Today we’d like to introduce you to Hanover.
Hello Hanover, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Hanover initially began in the Spring of 2021 as a performing vehicle for singer-songwriter Nate Davis under the artist name “Everett,” which included Nik Olson on bass, Alec Ramba on keys, Jaret Lyttle on drums, and Matt Musso on guitar. Some of us were friends from high school, while the rest met through our time at The University of Texas at Austin and also through mutual friends. After a year of playing together, we decided to re-brand under a new name to make it more of a collaborative project between the five band members as we leaned towards a different sound. The result was a new band name (“Hanover”) and a more indie rock sound. We released two singles in the fall of 2022 as we played shows around Austin and College Station. In 2023, we continued to hone our sound through writing, rehearsing, and gigging as much as possible. We won a battle of the bands and played our first out-of-state show, giving us the confidence that people were listening to our music so we could keep pushing forward. The summer saw the exit of Nate and Jaret due to personal reasons, so Nik switched to rhythm guitar. We brought on Michael Musso on bass and Harrison Crone on drums. The big highlight was spending a few days recording five songs we hope to release as an EP in 2024, with the first single, “Dearest Martha,” being released this past October.
It wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been easy! There have been so many lessons we’ve had to learn the hard way, whether it comes to songwriting and recording or especially the industry’s booking, promotional, and financial aspects. For example, learning how to get your foot in the door with promoters and talent buyers can take time and effort. We often need help to get shows (especially on weekends), and you would think that in a city like Austin, there are plenty of places to play. However, we’ve realized that the bands in this city far outnumber the venues available, so we’ve had to research and get creative about how we pitch ourselves to venues.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might need to be more familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
Hanover is an indie rock group that centers around loud guitars, soaring harmonies, and introspective lyrics. We were all raised on our parents’ music from the 60s and 70s (The Beatles, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne), but we also love lots of music being made more recently (Dr. Dog, Wilderado, and The Brook and The Bluff). We’re known for energetic and dynamic live performances that feature our own material and a few covers by bands we love. Ultimately, we’re most proud of getting to where we are today – having released four songs, gigging relatively consistently, and building a small fanbase of people who listen to our music and come to our shows. It’s cool when we look on Spotify and see people listening to our music on the other side of the world.
What does success mean to you?
We all know of commercial success- money, streams, recognition, etc. While we would certainly welcome that, success to us is having fun making music and playing with each other. We’re all friends inside and outside the band, so as long as we’re enjoying what we do, we think we’re thriving.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hanover.mp3
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HanoverTheBand
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuAgJDxD5WW7F0aYO3dtwQQ
Image Credits
Photos by Alex Street, Casen Hutton, Andrew Larson, Dina Zeid and Landon Wiste
