George O’Hanlon is a star in the making. His debut EP The Storm was released to a steady wave of praise and acclaim on July 30th by Harvest Records. The singer-songwriter is a bit of an anomaly; a young man with a voice as powerful and mythological as legends past, an anxious young soul equipped with a wisened demeanor exuding a calmness foreign to the eyes of your average twenty-one-year-old. It’s these traits conjoined with the stellar song-writing capabilities that have landed him in the good praises of Abi McMcarthy at BBCIntroducing and Radio 1’s Jack Saunders. With an amazing debut EP released and his first ever UK tour beginning in September, I decided to sit down with George to discuss the significance of this moment.
It’s August 8th, and we’re live and direct from the digital confines of Zoom. I sit a screen-away from George O’Hanlon, the UK-based singer on the rise who, quite frankly, just wants to create the music he loves. The energy is warm and familiar as we greet each other like a pair of school chums seeing each other for the first time since last semester. A brown jacket shirt hugs George’s folded arms as he offers friendly smiles and assuring head nods. Through the tiny electronic square, I see George as he sits comfortably at a table located in front of a sun-kissed window.
This is our conversation.
MARC: So, first and foremost, how are you feeling? How is everything going on inside of George? “The Storm” and “The Weight “…the EP… it’s all kind of sad (they both let out a gentle laugh), so how are you feeling?
GEORGE: Yeah, the songs are a bit deep, if that’s what you’re thinking (laughs). But I’m enjoying what’s going on. I’m looking forward to gigging again, which is good because I really love doing that. Before we started our [UK] lockdown around March last year, I hadn’t really played that many gigs before then, so now looking at playing a tour is very exciting. So, I’m just happy I’m sort of able to be doing what I’m doing now, just write and air out my thoughts to people.
MARC: It’s funny you say that you haven’t played that many shows before the lockdown because seeing you in your Mahogany Sessions, it’s almost as if you’ve been here before. Even though you said you hadn’t had that much experience doing live shows, but I don’t know, man, you could’ve fooled me (reserved, George chuckles). Which sort of begs the question, how did you even get into music? You seem like such a natural performer.
G: Thank you. I think everyone who enjoys music to that extent or appreciates it more than just “I like the tune” or “I like this” [and] goes beyond that. Growing up, I had very much music going on like Classical, Folk, Rock, and just being around it, hearing it, I think that’s going to start something. And if you hear something and it makes you feel something, I think that will make you want to do that as well.
M: Yeah, no, I feel that. Just hearing your EP, I know I can hear those influences, the Bob Dylans, the Thom Yorke, and I can hear [all of] that through your music. Your song “The Weight” reminds me of the Blood on the Tracks era of Bob Dylan in a way, not trying to put too much pressure on you with an amazing album like that (George smirks), but you can hear that music that you obviously listened to growing up. Your songs are honest, bare, very revealing, and I just have to know what you tap into to write these songs?
G: I have things that I like listening to, and yes, it’s Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Coldplay, but I don’t have any of them in mind [when writing]. I’m sure they inspire me in some way, but I’m not writing with the goal of attempting to be someone; it’s just writing a song because that’s what I do. I don’t have a process for it (laughs). Do you know what I mean? I’m lucky to have listened and read the things that I have at a young age, but when I’m writing, especially now, I just think about playing it live. I’m always myself, and I try my best to keep it that way, especially one my first [EP].
I’m not writing with the goal of attempting to be someone; it’s just writing a song because that’s what I do. I’m always myself, and I try my best to keep it that way.
M: I love it, and speaking of your EP, The Storm, wow. Again, congratulations on the release.
G: Thank you!
M: Yeah, it definitely caught me by total surprise; I honestly didn’t think that I would play it that many times and like it that much. I thought I would like two songs out of the four, but no, I ended up liking the whole thing. With that being said, what is your plan moving forward? I know this just came out, so are you sticking with this project and touring with it, or are we already working on the next one?
G: Yeah, the next things are all ready to go.
M: Oh, wow! And (laughs) it already has a title and everything?
G: (confidently) Yeah. I mean, I’ve been working such a long time on things, so. Not sure if I’m supposed to say that or not. But, yeah. The next thing is ready to go.
M: Hey, I don’t wanna get you in trouble, man.
G: It’s fine. It’s fine. (chuckles and begins folding hands) Yeah, it’s fine. I just have been writing because that’s what I do. And now I get to write all the time, so now I have been writing and recording all the time, and then get out and gig, which is fine as well. So, the next thing to do is get everything in order however far in advance that I can get things ready for because you get things booked out. Say something is coming out in three months, and it gets further and further away from the more you write. But it’s not like that for me; I just write and write, and we record things whenever we can.
