Lizzie Hanley is not only a Fine Arts student at Concordia University, but is also a singer on the rise. She goes by the stage name, Hanorah.
Growing up, her house was filled with a variety of music genres. Having a drummer father, and a singer as a mother, Hanorah spent most of her life believing that every household was filled with music. “In fact,” she says, “up until recently I assumed that everybody else was secretly a musician or a singer and was just choosing to do other careers because they had to pay the bills.”
Hanorah is well aware that this path is not an easy one, it requires a lot of dedication and hard work. When she realized that singing was not just a hobby, she knew it would be more than just a pastime to her. “I know in my hearts of hearts that I am a musician and that’s what I will be doing with the rest of my life.”
While she explains her passion, her hands flutter around her, helping her paint her picture. Music is her way of expressing herself, and it has helped her through hard times. She describes it as therapeutic and cathartic. She used it to get through her parents’ divorce, a bad breakup, and, during a somber time, after a sexual assault.
This assault affected her view on life, and everything she wrote in the period after was taken from that experience. She says that she doesn’t relive the event while singing her songs, but that it is a way to take it off her chest. If her music speaks to someone, letting them know they are not alone “then I know I’ve done my job,” she states.
A song of hers written after the assault, “In Between”, was recently released as a music video. The song was produced by Aralune, and the video by La Maison Bald Man. Both companies she describes as amazing. She believes that this song has been through a lot, and she came to a point where there was nothing left for her to do with it than make it visual.
Following her first video, she has surprises in store that she cannot reveal. But she will keep her followers posted on her Facebook page. She did give three hints to keep people on their toes: 1. It will be visual, 2. There will be a collaboration, and 3. It will be visible.
In the meantime, on Nov. 11 she’ll be playing at Mademoiselle on Parc Ave. Nov. 19 she’ll be performing at L’Escalier on Ste-Catherine St. E, and on Dec. 1 she’ll be at Casa Del Popolo on St. Laurent doing an album launch with the artist Millagram.
She’s also expanding outside of Montreal and has upcoming gigs in Toronto, Kitchener, Boston and New York City.
And so, for those out there who dream of this and who are afraid, Hanorah has a few tips; go to jam nights and open mics. There are a few bars around Montreal that do this, such as Le Bleury-Bar à Vinyle says Hanorah, but it is easy to research for more.
She says, talk to people and make friends. This is how her circle expanded and before she knew it, she had met a good chunk of Montreal’s artists who support her career path.
But the most important thing, Hanorah says, “is that you believe in yourself and allow yourself to take certain risks.”
Check out her video here