweet.
2. They are both amazingly complex.
3.. Just as the lambic is special edition and hard to find, Epperson’s talent is absolutely rare.
4. Just as Storm’s Black Currant has a bitter edge and lingering after-taste of sourness, Hannah’s music is left unperfected. The video below leaves a slight off-beat here and there, which reminds you that yes, she is in-fact human. I totally love this, and it adds a genuine layer and makes sure to create an extra edge. - Vancouver Music Review

Fiddler extraordinaire Hannah Epperson posted a new aptly-named EP, “Home Batch”, a collection of five home-recorded and home-created songs. I’d first heard of Epperson, when she played violin with bow and pizzicato with Miss Emily Brown on the latter’s harp-led track, “World Traveller” — a song off “In Technicolour”. It was a stunning combination, dripping with nostalgia, remembrance and a sad sweetness. This time around, Epperson gives her neo-folk take on a record where she’s front and center. The diamond of the album is the delicately exquisite and deceptively simple, “peaches”, a song that begins and ends quietly. The song’s power rests in the grace of a sleepy and gently swaying guitar melody, paired with near-harmonized lead vocals — where one voice follows slightly behind the other, light as vapor trail. The song has a touch of Latino elegance, with it’s neo-João Gilberto kinda bossa nova. Just listen to the harmonic phrasing and melody in the line “… so that we can grow another peach” at the 2:31 mark. It’s delicious. The lyrics are quite inventive too — sensual, organic, casual, and romantically rich. “Murder of Crows” is another beauty — opening loudly, with a criss-crossing of uplifting and frenetic strings, tempered elegantly by Epperson’s pretty vocals. You can follow Epperson at facebook and myspace. – David D. Robbins Jr. - David D. Robbins Jr. (via Their Bated Breath blog)

Fiddler extraordinaire Hannah Epperson posted a new aptly-named EP, “Home Batch”, a collection of five home-recorded and home-created songs. I’d first heard of Epperson, when she played violin with bow and pizzicato with Miss Emily Brown on the latter’s harp-led track, “World Traveller” — a song off “In Technicolour”. It was a stunning combination, dripping with nostalgia, remembrance and a sad sweetness. This time around, Epperson gives her neo-folk take on a record where she’s front and center. The diamond of the album is the delicately exquisite and deceptively simple, “peaches”, a song that begins and ends quietly. The song’s power rests in the grace of a sleepy and gently swaying guitar melody, paired with near-harmonized lead vocals — where one voice follows slightly behind the other, light as vapor trail. The song has a touch of Latino elegance, with it’s neo-João Gilberto kinda bossa nova. Just listen to the harmonic phrasing and melody in the line “… so that we can grow another peach” at the 2:31 mark. It’s delicious. The lyrics are quite inventive too — sensual, organic, casual, and romantically rich. “Murder of Crows” is another beauty — opening loudly, with a criss-crossing of uplifting and frenetic strings, tempered elegantly by Epperson’s pretty vocals. You can follow Epperson at facebook and myspace. – David D. Robbins Jr. - David D. Robbins Jr. (via Their Bated Breath blog)

This gem was quietly home-recorded and self-released almost a year ago, in August 2011. The perfect layering of instrumentation is the most striking aspect of these compositions. Loop-pedal beds of string, voice and percussion manage fullness without indulgence or over-saturation. A resounding sense of urgency finds delicate balance with the gentleness of the performances, an effect of the tension and resolution found between the album’s two voices: Epperson’s violin, and her own airy vocals. She is a wild talent, and when the violin drives the melody there is an undeniable sense of story and progression. In “Flight Goggles,” strings soar unencumbered through the air, explore with the freedom of the winged. But, in “We Will Host A Party,” the slicing lyrics and ghostly delivery of Epperson’s vocals drive the song. It is the mastery of these two voices — the strong voice and perfect swell of “…Party,” the call-and-response arrangement of “Murder of Crows” — that make this album great. Essential listening for fans of Final Fantasy, circa He Poos Clouds. - BurlyLetter (via Argue Job blog)

This gem was quietly home-recorded and self-released almost a year ago, in August 2011. The perfect layering of instrumentation is the most striking aspect of these compositions. Loop-pedal beds of string, voice and percussion manage fullness without indulgence or over-saturation. A resounding sense of urgency finds delicate balance with the gentleness of the performances, an effect of the tension and resolution found between the album’s two voices: Epperson’s violin, and her own airy vocals. She is a wild talent, and when the violin drives the melody there is an undeniable sense of story and progression. In “Flight Goggles,” strings soar unencumbered through the air, explore with the freedom of the winged. But, in “We Will Host A Party,” the slicing lyrics and ghostly delivery of Epperson’s vocals drive the song. It is the mastery of these two voices — the strong voice and perfect swell of “…Party,” the call-and-response arrangement of “Murder of Crows” — that make this album great. Essential listening for fans of Final Fantasy, circa He Poos Clouds. - BurlyLetter (via Argue Job blog)