Alann8h

Lead photograph by Nuttha Kruasuwan. Other Press Images by: Isabella Sergeant and Suparkorn Tipsumonta. Interview by Heather Hawke.  

Genre-bending singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Alann8h – whose unique sound eloquently flows between lo-fi indie, pop, alternative, and R&B – released her debut EP Dumb Daze in 2020 and quickly followed it up with her Apollo 8 EP in November 2021.

Alann8h fully embraced the two hometowns her and her four siblings grew up between (Bangkok, Thailand, and Whistler, Canada), and allowed the two very different cultures to shaped her to who she is. At the age of sixteen, she began writing her own songs and recorded them over beats she found on the internet combined with riffs she would play herself on guitar, ukulele, piano, and double bass. It was then that she realized that her own art could make people feel the way she felt listening to her favorite artists (like Etta James and Frank Ocean). 

She began releasing a string of singles in 2018 and 2019 and when she released the lead single “My Mind Is A Maze” off her debut EP (Dumb Daze) in May 2020, Alann8h’s career instantly took off. Alann8h followed the Dumb Daze release with six tracks which culminated into her sophomore EP Apollo 8 (released this past November). Apollo 8 features seven wide ranging tracks that she says were an “escape” from the “hectic life” she’s been living, “It’s been a rollercoaster, but this EP allowed me to turn that into an audio diary. I love every aspect of it.” 

Alann8h’s web/socials: Soundcloud – Instagram

Hi! So, these past 20 months have been pretty intense due to various reasons including the pandemic… Before we began, how are you doing with everything? How has this last year been for you and how are you feeling? How have you been coping with everything?

The past 20 months has been one hell of a rollercoaster in the best and worst ways. I’ve grown into my shoes finally as a human and as a musician and have been able to use this time to form deep connections with the people I love most. I’ve been coping with everything the way I’m guessing everyone does it just kicking myself back off from the floor and keep going haha.

I feel like the music industry has shifted even more so during the pandemic. How has it felt, to you, as an artist? Has it been freeing? Is it scary trying to question how to approach music making and then how to or if you want to creatively release it to the public?

At time covid could be isolating personally for me as a musician as I am someone who feed off of those around me, being forced inside definitely called for an introspective EP because I all I really had to write about was what was going on in my mind rather than what I was doing and experiences I was living.

Going back to the beginning. I read that you and your four siblings split time between two hometowns of Bangkok, Thailand, and Whistler, Canada. What was your childhood like growing up in both places? Did creativity/music/art play a big part of your childhood?  What are your favorite things about both hometowns?

My childhood was so culturally diverse. Living in Thailand I went to an international school where there were all kinds of cultures and people. Growing up in Bangkok was a unique experience that I will always be grateful for: especially the cheap yummy food, it’s so good and so cheap like what more could you ask for. Canada is more serene and peaceful but nowhere near as cheap. I’m so grateful for being from these 2 places and get to enjoy the beauty of 2 completely different cultures and places.

Tell me about your musical upbringing. What music did you grow up listening to? When did you first become aware that music was going to be a part of your life? What was your formal / not formal music education like growing up?

Growing up I listened to all the music of my family members. My dad got me in on all the rock classics from the 60’s and 70’s and my mom was more into the slow ballads and disco of the 80’s my eldest sister went through a huge emo phase so all the pop-punk bands I listen to are from her and my older brother listened to more rap and mainstream stuff. I still listen to all of these, but I finally found what I like more and created my own music taste throughout the years. Artists like Frank Ocean, Tyler The Creator, Cage The Elephant, and Tame Impala really drove me to find my own taste. I knew music was gonna be a huge part of my life because I started loving and singing music at the early age of 3.

When you were old enough to start seeking out music, where did you regularly find yourself (a certain record store / internet site / getting recommendations from a certain friend)? Who were some of the artists you first found and then were always on the lookout for?

Before Spotify was a thing, I would always download songs off YouTube and convert them to mp3 and name the title and art and everything. I would then upload it to my iPhone. But luckily as I was transitioning to better music taste Spotify was created and I instantly hopped on the bandwagon. Some artists I first started getting into were Frank Ocean, Tyler The Creator, Tame Impala, Banes World, Arctic Monkeys, Cage The Elephant, the 1975 just to name a few but the list goes on.

Talking some more about your formative years… What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? When was the first time you felt super inspired by music? Were there posers on your wall when you were growing up?

