EMMA HEWITT Chatting with The Queen of Trance
Emma Hewitt she is the real Queen of Trance, born in Geelong, a port city located on Corio Bay (Australia).
At first Emma Hewitt was the lead singer of the amazing Australian rock band with the name ΄΄ Missing Hours΄΄, with whom she released the eponymous debut album in October 2008, with 11 songs and ΄΄Falling down΄΄ (6 track), that it is one of our best songs till today! ΄΄Missing Hours΄΄ band, Emma formed with her brother Anthony is currently no longer active, because both now working as songwriters of electronic dance music! I believe that … few voices are as instantly recognizable as that of Australian born songstress, Emma Hewitt.
I have also to say that Hewitt’s amazing haunting melodies, yearning lyrics and distinctive style have earned her a legion of passionate fans around the world as she continues to write and release music with some of the world’s most respected names in electronic dance music!
These and many many more could be noted, for Australian singer and songwriter Emma Hewitt! Athenscalling.gr, chat in very haut summer day with The Queen of Trance… EMMA HEWITT!
Athenscalling.gr: Hi Emma, it is a great time for us, cause chatting you and have to tell you that I am fan, from MISSING HOURS band… Emma welcome to Athens Calling G.R
EMMA HEWITT: Hi, oh thank you! And thanks so much for chatting to me!
Athenscalling.gr: Where are you Emma now and how pass the pandemic days of Covid – 19 ?
EMMA HEWITT: I am in Australia at the moment. I usually live in Miami, USA. I came back to Australia for 2 weeks to renew my visa and see family, then the borders closed…and here I am, more than 5 months later. I am enjoying the time with family though, I never get to see them too much usually. I am focusing on making a lot of new music during this time, finishing my solo album and there are other collaborative projects on way with trio side project Elysian as well as some more downtempo, soundtrack orientated stuff. I am really just trying to stay fit, healthy and remain optimistic – so many are going through such difficult times at the moment that it is really disheartening to turn on the news and read the papers each day – music is my form of escapism and refuge to a certain extent.
Athenscalling.gr: O.k.! We heard you, for the first time with MISSING HOURS rock band, unfortunally with no longer active band and with only one album, why?
EMMA HEWITT: Missing Hours was such a great time, a big part of my life. We all had different projects on the go after the album, and we all ended up moving to different places. The band was formed with my brother, Anthony and myself. We still write all of my music together…so really the essence of Missing Hours was about remains in the dance and electronic songs to an extent. We also still work a lot with Tim Henwood, the lead guitarist from the band. Tim does most of my vocal recording/engineering in Australia, plus the 3 of us are all co- producing my new solo album together. So in many ways Missing Hours still lives on!
Athenscalling.gr: Genres of music and I would like to ask you about the genres of music. I mean about Alternative rock, House and Trance. Tell us please, which of these is your favorite and why?
EMMA HEWITT: I really do love to listen to all genres of music, there are rock and alternative songs I love…and some I can’t stand, haha…The same absolutely goes for electronic music too…it all really comes down to the song. A good song is always inspiring no matter the genre. In any genre they are rare to find, when I discover one, I hang on to it and play it until I wear it out.
Athenscalling.gr: Do you remember about your first teacher in music… Who was?
EMMA HEWITT: Oh yes I do…I had a music teacher in primary school named “Mr Dandy.” I remember he made music fun, and even at a young age he encouraged me to want to sing…to get up and sing in front of the class, even though I was painfully shy. That was the first time I ever kind of felt in my element doing something.
Athenscalling.gr: Tell us please something about your musical memories
EMMA HEWITT: I remember we used to do really long road trips with our family around Australia. Driving down long desert roads, the car air conditioner broken, nothing around for miles….listening to The Eagles and trying to sing all the harmonies. Those times made me realise how certain songs always connect us to the time we heard them.. they become like a little portal or window back into the past whenever you hear them, no matter how much time goes by.
Athenscalling.gr: About your preferences, singer- song writer, band and song.
