Carlie Hanson is Trusting Her Gut and It’s A New Era: Listen to “Covering Faces”
Photo credit: Hunter Lyon
Rising pop sensation Carlie Hanson is captivating audiences once again with her new single, "Covering Faces," and this time she’s forging her own path. The track delves into the intricate nuances of personal growth and changing connections, showcasing Hanson's lyrical prowess and emotive delivery.
The release of "Covering Faces" marks a new chapter for Carlie Hanson, marking her status as an independent artist. We connected with the budding singer-songwriter to learn more about her soothing pop ballad, her love of production, and the impact she’s making in the DIY-sphere.
REVERIE: Hi Carlie! Let’s start at the beginning…what inspired you to start your artistic journey?
Carlie Hanson: When I was about 8-9 years old, I discovered Justin Bieber. I was completely in awe and wanted to mimic every single thing he did. Sing the same as him, play all the same covers that he did, I wanted to dance like him.. lol. But even before then, my family was always playing music in the house or on car rides. I give a lot of props to my older sis for all the dope music she played growing up. For instance.. Avril Lavigne, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence, while also showing me Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Nelly.. etc etc. My mom loves grunge and hard rock, so I was also introduced to Nirvana, Alice in Chains Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed, Seether, Metallica.. I was exposed to so many different genres of music starting from such a young age. Once I found Justin Bieber, though, it was over. I knew exactly what I wanted to be from that point forward. A mf singer
R: “Covering Faces” is your newest song since your sophomore release (2023). What’s the next era of Carlie Hanson?
CH: Right now I’m kind of just going with the flow. I was signed to a major label for the last few years, so I’m having fun with taking matters into my own hands when it comes to releasing music. It has been so freeing. I can just pick a song and decide to drop it next week if I want to. It wasn’t that easy before! And, that’s exactly what happened with Covering Faces. I produced that one in my room at my apartment, showed it to my friends Gabe and Liam, and we finished it up together. Next thing I knew, I posted a teaser of it on my instagram and the response was incredible. Right then and there I was able to schedule a release for the song that week after. Since the response was so sick with CF, I’ve been so inspired recently to keep producing on my own. Who knows, maybe there will be a whole new project soon…
R: What themes or subject matters do you find yourself drawn to the most during your songwriting process?
Honestly, it really depends. Lately it’s been a lot of self reflection in my writing, a lot of venting. I feel like a lot of my songs recently have just been me spewing out anger or sadness as if there’s a therapist on the other side listening. But, sometimes, I don’t even know what I’m talking about when I begin to write a song. I almost always start with guitar chords. After that, I will do takes and takes and takes of melody passes that are just full of gibberish words, which then somehow brings me to an understanding of what the song is about. It’s such a strange thing. I do have stuff written in my notebook of day to day diary bullshit, but lately I haven’t even found myself looking through it for lyrical inspiration like I did years ago. Now, I kind of just melody vomit and try not to think so hard about what’s happening. Idk man music is weird
R: You’re not currently on a label, yet you're seeing so much success as an independent artist! How has your experience been as a young, DIY artist and do you have any tips for other artists who are following in similar footsteps?
CH: It has been so liberating, soooo frickin freeing. I feel way less pressured to be anything but myself. It helps having a great management team around me, too. They let me go with the flow and don’t push me to do anything that doesn’t feel right. Another thing that has made a huge difference in my ~independent~ career is learning how to produce music on my own. I would say that’s my advice to someone, (if they haven’t already), is to start learning how to produce. Especially being a woman in music, I always looked at it as this intimidating thing that I could never learn, but once you get past that first step, I swear it will pay off in so many ways. My other piece of advice is JUST GO WITH YOUR GUT!!! Release the music that YOU want to release. Make the art that YOU want to make ! And if something doesn’t feel right, your gut is telling you that for a reason.
R: Any artists or songs you can’t stop listening to lately?
Mac Miller, Ekkstacy, Strawberry Fuzz, 070 Shake, Glaive, Ethel Cain - Strangers,
R: What’s next for Carlie Hanson? Anything fans can look forward to?
Lots of new music!!!!!! So much new music!!!!!! So much!!