Deep Dive On Ania Hoo

12 hours ago

4 min read

Written by: melodic23

It was such a pleasure interviewing Ania Hoo. She’s an artist who follows signs and just finished her first tour as an opener.

The first time I listened to “IRL,” I wanted to move. The beat is bouncy, built on a mix of bass and drums, and it’s made for dancing. The lyrics are catchy, and it’s definitely a song you’ll have on repeat. It sounds like a song for a room full of friends. It’s also personal. Ania wrote it about the good side of dating online, and then the people she opened for found her online.

We talked about spirituality, life on the road, building community, and what she wants people to feel when they leave a show.

melodic23: You named your EPs after Venus and the Morning Star, and you pay attention to signs when you create. How does that spiritual side show up in your writing? Was there a moment when a song felt guided by something bigger than you?

Ania Hoo: I think spirituality shows up in my writing by chance. I only write songs when I feel called to, when I have a moment makes me reflect so much that I want to write a song. Most of my songs are based on true events, at least with this project. I wouldn’t say that about my whole time making music, but with Morning Star, every song comes from an experience I had.

And yes, my most recent single, “IRL,” feels way bigger than what I set out to make. I wrote it from my experience of dating online and the good parts of it. I told Dane and Alton, who I was opening for, that I didn’t know I was writing about what I was about to do, because they found me online. That’s what most people do, but to me, I feel like I manifested that. That song was definitely meant to be, and it was definitely guided.

I told them on the last day in New Orleans that if I hadn’t written it, I don’t think it would have set off the chain of events that got me on this tour. It’s not the song they found me through, but still.

M23: Does that connection change when you’re on the road? Do you find new signs in different cities?

AH: I feel like the signs are heightened when I travel, and I’ve always felt that. This is my first tour, so I didn’t know what to expect. But on past trips I was always seeing signs of creation, and that set me on the path to where I am now.

On this tour I saw several different signs that showed me why I should be there. The angel numbers, of course. Hearing songs by chance that I was literally thinking about. Meeting people by chance who tell me things, and I’m like, how could you know me? All of it showed me I’m on the correct path and creating the correct music at this time. I told her travel can be spiritually draining, so it’s interesting that the signs still came through.

I was definitely tired and drained. But seeing those signs helped me know this is for a reason. You could be at home doing nothing, you know? That’s how I felt on tour for the first time.

M23: A few years ago, you said you wanted to build a collective for women artists. Is the road a way to meet and work with them, or is that a separate goal?

AH: When I said that, me and my roommates had just started a collective called Earth Rising. We all have Earth risings. I’m a Virgo rising, and they have matching ones.

I want to start a directory of women in different fields. If you want to find a female music engineer, or a tattoo artist, specifically women. Right now that’s on pause, but I still want to do something like it. It’s very important to me to work with women, especially women of colour.

On this tour, I was the opener, and there was only one other woman in the band. I opened alone, and I’m a woman of colour. My appearance and my standing there is very important. This is not in vain. Me being a Black woman travelling the West Coast with a jazz band that doesn’t look like me, it mattered.

M23: Which Jamaican or Caribbean artist would you most want to collaborate with, and why?

AH: I’d say Fousheé. I think we’re similar. Her last project was Jamaican-inspired, but that’s not her whole personality. It’s a part of her, and that’s how I feel about myself. I’m Jamaican, and a Black American woman from the East Coast, all these things. It’s a part of me, but it’s not just me.

I’d love to work with her. I love her style. I love what she did with Steve Lacy. I think she’s super cool.

M23: When someone leaves one of your shows, what do you want them to feel?

AH: I want them to feel freer to be vulnerable. More empowered in love, in all the ways it comes. And ready to move and groove. Just renewed.