EMMA HEWITT: M83 “Wait”is just so incredibly haunting, it draws you in and kind of circles around you. Listening to that song is kind of an experience.As for best singer/songwriters…that just depends on my mood and the occasion – it tends to be a frequently changing landscape.
Athenscalling.gr: O.k and about… your influences?
EMMA HEWITT: Many, I am sure I am influenced in some small way by every song I have ever heard. My earliest and most memorable influences would have to be Tori Amos, Kate Bush and Garbage. All strong and kind of moody, magical female artists. They inspired me to write. Listening to their lyrics and the way they were layered took me into other worlds. Tori Amos songs kind of taught me that something happens when the right melody and the right lyrics sync together to create something more, otherworldly, to invoke a feeling in you that you can’t quite explain. Even when I didn’t know exactly what she was talking about, I FELT what she was saying. I wouldn’t say I have been considerably influenced by anyone too current, even if there is so much music I love to listen to, I think the music we hear when we are first discovering music kind of shapes us into the musicians we later become.
Athenscalling.gr: Your bad or lovely moments in your career?
EMMA HEWITT: I have so many lovely moments from the shows I have done. SO many beautiful memories with wonderful people in crazy places. I feel like I have had this blur of five years or so full of country hopping and random experiences that don’t really link together…there is no timeline, you are just in a moment with a bunch of people, then you jump on a plane and suddenly you are in a completely different moment with a new bunch of people….its chaotic, and when I look back on the past few years it is like a strange, disjointed, colourful dream…and I absolutely love that! Having stopped touring now and having time to reflect on this makes me feel so truly grateful for all of these experiences…Bad moments well, it’s probably mainly to do with lack of sleep or jet lag for me; those are the only downsides, but they are so minor compared to the positives. Of course I’ve been disappointed by people and let down by mirages of hope at times, but during those shitty times is usually when you dig deep and find out how strong you can be so I’ve often found that what can seem like the greatest disappointment or betrayal at the time can end up revealing itself as a blessing with the passing of time.
Athenscalling.gr: Emma and Social media… What have you to say about?
EMMA HEWITT: Social media is such a double edged sword right? It is still such an important medium. On one hand, personally I have been stepping back from these forums day to day for a little while. For me something kind of shifted with all the changes going on, now I am finding more value in putting my energies and focus into creating something that feels more real, behind the scenes, rather than keeping up with posting photo content every day like maybe I once did, I feel I can be of most use to people if I am in the studio hopefully creating something and ultimately (for someone who remains an introvert), that is my most genuine way to connect with people. On the other hand, though, social media has become our link to the outside world in these times, I really appreciate it for that…it is an incredible thing to be able to record a song in my bedroom and have the ability to share it instantaneously with people…that still blows my mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSgnf-tBN9s
Athenscalling.gr: Anthony Hewitt, is your general manager. Tell us about him
EMMA HEWITT: Anthony is my brother and kind of like the silent band member for my dance music stuff…he is involved in so many aspects. We write together, produce together a lot and he has a lot of creative input into videos, shoots etc….as well as doing the day to day. It’s such a blessing to work with family and have that trust, we have always been great friends as well as siblings, so that definitely helps too! He really is good people.
Athenscalling.gr: Let’s Travel now in my country… in Greece and if you want tell us what exactly do you know about Greece. I mean any place, or any musicians or any foods… or anything you like.
EMMA HEWITT: Ooooh the food!! I absolutely can’t get enough of Greek food! Yum! Saganaki is everything! Whoever thought to fry cheese?…Genius!! Two of the most special places I ever got to visit were Santorini and Mykonos….pure magic! And Athens is such an incredible place! The history there is insane. I am craving to visit Greece again as soon as the world opens.
Athenscalling.gr: Living Today… what is your future plans ?
