Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Inanna

Guitarist Hank Dorsey and vocalist Hannah Stewart formed the indie pop project, Inanna, back in 2018 when they first began recording music together. They had both quit their jobs and decided that they would spend the summer road tripping across the country. It led to Stewart writing over thirty songs, including some that made the band’s debut EP, What is Living Above the Light. Each song hits close to home for the duo, and will undoubtedly strike a chord with listeners. Pop Culturalist caught up with Inanna to chat about What is Living Above the Light.

PC: How did you both discover your passion for music?
Hannah: I can’t remember a time when music wasn’t in my life. I grew up singing and received praise for it. That positive feedback created a loop that led me to pursue piano, ballet, different types of dance, and music theory. I was in high school when I started to get really serious about both dance and music. I loved going to ballet because it’s truly a beautiful experience to be able to fine tune the technique and contemplate the theory of the music it’s set to. I feel so privileged to have been educated so well in both subjects, and don’t take for granted how special it is to enjoy together—it’s my favorite.

Hank: I discovered mine through listening to MGMT in high school. I needed that sugary sweet intro, but from there I expanded into other genres, and music has been a large part of my life ever since. I love listening to new music, sharing music, and seeing live performances.

PC: How did the two of you meet? How did this partnership form?
Hank: I lived in the front unit of her friend’s duplex in the UCSB student ghetto of Isla Vista. We started off as friends, eventually became more, and now we make music together—a pretty linear trajectory, in my opinion.

PC: What’s been the key to your success?
Hank: Communication! Also, we both really identify with the Steinbeck quote, “Our species is the only creative species, and it has only one creative instrument, the individual mind and spirit of man. Nothing was ever created by two men. There are no good collaborations, whether in music, in art, in poetry, in mathematics, in philosophy. Once the miracle of creation has taken place, the group can build and extend it, but the group never invents anything. The preciousness lies in the lonely mind of a man.” When we work, we always work separately, and sometimes meet up after to possibly integrate different ideas and expound on previous ones, but we don’t try and collaborate simultaneously.

Hannah: Yes! If I have a song idea I’m pursuing, I already know the mood, the rough chords, the melody, and if I don’t, I can answer definitively on possibilities until I hear what I’m looking for. If I’m struggling to find a piece, I’ll ask Hank to just start playing weird chords until I hear one that’s kind of right, then we’ll tweak it until it’s right. But, if you’re creating intentionally, there are so many reasons, social and otherwise, why collaboration only confuses an already elusive process…unless your piece is on the implications of collaboration. [laughs]

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Hannah: There are a lot of amazing teachers and artists who have influenced the different aspects of it, but probably the single biggest is Grimes.

Hank: Two people really stand out to me. One of them is Hannah, which needs no further elaboration, and the other is my best friend from college, who now runs a reissue label called Smiling C. He showed me a lot of new music and helped me realize a lot of things about music I might not have otherwise.

PC: Tell us about What is Living Above the Light. What inspired the EP?
Hannah: WILATL is a tribute to a tumultuous time in my life. It deals with relationships changing, loss, deciding where to go and what to do, and questioning the whole time if you’re doing it right. Each song is an answer to a different factor of the stress I was under before we began pursuing music. It’s dumb to say, but I’m going to anyway: each track is so different, the process behind each was a little bit different, and they each have a unique place in my heart. If you’re a young person going through something, I think odds are there’s a track for you. #findyourtrack?

PC: If you had to choose one song that best encompasses the EP, what would it be and why?
Hannah: “Nebulou” has been the most popular track and deserves a mention here, but I think of “Paradox” as the thesis statement of the EP. I wrote it first and really did have an “aha” moment after I finished it and looked back at what I had written.

PC: What does the rest of the year hold for you as we look ahead in 2019?
Hank: Dance tracks.

Hannah: This EP was our first ever music project together, so we are going to better hone in on our sound, continue working on our craft, and most of all, make new music ASAP as possible. [laughs] And it’s no secret that while we love the nostalgic, comfy, washed-out sound, we also need a good beat and want to be able to dance to our music. Plus, it’s almost summer…

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Hank: The Bachelor

Hannah: Naked and Afraid

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Hank: The Ice Pirates

Hannah: Superbad

PC: Favorite book?
Hank: I finished Lolita by Nabokov recently and I think it might be that. Such a visceral style of writing and such disturbing subject matter make for an intense reading experience. It makes me sad I don’t read Russian because I really want to be able to read his other stuff but I hear the best of it is in Russian, and the way he writes doesn’t lend itself to translation. His prose is probably my favorite part of his writing.

Hannah: East of Eden!

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Hank: My brother just did a great high school rendition of Mamma Mia! recently. It put me on an ABBA kick.

Hannah: I’m going to say the same!

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Hank: I think “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is one of the best pop songs of all time.

Hannah: Death Grips

PC: First album you bought?
Hank: Oracular Spectacular

Hannah: Maybeee Oops!…I Did It Again

PC: First concert you attended?
Hank: Passion Pit. I got in for free and ran into a group of girls. My friend is still dating one of those girls ten years later.

Hannah: My girl, H Duff. They were sold out of concert tees after and we bought one from a sketchy guy in line to get out of the parking lot in our car. Her face is all weird on it and it is def not H Duff-approved merch, but fifteen years later it is still my signature look. Is that gross?

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Hank: Burial’s Untrue was a revelation. I’ve listened to it so many times. It’s meaning has changed for me over time, but it’s always intensely personal. I usually listen to it in a very isolated situation. It has an interesting cover that I didn’t understand at first, but the more familiar I get with the album, the more I empathize with the hand-drawn guy on the cover.

Hannah: Probably The Family Jewels by Marina and the Diamonds. I’m really particular about vocals and was surprised to find that as much as I’m a sucker for clear, pretty vocals—and there are times her voice sounds pretty on the album—what really sold it for me was how much she owns making uglier sounds. I really admired that, and admired that I admired that. It was the first female album where I truly identified with the material and felt like I had an ally in the artist.

To keep up with Inanna, follow them on Twitter and Instagram, and pick up What is Living Above the Light on Amazon Music, iTunes, or stream it on Spotify.