HAHA the first concert I attended was when I was 10 years old it was Lady Gaga. I was awake for 3 songs and then I slept till the very end…. sorry Gaga <3. I did play sports, I dabbled in soccer and field hockey, and touch rugby, I also went to space camp which is what sparked my interest in space and sparked my idea for the EP.  I’ve always felt super inspired by music, there was not really a first time, however, when I posted my music and people actually listened that’s when I was like oh shiii maybe I should keep doing this. No posters on my wall, my walls were brown, ugly and the posters never looked good.

Let’s talk about your newest EP, Apollo 8! What was your songwriting/creative process like for it? How long was the writing/recording process and was there an event or a specific timeframe where a large chunk of the lyricism came out?

My songwriting process was different for every song on the EP and was done at different times. A lot of the ones on this EP started with just guitar and me and somewhere with beats and singing along over them. The lyrics all came out from different times and different emotions.

I read that this EP was your “escape” from the hectic life you’d been living. What mindset did you have going into the creating / recording of the Apollo 8 EP? Where were you at physically, mentally when you wrote the lyrics/music?

The majority of the songs were written when I was in Thailand during the COVID quarantine and lockdown there. It was lonely and isolating and i just wanted to think of happy thoughts and happy things and convey the sadness into music that would make me feel better. I record everything in my bedroom so everything was made in one place, and it could get repetitive, but I kept sticking through it to create the sounds I needed to hear.

Did you have any parts of the tracks off of Apollo 8 (whether it be lyrics, beats, harmonies) around the time of your first track “My Mind Is A Maze” or your 2020 debut EP release or before?

Yes, the closest one I wrote to “My Mind Is A Maze” was “Astral Projection,” except I never could think of a good second verse and I kept coming back to it so many times but it never sounded the way that I liked. Finally, one day, I was scrolling on discover weekly and came across this UK artist Feux, I knew I wanted him on the track and sent it over and the rest was history <3.

Do you find it helpful to be intentional when it comes to writing the lyrics / music? Like “I’m going to sit down and work on a song.” Or is it more ephemeral, like you’ve been kicking something around in your head for days, weeks, months, and then suddenly it comes spilling out? Or is it a mixture of both?

Most of the time it is intentional (or when I’m procrastinating heavily), but it can get stressful cause when you go in it with the intention you have this idea that you are about to write a banger and it doesn’t end up that way, kinda can stress you out. I find that the less I think about it, the better it is.

Which songs off Apollo 8 were the easiest / most difficult to create? What song(s) are you most proud of on this EP? Why?

I am most proud of “Rings of Saturn” cause I always loved the song, it originally started as a slow ballad just on the guitar but I sent it over to Jimi Somewhere and Milo Orchis who co-produced the track and just brought it to life in ways I couldn’t have dreamt of. It was quite a sad song but they juxtaposed it perfectly, and I’m so proud that its doing so well right now!

When and how did the title Apollo 8 come about in the creation process? What is the significance of the title?

Right around the time, it came to naming the EP I was writing a paper for the controversial topic of the moon landing being fake or real (its real by the way). And I always loved the name Apollo and it fit with the whole idea of space and escaping reality and I just had to use 8 cause it’s in my name hehehehe.

What was your favorite part about the Apollo 8 writing / creation process?

There is no one favorite “part” really, it’s all about creating and hearing it and finally getting to share it with the world. It’s like when you’re pregnant you know, then you’re holding this thing in your belly for 9 months just waiting to finally let it go and see it live and in the flesh. Yea I would say being able to finally show of this baby you created to the world is my favorite part about it.

How hands on are you with the making of / direction of the visuals (music videos, press images, artwork) that accompanies the music? Do you feel like the art that accompanies one’s music is more / less important than it used to be? How do you feel like social media / the internet impacts the intention behind all of this?

I like to be pretty hands-on because I don’t have the option not to do so. I don’t have that many connections, so I take it upon myself and use my friends to help create visuals for my work. I’ve only ever created one real music video that’s out. I feel like it’s less important in the eyes of the public, but more important in the eyes of the artist. Social media has heightened the use of visuals for sure, whether it is short clips or even posting to Instagram, everyone has a place to let and brand out their creative outlet.

Does traveling influence you as an artist? Are you inspired by the places you go, or do you think your work would sound about the same no matter where you created it?

I would say I think I work with sound the same no matter where I go, as long as I have a microphone haha.

Have you had any mentors along the way?

I have not had any mentors, but my friends and family support around me is basically the best mentor you could ask for.