M: So, was the pandemic good for that sort of process?
G: Well, for the first couple of months of the pandemic, I was still working in the supermarket. I was a key worker.
M: A key worker?
G: Yeah, that’s what they call teachers, food people, supermarket employees, and whatnot here in the UK: a key worker.
M: Oh, so like the American essential worker?
G: There you go. The first bit of lockdown, before I signed, I was in that weird place where my life was sort of carrying on. My mom is a teacher, I’m at the supermarket, and my brother and sister are going to school. So our lives are this weird thing, and the writing is still going on, but it wasn’t something that made such a difference. I was also writing [many] different songs because you had more time to sit and reflect on things. It’s weird, I feel like this year; it’s weird there seems to be a whole lot of forgotten stuff, I think. I don’t know about you, but my memory of that year is just…
M: Yeah, it’s kind of like a blur. There’s a part of it where you’re talking to someone like, “yeah, I remember that happened, that was in April,” and they’re like, “no, that was in January.”
G: Yeah, exactly. But I definitely got around to writing some songs [for the new album], but I really can’t think [remember it].
M: No, I get it, man (laughs). It’s the pandemic brain. You mentioned getting signed earlier in your story. Do you remember how that came about? Can you walk me through that process?
G: Yeah, so I met the guy who signed me from the label a couple of months before the lockdown we had in England. The first time we met, we went to his office, and we were just talking, listening to the songs and stuff. Before that point, I was working in the supermarket and with a mover company, so the spare days I had in the week, I would be in London with the producer I sort of met through my manager. We were working [on] all [of] the days in the week that I wasn’t working for money. Then, my weeks were just full; it was crazy because [it was] three days there, three days here just doing all the bits. And then we got to get a lot of songs in, and Joe from the label heard a lot of stuff, and [then] this all happened. It wasn’t until June that I got signed. So I was waiting from April, May, June—which isn’t a long time, but it felt like an eternity when you’re going to work every day in a supermarket and have nothing to do (laughs). I got a call from my manager, and I was asked if I wanted to come to sit with the label with my guitar and play a few songs. So I sat with him in his garden, played him a couple [of] songs; that also happened a couple [of] weeks later, and that was that. Eventually, I got to a point where I signed, and I started working pretty hard to get things finished from what we already had and then moving on to get things started for the future.
M: Wow, so obviously, life has changed; you’re no longer wearing an apron in a supermarket, no longer restocking oranges. How has it felt, though? Since getting signed and everything, did you have to readjust your life to better real
G: Because of where everything sat, and if it had been normal, normal life as it were with no pandemic, I feel we would’ve gotten things done more quickly. I would’ve gotten to do more shows, been in the studio quite a lot, but because we couldn’t do that, everything has just been a bit of a gradual process. So, I signed, and then we went back into another lockdown, so it was kind of like I didn’t really know what was going on (laughs). I was doing something that I thought that I might do, and it was actually happening, but nothing was happening (laughs); you get what I’m saying?
M: Like you’re pressing down on the gas pedal to move forward, but you’re not moving forward (laughs).
G: Yeah, but we weren’t (laughs)— [it’s] just a weird time for something like this to happen in your life. I’m sure something like this has happened with other people.
M: So, did it hit you at all? Due to that weirdness you’re describing because of the pandemic, did you ever feel like, “Oh shoot! I’m signed!” or was it like, “Oh, shoot. I’m signed.”
G: [Being signed] wasn’t that big of a thing; I think it was more so being around and meeting these people that you hear about and they believe in what you’re doing. It was more exciting because of that. Obviously, I had nerves and everything of signing, but it was more the excitement that these people, the fact they believed in what I was doing, and I think that was the overriding thing that I felt. And it was like that in America as well, and I’ve never been to America.
Obviously, I had nerves and everything of signing, but it was more the excitement that these people, the fact they believed in what I was doing
M: I was going to ask you about that, actually. You’ve never been to America, and the reaction that I’ve seen is very positive in regards to your music. So, how does that feel?
G: Yeah, I mean it’s
M: Yeah, man, it’s super dope. Especially at the beginning stages of everything because you usually jump in and miss out on the artist’s debut project or something. But with you, we’re right here in the early stages of development as we literally watch you grow from the beginning stages onward to, hopefully, a star. With that being said, a lot of people need to know who you are. People reading this may not have ever been to the UK, like I personally haven’t been to the UK, so what can you tell us about growing up over there that may be different than American life?
