Hohnen Ford
Ahead of her tour supporting Etta Marcus around the UK, jazz singer Hohnen Ford tells us about attending the Royal Academy Of Music, what she likes most about playing as a support act and where she wants to play in the future.
When did you decide to pursue a career as a musician?
Music was always a part of my life - my mum played piano, which I was always very drawn to, and I loved to dance as a child. When I was 14 I had my first jazz voice lesson, which was just a one-off - I was singing at the time but had never done jazz singing - and the teacher was basically just very complimentary and was like “This is something that you’re very good at!”, which was a surprise because at 14 I don’t think anyone’s really good at anything! So then I became very interested in jazz and sort of dove into that world. Then when I was 15 I applied for the NYJC, the National Youth Jazz Collective, and the Royal Academy Of Music has a junior course for jazz musicians, so I applied for and got on both of those courses, and I think meeting the people I met on them, my age and older who were really passionate about the music, and being thrown into that world, I began to really take it seriously. I’ve never thought much about making music a “career”, I just think about the music and hope that the career happens!
How long were you at the Royal Academy Of Music for?
Four years, so it’s a long undergrad! It was a really interesting experience, and I’m super grateful I was able to go. It was a small course - there’s composition classes, history classes, and you’re kind of really immersed in jazz music, contemporary British jazz music specifically, exploring improvising and collaboration. In a way it built a foundation for my songwriting and who I am as an artist, but it does feel like a different world to where my musical voice sits. I was always writing songs while I was there, not for performance or anything, just in my own time, and I think that was enriched and deepened by my understanding of a broader style of music.
How do you write?
It always starts with like a seed of an emotion which can attach itself to something musical. I have a bank of ideas, scribbled down in notebooks or recorded on my phone. I feel like there’s two sides to the process - there’s the inspiration and there’s the discipline, and the two feed off each other. If I were to just wait around every day I probably wouldn’t find much inspiration and I’d probably find it quite difficult to complete songs, and I used to find it very hard. I find I need to sit down and write what I have, do it justice and give it the attention to detail it deserves, make a concerted effort to follow an idea through. So generally those are the two things - I’ll take from my emotional bank and my process bank and try and combine them. In more of a literal sense I tend to start with the seed of a lyrical idea and bring it to the piano. Most of my favourite songs I’ve written have had the lyric and the music come at the same time - I guess that’s when it comes most naturally, when they kind of feed off each other.
Your EP, Infinity, came out last year - were you performing live much for the release?
Around the time the EP came out I did a whole tour supporting Matt Maltese around Europe, so that was an incredible opportunity, to hang out with Matt and hear him play every night was wicked. I’ve been doing a lot of these Sofar Sounds gigs, which are great, and I’ve had three headline shows - two earlier this month and one in May last year with my string quartet.
How did you meet your string quartet?
One of the members I’ve known since I went to the NYJC jazz camp when I was 15 and we’ve been friends ever since, and the other members I’ve met more recently. Midori Jaeger, the cellist, is an amazing songwriter too. They all have this quite rare ability to play classical music to an incredibly high standard, but also have a passion for a variety of different sound worlds and songs. They’re so gracious and generous with their time. We met basically years ago, and it’s just been developing since.
Where did you go on tour with Matt Maltese?
It was like a week and a half, maybe six cities I think? We went to Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Paris… I’d played abroad before in other people’s ensembles, but that was my first time performing as just me, not as a working jazz musician - it’s a lot more vulnerable, and it’s a very different audience, as jazz audiences tend to be a bit older. It felt completely new to me, but very cool. I came back very inspired and I’m looking forward to playing more shows in Europe - the audiences were incredible and so attentive. And as a support act you have no expectation - it’s a new audience, they don’t know you, they don’t owe anything to you, and then to be met with open arms and such graciousness was very humbling and exciting.
Are you from London originally?
I am, north London born and bred. My grandparents were market stallholders, and before that on my mum’s side worked at Spitalfields market, and on my dad’s side they worked at Islington market. My great-grandad was a parkkeeper at Highgate woods which is right near where I grew up, and when I’m walking around I like to image these parallel lives of my own bloodline wandering nearby.
Do you have any more shows lined up for the rest of the year?
I’m supporting Etta Marcus on tour in March - playing in Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Glasgow, London and Brighton. I’m always open to playing as many shows as I can, because I love it! That’s really where my musical roots are, in live music. I’ve played so many shows as a jazz musician, playing different repertoire, The Great American Songbook, more contemporary compositions… There’s just so much joy in that for me. In London I’d love to play Union Chapel, I think that’s one of the most special venues in London. I’ve never played in America, which would be cool. In general, any full room with open ears I would appreciate, no matter where. If you have people who are up for listening and want to be there, that’s all I can really ask for.
Words: Scott Bates