Hannah Peel

Introducing Hannah Peel
It’s a rare night off for Hannah Peel, currently touring as part of The Unthanks’ expanded lineup and as the tour support in a solo capacity.
Not to mention the fact that she’s halfway through recording her own debut album with Tunng’s Mike Lindsey, due for release later this year – which is no mean feat, given she has only really been writing her own material for the past six months.
“I always wrote a lot of instrumental music; music for short films, theatre, that sort of thing. When I got to LIPA, I found that there were so many other songwriters that I didn’t want to add to it. I wanted to do something else,” she replies, honestly.
And something else she did: composing for puppetry, participating in Nitin Sawhney’s celebrated Aftershock project and Liverpool’s inaugural AudioVisual festival.
But the classically trained pianist (and self taught trombonist and violinist) chanced upon a music box when composing for theatre. Entranced by this peculiar instrument, she sought to find out whether it could be self-programmed to play the music of her choosing.
“I was in an old bookshop one day and, by pure luck, I found a book on programmable music boxes. It had an LP in the back and I got it instantly.”
It wasn’t long before Hannah was using her knowledge, and Static Caravan released Rebox, a limited edition 7” of her music box reworkings of classic eighties songs.
“When you make the music for the music box, it looks so clinical: hole punching on a grid. But it’s far more exciting than that; it goes in and out of time. I was looking for some tunes to do on it with real riffs and I immediately thought of Tainted Love.
“People seemed to really love it and I was told to do some more. I stuck to eighties songs because they are so beat driven and clinical, but with great riffs – and it proved a real challenge on the music box.”
It worked. The 7”, comprising of Tainted Love, Cocteau Twins’ Sugar Hiccup, OMD’s Electricity and Blue Monday, sold out.
Obviously encouraged by this, not to mention by the recognition she has gained as a session musician with The Unthanks, David Ford and Blue Roses, Hannah Peel struck out on her own.
As a result, Hannah is having to be a little more selective in her session work at present.
“But that’s the way it should be,” she offers, “I’ll probably always be dipping in and out, and that’s nice. It’s a good way to get to know people, and that way you’ll always have support.
“After all, music is meant to be sociable; I’m not a bedroom basher.”
Sophie Parkes