Formula Indie Sessions Interview with Hanemoon
Hanemoon’s music has been compared to artists like Guided by Voices, the Lemonheads, Wilco, Teenage Fanclub or Sparklehorse and was hailed as “intensely beautiful” (Janglepophub) or “should be in a steady rotation” (Austin Town Hall).
There are three albums released now through Portland’s Jigsaw Records and an EP that came out in January ’25 via Subjangle. The fourth album has been recorded this year, is mixed down now and ready to be put out in the coming months.
All these songs have “tell tale signs of 60’s folk influences and contemporary jangle pop meets surfy psychedelia meets emo folk and melancholy pop all kind of stirred together” (American Pancake).
The Berlin based band’s main character is Hans Forster, who’s also in the Seaside Stars and other projects like Man Behind Tree or The Sealevel.
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
My parents had a pub in the countryside. During Carnival or at weddings, bands were playing in our hall on a tiny stage. The instruments often stayed overnight. Through a little window to the hall, I would watch the musicians play and in the morning after the events, I’d sneak onto the stage admiring those electro guitars. I still vividly remember the smell of spilled drinks, cold smoke, and that unique scent of electric instruments.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
One of my earliest favourites were AC/DC. As a 12 year old I was not good enough a guitar player to cover their songs. So I started playing easier riffs on my guitar, sometimes singing along. That must have been the kick off. Only my own music never turned out to sound anything like AC/DC who I still find great. On the other hand, being an autodidact and not the super skilled player probably has prevented me from playing in cover bands. I ‘ve always found it easier to do my own stuff.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Hanemoon started out in 2020. I put together a couple of homerecordings and tried my luck with labels, in the hope of getting an album published. Huge surprise when I got a reply from a Chris Mac Farlane, owner of Jigsaw Records. Actually I should have already known Chris because he had written a terrific review of the Seaside Stars’ debut album ‘The Magic of Stereo’ for indiepages years before. Only I hadn’t kept track of these things. Finally, having found a label and gotten some good response to the releases I got stuck with the Hanemoon project.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
I’d say it’s between Jangle Pop and Power Pop. For people who don’t know these terms I’d add: A bit like the Byrds, a lot of multivocal parts. But expect distortion on the guitars every once in a while. Actually the next album will have a lot of steel guitar as well – so again a bit like the Byrds, only more their Sweet Heart of The Rodeo era.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
There’s not been that much change in the way I’m making music over the years. I got into synthesizers ten years ago. Still, even those I’m using in a rather traditionell way, no sequencers, just playing the lines and tweaking the buttons a little.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
It’s the typical practice room setup: guitar (Jazzmaster + Vox Ac 30), drums and bass, plus the odd synthesizer, Yamaha CS 15d for some bass lines, Siel Cruise for strings and lead. Sometimes I add Lap steel or my friend Desmond Garcia does. Or I have my buddy Pat Carter play Pedal Steel. I can’t play the drums, so my friend Gregor Hüttner is helping out. He’s my bandmate in the Seaside Stars, same as Andi Schuwirth, who provided some acoustic guitars and vocals on the new recordings. There’s also Seb Thieme who chips in with drums or bass or both. For me people make all the difference in the creative process. I’m glad to have my band Man Behind Tree rehearsing regularly, which is perfect to go through new ideas, arrange the parts or just have fun playing together. Apart from Greg and me there’s Graham McCarthy (bass) in the band and Tobias Suttner on guitar (Jazzmaster + Twin Reverb).
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Joe Armstrong – Farmer’s daughter. The song’s on his latest album ‘Gaslight Blues’ that came out in July via Subjangle. You’ll find it on bandcamp.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
I guess in many ways, hard to say in which ways exactly, though.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
Feeling happy and sad at the same time maybe? Not really much in it for dancers, I suppose.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Over the years I’ve learned that I can call myself lucky to have music all around me. I know a lot of people that don’t have that, so it seems to me they’re forced to look for other things that keep them going, like work or sports. I don’t feel that need.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I’ve never thought about it. Reading Festival would be nice, though. Is that still going?
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
There’s so much music and so many bands I love and also, I guess, plenty of ‘stars’ might be ok as people – wouldn’t want to collaborate with a not-nice person! So, if I’m to name just one it’ll be Scott Kannberg alias Spiral Stairs from Pavement. His songs are fantastic, just so relaxed and melodious. I’d love to join him in a practice room and strum along his slacker tunes in a ‘doesn’t have to be perfect’ way and write a couple of new ones while we’re at it.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
Bandcamp would be best:
The socials are:
www.instagram.com/hanemoon_mammals/
https://www.facebook.com/hanemoonmusic
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Playing more live shows. But that’s not exactly the big dream, just something I’d like to do more often. I’ve hooked up with the Desmond Garcia One Band a while ago. So now we’re a two man band, small enough to play bars and tiny venues where a full drumset might not be welcome. We’re writing follk-country-jangly indie songs together and even got us a name now: American Imbiss Oase.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I’m hoping they won’t find out too much about me personally 😉 But it can’t hurt if they found out that I’m a politically thinking person even though the lyrics I’m writing are mostly rather detached or have metaphoric meanings. So for example, if some people are reading this interview up to this point, it’s alright with me when they discover that I’m supporting a free Palestine and that I’m hating apartheid, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
