Hannah Jadagu

Photography by Drew Reynolds. Interview by Heather Hawke.

Hailing from Mesquite, Texas and now residing in New York, 18-year-old Hannah Jadagu has recorded and produced her debut five-song collection — What Is Going On?  — all through her iPhone 7. Using Garageband iOS, an iRig, microphone, and guitar, the tracks encapsulate her thoughts and emotions that surround her personal experiences, as well as what was happening in the world at the time. 

The powerful opening statement of the collection, “My Bones,” holds exceptional meaning for Hannah. She says that with the influx of media coverage of Black women going missing, being murdered, and the lack of care there is for Black women in general, both within this country and the world, she wanted to dedicate a song to it. She adds that she kept the lyric brief, writing “You could take my bones and place them home, they won’t find out’ because I felt those words spoke enough to the situation.”

When Hannah was a junior in high school, she realized that music could be a way to express what she was previously unable to articulate. “Sundown” was the first track to come from this realization and the track is about the overall life of being a pre-college teen. She says that it’s very telling of the music she was consuming at the moment since sonically, it’s very layered with many different background vocals, uses of reverb, chorus and pitch shift. 

The only song she wrote with the initial intention of putting it on an EP, “Think Too Much,” was a challenge to herself to make a song that was high energy, fun, and in her words, a “bop.” The idea came around at a time when she was listening to a lot of Dayglow, Jean Dawson, and Winnetka Bowling League, and thought how easy they made it seem to write such catchy and fun songs. She asked her friends what they thought of the song, compiled their responses, and chose some interesting chords and rhythms inspired by Snail Mail and Phoenix, and says she “went to work.” 

The title track on the EP, “What Is Going On?,” is Hannah’s attempt at a teenage love anthem. The track, a rewrite of a past demo, speaks about the sort of confusion that comes with the infatuate that you can have for someone. When she had originally posted the demo to Soundcloud, people loved it, but she felt like there wasn’t much of a story to tell so she took it down until she had an experience that inspired her. After a call with her sister, she was encouraged to practically rewrite the whole song. As far as the production side, she was heavily influenced by Clairo/Rostam, Deb Never, and Beabadoobee and wanted to tap into the rockstar in her.

One night during Hannah’s senior year she grabbed her guitar and in a stream of consciousness flurry she wrote most of the lyrics for the final track on the EP, “Bleep Bloop.” The lyrics came about when she was thinking of how young people are often expected to just ‘deal with it,’ when it comes to the ebb and flow of mental health. She adds, “While I feel that I am very privileged, I still think it’s okay to not feel good, and be able to talk about it.” The production on this track she says was a little homage to Dijon’s ‘Nico’s Red Truck,’ a song she was “super obsessed” with at the time (she was also listening to a lot of SZA’s ‘20 Something’ and Frank Ocean).

Through it all, she says that What Is Going On? is truly like seeing through her exterior and getting to know what’s she been through over the past few years, in just a matter of 30 minutes.

Hannah Jadagu’s web/socials: Website – Bandcamp – Soundcloud – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter 

Hi! So, things are pretty unsettling in the world due to the pandemic, civil rights issues, government upheaval, climate change, the list goes on… 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? 

Hi!! This past year was definitely a lot… I think especially when thinking about being a young black musician, the past year was not the easiest and led me to go process a lot of things I might have brushed over before. I definitely was able to use music to cope, and talking to my sister about everything was always nice. I’m feeling better going into this new sort of era. I’m excited and hopeful. 

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?

It’s interesting because for me, things actually started picking up more as the pandemic progressed. I started talking to labels and getting signed during the pandemic, and before that I was just putting out music whenever I felt like I had something worthy of being released and wanted people to hear it. The only thing that has changed is I have to wait a little longer for my label and stuff haha, other than that, it’s still the same me, creating the same way.

Going back to the beginning. What was your childhood like growing up in Mesquite, Texas? Did creativity/music/art play a big part of your childhood?  

Growing up in Mesquite was like growing up in any other average, slightly country, suburb. There wasn’t a crazy art scene, but I always gravitated towards things like percussion, school choir, throwing house shows/showcases. 

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? 

When I was a lot younger, I was listening to whatever my mom was playing for the most part. Mainly radio hits in the Pop or Hip Hop world. But also some artists that she personally loved a little more from mixtapes and CDs. However, when I got to middle school, I started exploring my taste in music, as I was listening to it any chance that I got. I was super into rap music actually. It wasn’t until high school when I sort of got introduced to the Alternative world. Music education started way back in elementary for me. I actually was apart of a really formal children’s chorus. 

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? 

I kind of mentioned this earlier, but middle school was definitely the time when I was so into finding new music and listening to it. Looking back on it, this was a pre-Spotify era, so I was using a lot of Soundcloud, Youtube recs/Youtube Music Recs, and radio (in the car or on my apps). 

