Fanclubwallet
Hannah Judge was in the music scene long before she became a recording artist. Judge is a photographer, cartoonist and musician from Ottawa. Fanclubwallet releases their sophomore album, Living While Dying on October 24 on Lauren Records. Five years ago Fanclubwallet was born when Judge released “This Must Be The Place.” Since then she released Fanclubwallet’s debut album You’ve Got To Kidding Me and toured.
Living While Dying includes the previous releases singles “Cotton Mouth”, “Know You Anymore” and “New Distraction”
Judge has Crohn’s disease and the album came during dark times. FEMMUSIC was honored to e-mail with Judge about the album. Fanclubwallet will be on tour this November opening for Toledo.
Tour Dates (w/ TOLEDO)
November 5 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe
November 6 – Columbus, OH @ Rumba Café
November 7 – Chicago, IL @ Schubas Tavern
November 9 – Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
November 11 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
November 13 – Seattle, WA @ The Sunset Tavern
November 14 – Portland, OR @ Polaris Hall
November 16 – San Francisco, CA @ 4 Star Theater
November 18 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Moroccan Lounge
November 19 – Phoenix, AZ @ Last Exit Live
November 22 – Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room & Garage
November 23 – Dallas, TX @ Dada Dallas
Nov 25 – Atlanta, GA @ Purgatory
#fanclubwallert
FEMMUSIC: What is your goal or theme with Living While Dying? How did you approach this album differently from You Have Got To Be Kidding Me?
HJ: The theme around LWD is generally isolation. I wrote a lot of it while I was really sick and struggling with feeling like I was a ghost in my own life. When it came time to actually record, things were a little different. I was feeling a lot better and ended up writing some more reflective songs with the full band, and recording the album with them too. When we did YHGTBKM it was just me and Michael!
FEMMUSIC: I understand you recorded the album in a week at Port William Sound. What was the biggest challenge making the album? How much pre-production did you do?
HJ: We did a lot of slow pre-prod, recording a song here and there. “Cotton Mouth” is almost 3 years old at this point and we basically had that one fully finished! A lot of the pre-prod “demo” vocals and general takes actually made it to the final album because I liked how they sounded and the energy! I think the biggest challenge (other than the being chronically ill part lol) was figuring out the track list. We ended up cutting some songs and making some last minute changes that were hard to decide.
FEMMUSIC: Let’s dive into some of the songs. Tell me about “I Love The Hell I Know.” How did that song develop?
HJ: “I Love The Hell I Know/Guts” are actually what made me decide to make this album. I had a handful of songs sitting around and was trying to figure out which direction to go in, but when I made “guts” I knew that we had to do this album. I had just found out I had to have my first major surgery for crohn’s and they were going to take out the part of my intestine that was just totally obliterated by disease. I was feeling so overwhelmed by the idea, and if somehow taking out a part of me would fundamentally change who I was. That’s where this song came from.
FEMMUSIC: Tell me about “Head On.” How did that song develop?
HJ: I wrote the lyrics to “Head On” while I was walking home from work one night. Later Michael and Eric and I were hanging out in the living room and playing with this old dinky Casio keyboard I have, and we found this funny but cool loop on it. It had this overly complicated bass line that we really liked. Eric and Michael played guitar over it and I formed the lyrics in my notes app to fit. That song’s all about staying home and regretting it, even when you know it’s the right decision.
FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique? How has it evolved? How does a song develop within the band?
HJ: I usually write a song by just noticing little things in my life. I write a lot of songs while I’m listening to other songs, or at least the lyrics. I’ll get inspired by a random word and turn it into a whole thing about what’s going on in my life. I think a lot of my songwriting is pretty insular at first, but I always turn to Michael or the band to help me finish things off. For this album they wrote a lot of the instrumentals which was pretty new for me.
FEMMUSIC: It’s been over 5 years since “This Must Be The Place” came out. How have you developed as artist? What are your own goals for your music and your art?
HJ: I want to keep connecting with people. I want to connect with more people with chronic illnesses or people that feel limited in any way. I just want people to feel like their dreams are possible!! My goal with my music and my art is just to be nice and be relatable in some way. I would also like to play in Europe or the UK.
FEMMUSIC: Which artist would you most like to tour with or collaborate with? Why?
HJ: I’m not big on collaborating just for the sake of collaborating, but if I could with anyone I would want to collab with Baths or Advance Base. My dream band to tour with of all time would probably be The Killers or Modest Mouse haha.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you change about the music industry?
HJ: I would slow things down. Everything is so fast paced and demanding and it doesn’t give artists time to sit and think and experience enough to make the music. When artists do have to stop their careers suffer. I don’t think that’s fair. Everyone should be a little kinder and more understanding, and slow down a little.