Canadian Musician - September/October 2020 | Page 36

HANNAH
GEORGAS
PHOTO: VANESSA HEINS
All That Emotion is an album about
healing from those old cuts. But healing
is a challenge when the world seems like
one big, infected wound; when leaders
have been anything but, when we fear for
our lives from enemies both invisible and
systemic, when fears for the future are
overshadowed by the terrors of right now.
So how do you heal when every day feels
like a brand-new cut?
“It’s surrounding yourself with the
people that love you and that are essentially
family. Being able to talk things through is
like a huge thing for me. And yeah, therapy.
I keep telling myself like, ‘I need to go to
therapy.’ I think everybody needs to go to
therapy. It comes in so many different ways.
It’s like, getting out for a walk, it’s getting
exercise, it’s eating well, it’s talking to
friends. It’s going to talk to a professional.
It’s making music, it’s doing those types of
things like learning and listening and also
like, shutting off, too – taking time for yourself
to process things. That’s kind of where I
find my mind’s at.”
Having time to find your centre is a good
thing. But musicians have to eat, and,
as with many other Canadians, revenue
streams have dried up. A lucrative festival
season has gone by with no festivals.
Georgas, like everyone else, is trying to
re-figure out what exactly her career is
right now. Despite having a new album out,
“I feel like a lot of it, all of
the songs that I wrote, have
to do with resilience and
kind of finding hope and a
way out on the other side
of tough situations; with
self-reflection and getting
up every day when things
aren’t so easy.”
the creative well hasn’t run dry; she’s still
writing while she’s at home. After all, it’s not
particularly hard to find a need for catharsis
right now, though she admits that she’s
coming to terms with the fact that some
days are just more fruitful than others.
But the creative side isn’t the issue,
as the world just keeps churning out more
topics for songwriters to mull over. The
business side is what’s been thrown into
chaos. Outside of the occasional drive-in
show or gimmicky stunt by has-beens like
Vanilla Ice, the concert business is still at a
standstill as Georgas speaks with Canadian
Musician in late July.
“Everybody’s trying to pivot and find
out how to do this with untethering touring
from the picture. It’s different. We’re figuring
out livestreaming stuff and other ways
to do some shows without being able to
have performances in venues and without
a way to promote your record in the towns
you’re in. It’s tricky but I feel like I’m doing a
lot at home.
“We’re all just figuring it out, one at a
time. The good thing about the situation
we’re in is people are wanting to hear music
right now. I think the livestream thing is
hard because I think people are also tired
of being on their phones, or at least I am.
But people want to hear music, so I think
there’s ways and we’ll figure it out. But I
don’t know.”
When For Evelyn came out, Georgas
described the album as being about
overcoming fear. All That Emotion is about
overcoming pain. With plenty of time to re-
36 CANADIAN MUSICIAN