Los Angeles-based multi-disciplinary artist, Gabbie Hanna, says that, for her, communication is the most important part of being human. For Hanna, who has Billboard chart-topping songs and New York Times best selling books to her name to go along with millions of song and music video streams, listening to and comprehending one another is the key to peaceful, productive living. But, if you ask her, Hanna says that while clear communication is essential in all facets of the world, it’s especially important when it comes to interacting with those close with her. Those familial relationships are the roots upon which creativity grows. And they’re the essential aspects of Hanna’s big, ever-burgeoning career.
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“One of the reasons why I love music and poetry so much is because it’s about understanding each other,” Hanna says. “At the end of the day, all conflicts, in my opinion, come from people not understanding one another.”
Hanna, who studied both psychology and communications in college, is an extremely hard worker. For all her talents and abilities, waking up early, putting in the extra time, investigating, researching, learning and discovering have become her professional calling cards. After graduation, Hanna got a job in sales and marketing and, almost immediately, became the leading salesperson in the company. Quickly, though, she realized she was on a fast track within the company, and that wasn’t something she wanted. So, Hanna broke free. On a whim, she moved to Los Angeles where she took a residency at Buzzfeed and, later, built a large social media following one project at a time.
From there, Hanna published a wildly successful book of poetry with Simon & Schuster. But to help the book, she had to create a promo video. To do so, she wrote and recorded her first professional song. Hanna had grown up with music, her mother always had it on in the house and she pushed Hanna to play instruments like the French horn and perform in musical theater. “It was just in her blood and then it was in my blood,” she says. But for all the content she’d created for Buzzfeed and, later, on Vine, MySpace, YouTube and other outlets, she’d never formally tried her hand at writing songs. But, perhaps unsurprisingly, she excelled at that, too.
“To me,” Hanna says, “it’s less about skill and more about hard work. Obviously, there has to be some likability and talent. But more so, I just wanted it really badly. I was waking up every day posting two Vines a day, collaborating with other people, helping each other out. I reached a point where I was impossible to ignore.”
Her debut single found itself on the Billboard charts and that achievement has since dovetailed into many more releases and many millions of video views. Hanna, who grew up in New Castle, Pennsylvania, found solace on the internet when others might have done so with friendships with classmates. Growing up, Hanna says, she found she couldn’t relate well to people her age. She was introverted despite having the skills of an extrovert. So, the internet became a place where she found and started relationships. Today, she’s loyal to the people she’s since worked closely with, including her band and longtime video director.
“I think that I was introverted, but that I wasn’t accepting it,” Hanna says. “I was outgoing in a lot of ways, and my mom is super extroverted. I just wanted to stand out and perform because that was what was instilled in me. But when it came to being a person, I was much more private. It was hard for me to connect to kids my age on an emotional or intellectual level because I was such a weird person and in my own head.”
Hanna says her family was “poor” growing up, that she never had stupendous clothing or the newest brand shoes. She was on the free lunch program and was picked on (“It was hard to fit in,” she says). In fact, some of her old friends have continued to pick fights. Over the past few years, Hanna says, she has experienced a “campaign” of sorts online with people trying to damage her career. While she isn’t explicit about the personal details, the experience has shaken her and caused distrust. Nevertheless, she says, the experience has helped shed unnecessary, boundless aims of trying to please everyone she comes across.
“Crazy-making is the perfect word for it,” Hanna says. “Friendship abuse and narcissistic abuse is not spoken about enough. I’ve recently come to terms with a new mindset, though, where I don’t always feel the need to defend myself or explain myself or share my reasoning with others.”
For someone with a lot of career gains made via the internet, there is almost assuredly a downside. And while Hanna says she has experienced traumas and abuses borne from the Wild West-esque, unchecked digital space, those eras have, in their own way, helped her evolve. To do so, in part, she wrote, recorded and is set to release a new record in 2021 that she calls, This Time Next Year. The concept album, which comes on the heels of her successful and exceptional 2020 EP, Bad Karma, is about the seven stages of grief. She’s released these two stellar tracks for it so far.
“I’ve been working on it for three years now,” Hanna says. “It starts in a dark place and ends in a positive, uplifting one. And the songs are meant to be listened to in order.”
To experience Hanna’s work is to dive headfirst into a cornucopia of color and creativity. Outfits, props and styles abound – not to mention that Hanna’s backing band is comprised of diverse members. For Hanna, a mixture is crucial. It breeds richness of thought. It engenders conversation, creative sparks and, perhaps most importantly, newfound common ground and understanding. And when examining Hanna’s career in totality, it’s easy to surmise that, well, she did the damn thing her way, which only propels her towards more.
“I think that the best part,” Hanna says, “is that when I write a song in my head, I don’t know how it’s going to sound when we build the track. It’s always a surreal moment to hear it when its outside of my head. And with collaboration, we’re only able to make it into something bigger.”
