Author: Keith Mitchell
Source
I first started working with Phil Hanson in 2019 and since, we have collaborated on various musical projects including his first solo Trumpet Sample Pack. Although his style and influences stem from jazz, he has the ability to complement many styles of modern music from hip hop to blues to soul while still keeping true to his sound.
In usual 100 Akres fashion, I decided to dig a bit deeper into the mind of the France based Trumpeter by asking some off-colour questions. His answers didn’t disappoint…
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Invent a new word.
Musicalisation – this is the act of musicifying (maybe another new word!!) everything 🙂 In my world everything sounds better with music!
You’re on a raft. Your wife and daughter are overboard drowning. You can only save one of them. Who do you save?
My daughter is probably a better swimmer right now than my wife, so I would probably save my wife but shout encouragement to my daughter to motivate her into swimming alongside us as we swam to shore. In my head my son is already on the shore and all 3 of us make it that far to join him. Then we walk to a pub which is conveniently just down the road, have a meal and warm up / dry out by the log fire. When we walk into the pub we see lots more people doing the same who also made it to shore. We all sit and chat long into the night in front of the fire. We’re grateful we were only in a river and not in the middle of the ocean.
50 years from now, you would like for people to look back at your art and say….
That it moved them, that they ‘got it’, that it changed their life even in a small way, that it had eventually become mainstream and was everywhere, that it inspired them, that it gave them joy and brought a bit of sunshine into their lives.
Complete the sentence. Jazz is…..
Jazz is Freedom. Jazz is not following the crowd. Jazz is swing. Jazz is not any one thing. Jazz is different things to different people. Jazz is a vibe. Jazz is something you either get or you don’t, but regardless of whether you get it, you feel it before you understand it. Jazz is the thing which my Dad loved the most after his family. Jazz has brought me the most profound musical joy and helped me to find my sound and express through music what my soul is feeling
When was the last time you wrote down a personal goal?
Probably last week. I meditate a lot and in my mindfulness practice I also journal. This helps me figure things out, get thoughts out of my head and onto paper. I wrote some goals down in my journal last week as a result of that. Music wise though I write my goals for the year in January and then spend the rest of the year trying to exceed them. So January I guess.
What, if anything, do you actively boycott?
TikTok and Snapchat. I really do not see the appeal. Also I try to boycott any conversation to do with Brexit. Musically speaking I boycott anything which is plastic and fake. a lot of the pop music for example really grates on me. It’s completely subjective and not anything I can easily quantify, but if I hear something which does not sit right with me I have to turn it off!! In some ways I feel I am being disloyal to music if I sit and listen to something which is not pure
What non-essential item do you always carry with you?
Nothing tbh, I have got my essential carry items down to only those things which are essential to me.
How many times per week do you record? (on average)
I would say I record something maybe 5 times a week. This will usually be a combination of me recording myself playing trumpet, or recording me playing some keyboard (midi) on a track I’m working on, or it could be me recording something on video. Not all of these things will make it into the public domain.
Describe your year in 2021?
This year for me has been one of my best yet, from a creative perspective. I’ve released more singles this year than I ever have done before, I worked on multiple sample packs, collaborated with more musicians this year than any year previous, and generally put out content consistently. 2021 has been another foundation building year for me. Last year and late 2019 I started to get serious and intentional about my music, I set a lot of things in motion last year, and this year has been about executing and starting to make content and get myself out there, musically speaking. I would like to be seeing more views per video and more streams per tune, but I can’t complain really. My content is very niche, and I’m not a household name, so I am cool with where I’m at. Art should not be rushed in my eyes, so things move at their own pace and what’s mean to be is meant to be. I’m happy that I have ended the year in a stronger position than when I started and looking forward to some new things which I’ll be working on in 2022. Ending the year with my first Trumpet Sample Pack, closely followed by my first solo Album (Hello World drops on 30th Nov!), is a perfect way to round off 2021.
What would you say to Mark Zuckerberg if you ran into him on an elevator?
Oh man, too many things. I would say hi Mark, have you read “Ready Player One” and if so, how do you plan on ensuring Metaverse does not do to the world what ‘The Oasis’ did in the book! I would ask him why it’s so hard to find things on FB. I’d also probably get into a conversation with him about music, ask him if he wanted a copy of my new album , find out what music he was into.
What is your favorite curse word?
Fuck
That recurring dream you have, what is it about?
I can never remember them tbh
You get a call. You’ve been informed that you were improperly named. Phil is going to be expunged from your birth certificate. You’ll need to give them a new name instead that you feel suits you better. What name do you choose?
Foggy, or Miles
Without jazz, the world would’ve never witnessed….
Freedom, Hip Hop, House Music, Techno, Swing, creative genius’s like Miles Davis & John Coltrane, and a load of other things I am probably not articulate enough to comment on
What song, if any, do you wish you were the first to write?
There are a lot of songs I love which have changed my life, but I don’t wish I wrote them as they all taught me something. If Miles Davis hadn’t written So What and Freddie Freeloader, I may not have found Jazz when I did. What I want to write, is a tune which becomes the next Sopranos theme tune, or the next Bosch theme tune. I want to write music which makes it into the living rooms of a lot of people, something which they look forward to hearing every week, something which, 40 years after they first heard it, still evokes positive and happy memories from their past.
When was the last time you spoke to yourself out loud?
Last week, not going to tell you what it was about though!
When was the last time you went a full day without checking your social media?
Yesterday (I’m having a detox at the moment)
What advice do you have for the best unknown musician alive?
That would be giving advice to Me!! and I already give it to me every day – keep moving forward, keep being real, make more music….and practice trumpet more!
You must give a lecture on a topic you know nothing about. What topic do you choose?
I’d love to give a lecture on string theory and try to bluff my way through it. I reckon I’d make it 5 mins!!
Do you believe in aliens?
Yup
If yes, when was the last time you saw one?
Not seen one yet, at least not that I know of anyway!!
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ABOUT:
Phil Hanson started life as a musician in the early 70’s when he played Cornet in British Brass Bands. He gradually rose his way through the ranks until the late 90’s, when he was a playing member of the World Famous Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band (no. 1 brass band in the world at the time).
He retired from that scene as British National Champion in ‘99, after a handful of performances at the Royal Albert Hall, an album recorded at Abbey Road Studios, several TV appearances and 7 years of standing ovations across the UK’s theatres and concert halls.
After taking 10 years off music completely, Phil kick started his solo music career in 2009. Over the years that followed, he learned how to improvise, discovered his own sound, and taught himself how to record and publish his own music. In July 2020 Phil founded IamFoggy Music, his Music Production and Sound Recording Business. Since then he has been intentional about growing as a Composer Musician, focusing initially on putting out his own music, as well as exploring commercial collaboration opportunities with like minded artists who are looking for a unique set of sounds to add to their own project.