The celestial voice of Jamie Hannah first caught our attention when we saw videos of him performing in quarantine to his entire apartment complex. Out on his balcony, he projected into the colossal courtyard while neighbors listened on and expressed their gratitude. Based in London, Jamie’s bravery and love for his craft was undeniable in those moments, as out of his hundreds of neighbors he had previously known only one. Lockdown had just begun, and a new sense of community was burgeoning.
Also obvious upon first listen was Jamie’s talent: classically trained at the Royal College of Music in London, Jamie can effortlessly float across an impressive four octave range. The clarity in his high notes is entrancing, and can be heard on his breakout single ‘Sound of My Youth‘ as well as in his innovative cover of Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance.’ But Jamie also harbors a love for world and contemporary pop music; employing his inventive nature, Jamie has established a genre he calls “ethereal dance pop.”
From participating in the National Youth Choir of Great Britain to earning the attention of Boy George, this multi-instrumentalist now sets his own stage with an unmatched falsetto and overflowing creativity. Jamie’s latest single ‘Magic’ is an anthemic statement of perseverance in the world of pop.
“Manifest the magic, gotta make it my own; then take all my biggest fears and let ‘em go.”
Find out how this beautiful, 2020 queer icon “becomes the magic” in his guest blog below.
Jamie Hannah’s Isolation Blog:
Over the past few weeks there has been an eerie unaccustomed atmosphere of silence in London with very little traffic noise, few aeroplanes on their ascent to Heathrow. It’s now been replaced with birdsongs from my nearby park. The neighborly noises are now unmasked – who knew I had a fitness influencer that loves to jump around at 7am living above me? Oh, and the joy of opening my blinds to see the middle aged men in lycra cycling past – oooh the glamour. What day of the week is it? Should I grow a beard? Should I iron my underpants? Some day there will be a reckoning on this.
Social media, once demonized, has now come to everyone’s rescue – social contact, internet pub quizzes on Zoom, a sing-a-long choir set up by my singing teacher and catching up with the free musicals from Andrew Lloyd Webber, ballets, drama from the National Theatre. It’s wild!
Once a week I have been putting on a little concert for my neighbors and streaming them live across my socials. My set list consists of singing my own songs alongside familiar sing-along ones to get everyone to feel happier and jollier in their enforced isolation.
The concerts for my neighbors started during the first week of lockdown, when one evening I was playing around with John Legend’s “All of Me” on the piano and I received a notification on my phone from a resident in the building Facebook group page asking who was singing, requesting to hear more. So I bought myself a big speaker, found some cute instrumentals online and did a performance from my balcony. It was incredibly heartwarming to watch as the residents came to their windows or out onto their balconies singing along. It truly reminded me of the beauty of coming together as a community, collectively sharing a moment and forgetting about the anxious knots in our stomachs. It’s an incredibly uncertain time, but music has the potential to be that light that we are all looking for.
I celebrated my 23rd Birthday a couple of weeks ago, so as you do….I decided to lose my ‘VIRTUAL BIRTHDAY PARTY VIRGINITY’ and host one! It was amazing as I had friends tuning in from New York, LA, Toronto, the UK and across Europe – you couldn’t get that on your average ‘non-lockdown’ Friday night in Soho could ya! It was divine; we could all get that perfect amount of boozy and not have to navigate the London underground afterwards. However, Jamie being Jamie decided to take it one step too far, and proposed a game. I had received a box of 24 different chocolates earlier in the day, so whilst on the call I asked everyone which chocolate they would like (to celebrate me of course)… and then I would eat it on their behalf. I’ll tell you now, the concoction of Gooey Caramel, Crunchy Praline and Turkish Delight were too much for my little stomach. I’ll leave the rest of that story to your imagination.
I’ve taken up skipping for my one hour of permitted outside activity in the forecourt of my apartment block. Policemen walking by are puzzled by my lack of prowess with the skipping rope. I shall persevere.
Initially I felt an overwhelming pressure to be productive – to cram as many things into the day as I’d been doing prior to the lockdown. I’ve surrendered to that. Now I allow my body to revitalise and take the time it needs. Now I understand that it’s ok to not feel you’ve achieved lots in one day. I’ve been going through old photo albums, re-watching Disney Movies, and attempting to make my favorites from mum’s recipes. This is what is making me happy. The other day on Barry’s Bootcamp Instagram Live they were working out to a remix of my song – it’s the little things that are making my day. I’m now embracing the spare time, and reconnecting with old memories, which in turn have enabled me to come up with new lyrical concepts and melody ideas. Nothing better than having a glass of rosé with some chocolate and getting all nostalgic.
My new single “Magic” is out on May 1st and the video is following the week after. Coincidentally it seems fitting to my mindset at the moment whilst I’ve been in quarantine alone. The core narrative revolves around the power of manifestation and positive thinking – being able to acknowledge the fluctuations in life and altering your perceptions to utilize the lows and let them fuel you “to become an addict in creating your soul.” There will always be peaks and troughs, but hopefully with this song it will allow the listener to be confident that they have the power to create a change for themselves. Hey, maybe that old weakness will become a strength? Every cloud can have a silver lining right?
We will get through this. I know we will. Life will be normal again. Just a different “normal” for the foreseeable future. A massive thank you to our NHS workers throughout this crisis. You are the heroes in this madness, our country will continue to be proud and applaud you every Thursday at 8pm. <3
CONNECT WITH JAMIE HANNAH
INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // SPOTIFY
photos / Walter Rachel
b&w photos / Niklas Haze
story / Ariana Tibi
