After discovering them more by chance in 2022 with buying their first record I’m Not Sorry, I Was Just Being Me at a local record store, King Hannah became kind of that years soundtrack for me. Hannah Merricks dark, but soft voice, Craig Whittles forceful guitar and their strong lyrics left such an impression – with seeing them live at the Knust the same year they closed the circle by delivering a perfect live perfomance of their music. It’s a concert experience I still wax lyrical about: The sound, the whole atmosphere they recreated from their records, it’s one of the best gigs I ever went to.
But enough of my memories. King Hannah’s back at the Knust with their current record Big Swimmer. And this time they are the main act, plus: The show’s sold out. Shout-out to the Messed! Up Magazine for making things possible (again!), so if you don’t know them already, get to know: King Hannah!
Source: YouTube, King Hannah
The interview
An easy one to begin with. Who is King Hannah?
Craig: Who is King Hannah?
Hannah: We’re both King Hannah…
Craig: We’re King Hannah.
Hannah: Craig and Hannah. King Hannah. (laughs)
Next level: Your music in three words.
Craig: Honest… You said what?
Hannah: Well, I was gonna say: Never stop swimming.
Craig: Okay, you do that one.
Hannah: Never stop swimming.
The last one before it gets serious:
It’s Star Wars or Star Trek for King Hannah?
Craig: Star Wars.
Hannah: I don’t think I’ve seen either.
Craig: Star Wars is too much of a commitment. I think for me now, it’s Star Trek. Sorry, it’s too much for commitments, but Star Wars I grew up with.
Hannah: Who are you?
Still Star Wars, but it’s kind of hard with the newest movies and stuff.
Craig: Yeah!
Hannah: I’ll say Star Wars because my nephew likes Star Wars and I love my nephew.
In 2022 I saw you live twice. The first time was here at the Knust, second time at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.
How does it feel now to sell out the venues where you – just three years ago – only were the opener for the night?
Craig: Yeah. I was just talking to Connor, our bass player, about this, actually. Like it’s mental playing these places and then open up for people and being, like, playing these huge places and then two years later where it’s our show. I mean, we feel very grateful for it. It feels like you put in the time and the work and then the next time you come…
Hannah: It feels like it’s, sorry…
Craig: Yeah, yeah, no, no.
Hannah: I was gonna say it’s, it makes you think, okay, we’re doing something right.
Craig: Yeah.
Hannah: This is going the way we wanted to go. You know, you don’t want to come here as a support and then not come back. The aim is to grow and get bigger. And I would be concerned – if it didn’t go that way, we’d wonder why. So it just means we’re doing something right.
Craig: Yeah and it feels quite good. It feels quite quick as well because the Dive show that we played here for you doesn’t seem that long ago.
Hannah: No. We’re just so grateful to everybody that’s come back. It’s incredible. It really is.
How to stay sane on Tour – A guide
We just tipped in our toes – the tour life.
It seems like you’re always on the road.
You’re visiting so many places and I’ve read that America had a huge impact on you and that what you saw kind of shaped Big Swimmer. Are there also other places besides of America where you think:
‘Wow, I’ve never seen something like this before?’
Craig: I mean everywhere kind of has that a little bit I guess. The Europe visit (was) a bit more familiar because it’s so close, so, you know, we’ve been to these places before. We’ve been to like New York and the bigger places, but driving through Texas and stuff was like something we’d never done before. But Scandinavia was that for me as well, never being there and there’s parts of Italy as well, which I think are like that, which is just – you can’t believe how beautiful some places are.
Hannah: And the Netherlands as well. Even parts of Germany that we’ve seen for the first time, like all the beautiful villages that are so quaint and everyone’s riding bikes and everyone’s really happy and healthy, that was so nice to see.
Craig: You get to see the towns and the places around like that. The big cities. I think that’s like the most inspiring.
So did you also meet some great people along the way?
Both: Yeah, yeah.
Craig: I mean, since we started touring, five years ago, we’ve met like some of our favourite people ever. And people who come to a lot of our shows as well we’ve met, that we’re really good friends with now and stuff. So, (we) feel very lucky.
Talking about things you haven’t seen before.
You’ve shared many pizzas on social media.
Which one was the best and where did you get to enjoy it?
Hannah: It must have been Italy.
Craig: It has to be Italy, yeah.
Hannah: But did we have one in Italy? I don’t remember eaten one in Italy actually.
Craig: No, it was pasta at all! What was the best pizza you ever had?
Hannah: Ever?
Craig: Yeah!
Hannah: That’s really hard.
Craig: It’s hard isn’t it?
Hannah: Yeah, it’s really hard.
Craig: Our favourite style of pizza is the Italian style. Like the kind of Neapolitan style where it’s thin…
Hannah: So thin.
Craig: Yeah. Thin and fresh, with mozarella…
The cheese is also different than the American one. It’s a different game.
Hannah: It’s a whole different game. I mean, like the Chicago…
Craig: I mean, that’s not pizza those…
Hannah: No, that’s a pie.
Craig: But I even like the New York slice. It’s funny how different pizza is.
Hannah: Even pizza in New York is so different. It’s greasier, it’s a lot greasier. You know, they put like a piece of paper between the pizza and the plate that catches the grease.
What?!
Hannah: They don’t do that in Italy. In Italy you pick up your… yeah and it’s just flour.
Craig: Yeah, it’s healthier.
Hannah: And the bread, there is so much less bread. You know when you cut it with your cutlery it falls apart like I don’t know…
Craig: Yeah, the American is very cheesy.
Hannah: And it’s way better cheese (the Italian). It’s like not plastic cheese. I think America’s probably very plastic cheese. Yeah, yeah. Good question (laughs).