EMMA HEWITT: I am just finishing up my solo album now, I have been learning to produce and have ended up doing a lot of production for this myself, which has been a pretty big task for me. I’m so excited to see the finish line of this one in the near future! The first single will be coming out in around Nov…This album is a little more organic, it’s singer/songwriter music, not so much dance…so I am looking forward to doing something different and also touring this with some acoustic instruments once we can travel! I also have 2 EPs coming out with the Elysian project I started with Ilan Bluestone and Maor Levi…The first EP, titled “Water” is to be released September 18th. This music is really exciting to me and I can’t wait until we can start our tours with that too…We had some big shows planned for this year, but they will have to wait until 2021 now, haha. We plan to bring something really special to this live show, both visually and sonically…So for now I’m just planning to create as much as possible in these quiet moments, and to appreciate the special time with my family.
Athenscalling.gr: … 59 millions views on YouTube,…with over one million followers in your face book. You have many fans all around the world and now If you want it, give your message to your fans!
EMMA HEWITT: Thank you SO much to anyone who has ever listened to any of my music. It is a very special thing to me, to somehow connect in this way through a song and if anything I’ve ever done in my own small way has managed to connect with one person, then everything was worth it. Thank you, and I wish that everyone stays safe and hopeful in these crazy times. I hope we are all dancing together until the sun comes up, somewhere, soon!! Much love.
Athenscalling.gr: Thank you QUEEN OF TRANCE… all the best to you!
EMMA HEWITT: Thank you so much – I’ve really enjoyed the chat!! J
EPILOGUE WITH… ANTHONY HEWITT ( Former The Missing Hours band)
Athenscalling.gr: Hi Anthony, I am very glad to meet you, you know that I was a ΄΄ Missing Hours΄΄ fan!Why was , with no longer active your band?
ANTHONY HEWITT: Hey Theodore, it’s wonderful to meet you. Missing Hours does feel a little bit like a dream from another life these days. It was a great learning experience being signed to Sony – we were pretty naïve back then and would definitely do a few things differently nowadays, but it was an experience that seemed to lead Emma and I really organically to this manager/artist relationship and I think that is when we really hit our stride as a partnership. I absolutely love writing, producing and recording music, but I am not the guy who wants to be in the spotlight or up on stage so I am really fulfilled creatively in the studio and helping Emma with her projects. We still work with a lot of the same players and we are great friends with all the guys we played with so in a way, MH has just morphed into something else along the way which I think is a nice evolution.
Athenscalling.gr: Do you have any future plan for amazing ΄΄ Missing Hours΄΄
ANTHONY HEWITT: We never say never, but more than likely is you might see some of the guys and myself join Emma on the road at certain live shows as opposed to “resurrecting” or reforming the band under the Missing Hours name.
Athenscalling.gr: ΄΄Falling down ΄΄is one great song with΄΄Missing Hours΄΄band tell us the story of the song.
ANTHONY HEWITT: Thank you! That song came about in a pretty dark time when Emma and I were living in London and had zero money (I think it was around 2006). We had managed to secure some financial support from a backer (I think it was only a couple hundred dollars) to make a demo and the session completely fell apart and the recordings sounded horrible. I remember walking around the following day with the feeling of having really blown what felt like our last chance to get something together and those lyrics “you’re falling down, this time’s forever…” sort of came about by way of self-admonishment for the failure. I was saying those lines to myself. Emma really connected with the tangent and then it morphed into something a little more abstract, but initially, it was that feeling of helplessness and like we were at the end of the line – we recorded the demo a week later and felt like it was the start of something new.
Athenscalling.gr: And the last one questions is … Mister Anthony Hewitt how do you feel as a manager for Emma Hewitt?
ANTHONY HEWITT: I think I am very lucky to work with Emma; she has always been the most talented person I’ve known and lives her life in a very unique way that I find inspiring. Emma and I trust each other implicitly which is something I am so grateful for and we have always remained true to our ideals – we do this for love, not because it was something we ever thought could earn us a living…Emma’s desire to reinvent herself is something I applaud and I really cannot wait to share her next solo album with people very soon…I think it will surprise many
Athenscalling.gr: Thank you Anthony… and all the best to you!
ANTHONY HEWITT: Thank you Theodore – it’s been a pleasure!
