Hannah Peel is a singer and electronic composer. Born in Northern Ireland, then moving to Yorkshire with her family, she grew up listening to Irish music and colliery bands.
Hannah released her first critically lauded album The Broken Wave in 2011, having already performed with a multimedia arts orchestra, composed scores for musicals and released her first EP Rebox, featuring covers of ‘80s bands Cocteau Twins, Soft Cell and New Order.
The PPL Music Momentum grant in 2013 funded the production and launch of her second EP, Nailhouse. Hannah had thought that the EP would raise her profile and she would get a record deal but that didn’t materialise, so she has continued her independent journey which has turned out to be incredibly positive.
“I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing now if it hadn’t been for Momentum. I could never have afforded to release the record without the funding.”
Hannah has gone on to release more limited edition EPs, with her second album Awake But Always Dreaming launched to great acclaim. In 2016 it was voted number one Album Of the Year by Electronic Sound Magazine and lauded as ‘one of the albums of the year’ by BBC 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne. Her band The Magnetic North also released their widely praised second album, Prospect Of Skelmersdale, in 2016.
Hannah balances composing and producing her own work, with her work with the band and more commercial work and non commercial art focused projects. In 2016, she created the music for the moving Santa Forgot TV and online advert for Alzheimer’s Research UK, which was screened in the run up to Christmas that year.
‘Mary Casio: Journey to Cassiopeia’ launched in September 2017, an Arts Council England (ACE) funded project, tells the story of an unknown, elderly, pioneering electronic music stargazer and her lifelong dream to leave her terraced South Yorkshire mining town home to see Cassiopeia for herself. Hannah has been on tour since the album launch with some of the UK’s top brass band players.
Being supported by Momentum has helped open up funding and project opportunities. PRS Foundation Beyond Borders funding saw her collaborate and tour with other musicians all around Ireland. Funding, such as from ACE, is limited to England so support for touring elsewhere in the UK and internationally is important.
Hannah would love to record and tour internationally but acknowledges she may need the support of a label for that. In 2018 she continued to work on an exciting range of projects: composing the music for a play at York theatre, releasing a single linked to a TV show and touring to festivals.
“Momentum started me on a whole career path I didn’t expect. If I’d signed to a label I wouldn’t have gone on to do TV ads and manage my own releases. Sustaining myself as an artist, I retained control and I manage all my own stuff.”