Imagine you both got totally pissed the night before.
But today’s an important show to play.
Hannah, how do you help out Craig?
Hannah: With a hangover? In the past – I mean we don’t do that ever, do we? We never get really drunk. So in the past, whenever Craig’s got really drunk, I always make sure he’s got a pint of water and tablets by his bed for when he gets in and has to go to bed. I always make sure he has his tablets before bed and a pint of water. That’s what I would do. I make sure he was hydrated and then I probably make him something like crumpets. Crumpets or toast or something carby that would absorb… I would look after you really well.
Craig: You would, yeah.
Hannah: Yeah, I’m good at that (smiles).
And vice versa, Craig what would you need to do?
Hannah: Same really.
Craig: The same. I’ll make a toast if she’s in bed hungover. But then if the whole thing isn’t buttered, she’ll send me back…
Linked to the question beforehand.
What helps you staying sane on tour?
Hannah: I think good organization is very, very important. Boom boom boom. Being super organized and that helps a lot. It keeps me sane.
Craig: We want the show to be as good as it possible can be … so that occupies a lot of our mind. A lot of the time in the van on the way to the show, we talk about the night before and what we can do better.
Every time?
Craig: Yeah, I would say every time and it’s like, oh, maybe we should try this, we should try this. We’re always, constantly trying to think of ways to better the show, to better the sound of the show. So I think that keeps us focused. It means us something every show. We don’t take it for granted that we’re playing these shows. And you know, we don’t try and phone it in for like a certain show. We always try to make every show as good as it possibly can be.
Hannah: And also one thing I think is super important is actually like where there’s a night where you can be in bed for like 10 p.m. that never… it just doesn’t happen. But you know, if there’s a night off where we haven’t got a show, make the most of having a night off and go to bed.
No partying and stuff.
Hannah: No, no, no, just go to bed (laughs).
Craig: We’re too old for this.
Keep on Swimming
Source: YouTube, King Hannah
Big Swimmer just turned one year old. Congratulations!
Guess I can ask it: What’s up next?
Hannah: After this tour we’ve got a few kind of random shows, haven’t we? Good ones. Paradiso being one of them. We gonna start writing album number three. We gonna take our time with this one. I don’t want to rush that.
Craig: We already started writing a little a bit, haven’t we? But we’re excited to have like a big chunk of time.
Hannah: Yeah, a chunk of time and space.
Have you ever thought about a concept album?
Craig: Not really. I mean, it’s cool, if you can do it. But we haven’t thought like that.
Hannah: No. Who knows?
Craig: Who knows. I think it’s like to what degree. Because Big Swimmer was a lot about America, but it was never in ourselves that we have to talk about the America tour, there are songs, that aren’t about that. Guess it was just what was inspiring in that time.
I need to ask this a fan.
What’s the inspiration behind Milk Boy (I love you)?
Hannah: Well, it was a true story. In Philadelphia. That’s where that came from. Yeah, I just wrote it, you know, wrote it down quickly. So then, when we got home, we could remember the details.
You caught the atmosphere of that moment.
Hannah: It’s quite scary, isn’t it? You get like: Whoa! Feels like that actually. That’s good. I’m glad it’s coming across. God it was scaring everyone (laughs).
Craig: That was our attempt at it.
Source: YouTube, King Hannah
Interviews, just a pain in the neck or fun?
Craigh: Oh fun.
Hannah: Fun, forever fun.
Really?
Hannah: Of course. It’s like the dream. You picture it for so long, and then how can you not enjoy it?
Craig: When the album comes out, we do press tours and we hear so many stories from journalists and writers of like, bands who just don’t want to be there when they’re talking to them. Which.. I can’t imagine being like that. So lucky that people want to talk to us (laughs).
Hannah: Yeah. And we have no right to not do that, you know. Who do we think we are by not. It’s just so silly. We’ll do them forever ever, ever, ever.
What’s your favourite memory of being in this band?
Hannah: So hard.
Craig: My God. Yeah.
Hannah: So hard.
Craig: I mean there are so many of them.
Hannah: Selling out New York for the first time was very special.
Craig: Yeah, that was our first time in America wasn’t it?
Hannah: Yeah. The first show in America, in New York and it was sold out. And that was always the plan. So that felt great.
Craig: And also the first show that we ever did outside of the UK, was Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg. That was like in 2020 I think. We were so nervous playing that show. Remember that?
Hannah: Yeah!
Craig: Because our record label is based in Germany and they were all there. So it was our first time playing abroad and the first time playing in front of them. And when we went off stage, we were like, obviously very happy. And then everyone in the the room was shouting: King Hannah. Do you remember that?
Hannah: Yeah.
Craig: So that was really good like: Oh, we did a good job on our first show.
Hannah: And it was in front of our label, the whole label. The owner, the owner of City Slang was there, and he’s so tall, you can’t miss him. And our manager was there, our booking agent was there, everybody that has signed us, was there for the first time.
Craig: Because you do feel like an imposter.
Hannah: And it was sold out.
Craig: Yeah and you do kind of feel like we’re not a real band, and we don’t really deserve to be here, and you just don’t want to screw it up.
Hannah: But also you wanted to prove that you were supposed to be there. You know, you were like: You signed us. We’re going to prove to you that you signed us for a reason. We’re here. Don’t drop us. (laughs) It was good. It’s a good feeling because it puts you on edge in a good way.
Thanks for holding the microphone.
Hannah: I mean, I’m used to it ’cause I’m the singer. (laughs)
And thanks for everything else. The concerts in 2022, your songs and of course your time. Cheers and never stop swimming!
King Hannah, Knust 2025.
