Interview: No Limit for Hannah V

As a former session keyboard player for Rihanna, Jessie J, and Jason Derulo, Hannah V has seen it all. Afterglow sat down with her to talk about songwriting, her new EP, and finding success in the industry.

Written by Delaney Davis

Photo courtesy of BBC

After touring the world with the most beloved superstars in the industry, Hannah V decided she wanted a change of pace. She moved away from a life on the road and headed, instead, towards the studio. Her EP, Limit, is her latest effort, utilizing songs of multiple genres to express a common theme: empowerment. 

So starting at the beginning — how did you get into music as well as songwriting and producing?

I started out playing classical piano as a kid. And I got quite good at it, but when I became a teenager, I quit piano lessons because my lessons were on a Friday. I was like, “Hell no, I need to hang out with my friends.” I was quite lucky, because I went to an international school in Berlin, and the music program was based on the American system. So, I got back into music there and fell in love with jazz there. 

My band teacher introduced me to a couple of jazz albums. I was playing in orchestras, choirs, everything. I was just hanging out in the music building all my life. So the path to becoming a professional musician became quite clear early on. So when I was like fifteen or sixteen, I kinda knew this was what I wanted to do. 

But I wanted to be a jazz musician, initially. I came to London, and I studied jazz at the Royal Academy of Music. After I graduated, I was doing a couple of gigs here and there. But then I kinda fell into being a session keyboard player. One of my friends called me up — they needed a keyboard player for a pop artist. And even though I hadn’t done it before, I just said yes and learned the ropes quite fast. Then the trajectory twisted into pop a bit more, I guess. So I started out — my first couple of gigs were like Gnarls Barkley, stuff like that. It ended up becoming bigger and bigger: Anastacia, Sugababes, Jason Derulo, Taio Cruz, until I ended up playing for Rihanna for a year. I was Jessie J’s keyboard player for about three years and lots of people in between. It’s amazing, touring the world as a keyboard player with superstars. 

Five years ago, though, I decided I was ready for a change — I had been on tour for about eight years, at that point. So I decided to make that jump from being a touring session musician to being full-time in the studio — a producer. So I quit everything and started building up the production business and the writing business. And, yeah — I’m having such a good time. I feel like all the skills I learned on tour are totally transferable skills — how to work with artists, and all of that. The sound — obviously, I was already working with pop artists so I feel like it was a natural progression into producing that kind of stuff. So now my life is like, I work on my own projects, I produce and write for other people — it’s like a real combination of things. That’s the slightly shorter answer. 

So in regard to the songwriting process — what’s it like, and what are the steps you take when you’re beginning to write or produce a song?

I always work with different singers or topliners. Topliners are people that write melody and lyrics — ‘cause don’t write lyrics myself. It’s truly a process of collaboration. A lot of times, we crowd around a piano, and I’ll start playing some chords, and the singers or the topliners will start humming melodies. We slowly start to feel like we’re getting something that’s actually quite hooky and sticks — I then start producing that up, and they start writing the lyrics. Or, I have loads and loads of beats that singers, especially rappers, like working with. They’ll come in and listen to the beats and will start writing to one of those that they like. So, it kinda depends from person to person. Every day can be different. But it’s a very collaborative process — it’s a very open process. 

And you’ve talked about this a little bit — you’ve worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. Rihanna, Jessie J, Jason Derulo, Stormzy… What was it like working with those artists?

It’s amazing! ‘Cause the thing is, people don’t become superstars by mistake. People at the very top of their profession are there because they’re amazing at their job. For me, it all boils down to that. I just want to make great music. So having Stomzy — literally, I’m in my studio right now — having Stormzy sitting right there and write “Mama’s Prayers” — the track I did with him and JP [Cooper]  — literally just two hours for him to write his bars and record it all — it’s just crazy for me to see that.

Same with being on stage with artists like Jessie [J]. I mean, she’s one of the best singers in the world — simple. And to be a part of that sound is so ridiculous. Rihanna is just an icon. And the thing I love about Rih is that she’s exactly who she is onstage and offstage — it’s just the same person. Her swag, the delivery, the way she sings, her songs — nobody can sing a Rihanna song like Rihanna. Simple. 

So you said earlier you grew up in a variety of different cultures. You were born to South Indian parents, grew up in Berlin, and now you live in London. How do you think that background translates into your songwriting and your music?

I think you can hear that my production, my songwriting, and my music is a real mixture — a real mish-mash. On my EP itself, you have my first track, which has Indian influences. I just went to India this year and was really inspired when I came back. There’s obviously the jazz influence, which is from me going to my American school. I’ve lived in the UK for over ten years, so my music naturally has a UK tinge to it. I think all of the cultures feed into each other. I am a mixture of my culture, and therefore, my music is a mixture of my cultures, as well.

Photo courtesy of Nation of Billions

So you recently released an EP — No Limit. I found it to be a very empowering piece of work. 

Yay! Amazing.

Is that what you want the listener out of the EP, or is there something else you want them to get out of it?

I think absolutely the empowerment of it is the most important thing. When you’re actually creating these things, you’re not thinking about the bigger picture, really — you’re just making songs. I spent years just collecting songs, songs, songs. And then it started getting to when I had to whittle it down a little. And I realized that, unintentionally, I had a project where all the top picks were about empowerment, about liberation, about being strong. There was mainly females featured on it. And so it ended up being this female empowerment, “Go get what’s yours — liberate yourself — be strong — everything’s possible,” record — which is kinda the way I live my life anyways. But, it was unintentional. It just happened to be that.

So you mentioned that the EP has a lot of features, mainly female features. How did pick who you wanted to be featured on this EP?

Most of them are my friends. It’s just all my friends. And I think that’s the beauty of music. I met Shystie three years ago — she’s featured on the lead single — who is amazing, really a grime legend in the UK. We worked together loads. Same with Cherri V. Ama Scheryer, featured on “Bangles,” is one of my best friends. So these are all relationships that have existed for a long time — there’s real trust between us. So, again, it wasn’t really a thing of picking people. It’s just, all of a sudden, I happened to have this dope ass collection of songs there that fit really beautifully together on a project. 

So you kinda touched on this earlier. The EP has a lot of different sounds on it. Did you go through a process when picking those sounds, or was it more natural and based on your background? 

Again, I always do whatever I hear. I remember back in the day, especially when I first started producing, certain people would be like, “Hannah, stick to a sound. You can’t all of a sudden do jazz and then all of a sudden do hip hop.” I remember saying, “Yes, yes, yes,” but deep down thinking, “Why? Why can’t I do whatever the hell I wanna do?” 

I think the one thing on the record that is consistent is my piano playing. Most of the records have nice jazz-based pianos, and I think that’s a lot of what makes a Hannah V record a Hannah V record.

Do you have any advice for anyone looking to get involved in the industry, especially women and other minority groups that aren’t as represented?

You just have to keep doing what you do. Keep your head down — make sure you perfect your craft. And there is no perfection of craft, because that’s the creative process. There are always ways to get better. You never win against music. Music always kicks your ass. What I mean is: take your craft really seriously. Try to improve every single day. Research — know your history. Research your heroes. Really get geeky with whatever your craft is. Because ultimately, it’s the music that will speak for itself. 

Absolutely there will be doors that are closed for you, if you’re in the minority. But, I kinda just ignored it. I kinda ignored the doors closing. Because all you need is one yes here and all you need is a door to slightly open there. All you need is people that believe in your stuff around you — and then all you need to do is deliver. 

Interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.
Listen to Hannah V on Spotify and find her on Instagram @hannahvofficial and Twitter @HannahV.