Let’s talk about your formative years. What was the very first concert you attended? Did you play any sports / go to summer camps? Were there posers on your wall when you were growing up? 

I played basketball for about 5 years, really loved it until I didnt… used to go to some local and very remote summer camps, and did music industry camps later on in high school… oh and my first real concert was Paramore. Hayley Williams is so good live. 

I read that these songs on your spectacular five-song collection, What Is Going On, encapsulate your thoughts, hopes, and fears of growing up as a young Black woman in the U.S. with themes of empowerment and a very knowledgeable worldview weaved throughout. What was your songwriting/creative process like for this collection? What mindset did you have when you were first diving into the creating / recording process of it? 

My creative process was just me sitting in my room, writing songs, messing around with layering and different sounds, turning to my favorites artists for inspiration and just trying to make music I thought I would enjoy. 

I wanna talk about how you record and produce all your music through your iPhone 7 (using Garageband iOS, an iRig, microphone, and guitar). I read that this whole EP was based around what being a DIY artist means for you “using resources you had, friendship, & just havin fun”… How and when did you get the idea to start making music this way? Did you feel any sort of limitations when recording it? How did you improvise / make do?

I got this idea way back in middle school. I used to make music (It wasn’t good) secretly for so long. But it wasn’t until I watched that Steve Lacy video in high school and went to go get an Irig that my production got better. I didn’t really feel limitations in terms of the EP bc it was all I knew. 

How long were you working on What Is Going On?? How much did you, and the lyrics/music, evolve in that time? Was there an event or a specific timeframe where a large chunk of the lyricism came out? Where were you at physically, mentally when you wrote the lyrics/music for this? 

I was actually working on this for about 5 months. I started getting serious about the EP in the summer when people were reaching out, but I was working a job, getting ready to go to college, and then moving to a new city for school so it took me about 5 months to hone in on everything and turn it in. But technically it’s been in the works over years since all songs are pretty spaced out in terms of original creation. Usually I tend to write chords and lyrics at the same time, and then flesh out the lyrics in a better way later. Each song takes place at a different time in my life but most of the time I was just writing about experiences!

You’ve said that your track “Sundown” (written while you were in a junior in high school) was the first song that helped you realize that music could be a way to express what you were otherwise unable to articulate and that the track was a way for you to “express thoughts you’d previously kept to yourself.” With that in mind, which songs on What Is Going On? were the easiest / most difficult to create? What are two or three songs you are most proud of on this record? Why? 

The most difficult to come up with was “Think Too Much,” because it was the last song that I made for the EP and I was really challenging myself to do something more upbeat yet still honest. I also spent a lot of time on What Is Going On? And for such a long time I was most proud of that one because of how far it’s come.

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?

It depends. Most of the time, it’s actually just this sort of feeling of inspiration I’ll feel. I’ll just be in my room relaxing, and when I least expect it, I’ll feel the need to grab my guitar and hum some melodies or open up the laptop and visit a previous project. On the other hand, there are times where I intentionally go to write a song, and sometimes I can make something cool out of it, because I’ll actually allow myself to try new things, and look to my favorite artists for inspiration. 

When and how did the album title What Is Going On?? come about in the album creation process? What is the significance of the title? 

I wasn’t really able to figure out the name of the EP until most of the song’s were at least demoed and for sure going to be on the project. I’m pretty sure I had the whole tracklist set before I realized that the EP was going to be called What Is Going On? But for me, I wanted a title that really grasped the previous, present, and future months to come for me. It’s a question I found myself unironically asking a lot. I still do today but now people always think I’m quoting myself haha. 

Speaking about “Sundown” again, in honor of recording the entire EP on your iPhone, you wanted to also shoot a video on one too (which I think is AMAZING!). What was the treatment for this video? How long was this video in the making? Any fun behind the scenes facts from the making of it?

Thanks!! Making the video for sundown was super fun. The video made me a little nervous though because it was the biggest sort of cast I had ever done, and had a bit more tricks to it.

On that topic, 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 impacts the intention behind all of this?

I am actually very hands on with everything. Sometimes it kind of gets a tad overwhelming haha. Especially in terms of the EP, I remember planning storylines/concepts for all the videos (w/ the help of my manager/director), and spending hours listening to the music and envisioning the videos in my head. For press images, I always pick my outfits, inspiration photos, and communicate what kind of “vibe” I’m going for. For artwork, I asked so many people, tossed and turned, and finally landed on a friend of a friend, who is now a friend, and talked with her about what the colors should be, the type of font/design would make sense in terms of the EP….all of that. I think social media obviously has such a big impact whether we notice it or not. I like the idea of using social media as a way to showcase cool ideas, different eras, and just allowing yourself to express who you are. However, I also like the idea of realizing that at the end of the day, it really shouldn’t matter as long as you believe that what you’re doing is cool. No one will ever care as much as you do!

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

Seeing my influences, visions, and hard work come to life was my favorite part.