Nuns

Nuns, the enigmatic solo project of multi-instrumentalist Hank Hanewinkel III, sprang to life in a flash of songwriting inspiration
on a cold December 2012 night in Nashville, TN. As it turns out, the
24-year old had no plans whatsoever to begin writing a solo record that
night. But when the muse speaks, it’s usually best to listen carefully.

That’s exactly what he did.


It’s not that Hanewinkel was unprepared for such an occasion…most of
his life has been immersed in music. It started early for the Broken
Arrow, OK, native. Growing up in a tight-knit family of performers,
Hanewinkel received years of solid rock’n’roll training from his father,
a music producer. He was introduced to drums at the ripe old age of
two. By 10, he took an interest in guitar. Soon after, he started
writing his own songs. Several years later, Hanewinkel formed a power
trio, The Red Alert, with his sister and uncle. They eventually went on
to win the national John Lennon Educational Tour Bus Battle of the
Bands, which landed them a slot on the Warped Tour.

After
enduring The Red Alert’s untimely demise in 2011 and experiencing some
life-altering relationship woes, Hanewinkel stopped writing songs for an
entire year. He opted instead to keep his head down and play drums for
several Tulsa area bands…letting music and life come to him at its own
unpredictable pace instead of chasing it down.

His songwriting
sabbatical ended, however, during a much-needed vacation to visit some
friends in Nashville. As Hanewinkel describes it, a guitar found its way
into his hands and his creative floodgates simply re-opened…with a
vengeance. It was a true “out of the blue” experience for him. The music
flowed like a torrent. By the time Hanewinkel entered his father’s
recording studio in Feb. 2013 to begin tracking what would eventually
become Nuns’ gorgeous, psychedelic 10-song debut release, Opportunities,
most of the record was already written.

During mixing sessions
for the release, Hanewinkel passed some early demos to Tulsa label
Passive Recordings, who eagerly signed Nuns to their roster. Passive
will release Opportunities on vinyl and digital formats in May 2014.