G: I can only speak from where I have grown up, and I imagine this is kind of a similar thing [for you]. Especially because where I grew up, most people probably wouldn’t consider it necessarily… I don’t know. So, I grew up in a tiny Hamlet, so it was like fifteen houses in this part of town (gestures to the left), and then I moved to a slightly bigger town, but it was still sort of a little village on the outskirts of London. And I did that for most of my life. Yeah, it’s alright, it’s boring, it’s nothing special but don’t get me wrong it is an area that is very lucky. But it’s very boring, and you gotta find something you want to do. So growing up as young boys, we would play football.
M: And by football, you mean soccer, right? (laughs)
G: Yeah, that’s what I meant (laughs). I was wondering when that was going to come up.
M: I was going to mess up and say Rugby, but I was scared I was going to come off like an ignorant American, so I refrained from saying that; lemme get this right.
G: Yeah (laughs) well, it was Rugby
M: Is there anything else that you did growing up that was unique to the UK? Other than calling football soccer. Is there anything that you did as a childhood that you feel was a UK thing? Really dig deep for this one; this is the question that matters.
G: (laughs ) What were some shows that I watched as a child?
M: The questions that really matter.
G: There was this Merlin show, and there was Doctor Who, of course. You know, it was that age where your mother is allowing for you to stay up longer so you could watch those shows that were…
M: Edgier!
G: Yeah! (laughs) and then the food, I mean I can definitely tell you about the food. My mom would make this dish called Cannelloni (he flashes a grin rife with innocence).
M: Wait, what is that?
G: Cannelloni. I think that’s an Italian dish; it’s definitely an Italian dish. It was something that my mom made very well. It was a dish that was one of my favorite things, really. She would make that, and we would watch whatever show was on TV Saturday night.
M: Alright, I’ve never had that, so I’m going to Google that, find it on Pinterest, maybe cook it with my fiancé and fail horribly. It’s the experience that matters, right? (Laughs).
G: My mom managed to get it down; it was quite special.
M: Speaking of your mom, you mentioned she was a teacher but were your parents musical in any shape or form?
G: No, not at all, not musical at all. But she definitely encouraged me to go after this, and she’s always loved what I’ve done. She’s been very encouraging throughout my life. But she does have quite the musical taste; she does have great taste in music, but she doesn’t have the desire to sing; she doesn’t have the desire to go and show that off. But she’s just always supported me in all that I’m doing with music.
[My mother] definitely encouraged me to go after this, and she’s always loved what I’ve done. She’s been very encouraging throughout my life.
M: Beautiful. And what you say is your plan for yourself? Where do you want to take your music, and where do you want your music to take you?
G: I want to see a bit more of the world than I’ve seen. I don’t have grand aspirations
M: You’re a very humble, modest guy; I can definitely hear the small Hamlet village in you (they both laugh). So two more questions, and I’m done; I don’t want to waste any more of your time.
G: No, no, you’re not wasting my time.
M: (laughs nervously) Well dang, thanks, George. I appreciate that! So the first question pertains to something you mentioned earlier in our conversation. You mentioned that the album is done, and you’re ready to fire it off. Is there anything, without getting in trouble, is there anything that you could tell me about it: the sound, the tone, the mood, overall theme, etc. And, if you’re able to, can you tell me a possible title of the project (his facial gesture mimics that of the eye emojis).
G: (laughing) I definitely can’t do that. But I can tell you. It’s a step more in the sort of rockier world than what we’ve been doing. There are songs that are less acoustic; let’s put it that way.
M: So, electric obviously, right?
G: Yes.
M: Are we stepping in the territory of electric and synthesizers? Or is that going too far?
G: So it’s the same thing, but it’s potentially more drive behind it than what’s been going on.
M: Oh, shoot! And you can’t… that’s all you can give me?
G: (smiles) That’s all I’m going to give you, yeah.
M: (laughs) Dammit George, the anticipation, man. You got to understand; I’m just going to be blunt about it, [your EP] was fire, that sh-t was fire!
G: Thank you!
M: But I need more, and I’ll patiently wait, but I do appreciate you giving me the “electric” hint. I know that was hard, but thank you (they both laugh). But is there anything else you want to tell the people? Anything about your tour coming up? Anything else you want the people to know about you?
G: No more about me (they laugh). I’m really excited about coming to America. That’s what I want to do. Especially talking to you and some other people, I’m looking forward to coming over and playing some gigs. And hopefully, that happens sooner rather than later. Things will be coming when they’re coming out, but in the meantime, I have the tour in the UK, and I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve been doing.
M: Beautiful, well, it’s been a pleasure talking to you.
G: Same, man, thank you.
M: Fasho, and I’m excited to see what you do next, dude; I don’t know you, just met you, but I’m proud of you. Keep going, and as I said, I’m excited to see where you go next.
G: Cheers!
M: Cheers, bro.
You can listen to George O’ Hanlon’s debut EP, The Storm, on Spotify now, and get tickets for his upcoming shows here.
