Those of you who are acquainted with this blog have surely read a lot about Hohnen Ford during the last couple of years. I first met Ella Honhen Ford’s musical vision in 2022, listening to her stunning single Infinity (the first one from the homonymous EP). After that love at first sight, I followed Ella’s path with great attention until today, when the young London-based pianist, singer and songrwriter released Honest Mistake, released April 3, is the first single from her upcoming sophomore EP, titled I Wish I Had A God and due on July 26, 2024 for the very interesting London label Young Poet.
The first thing that strikes you about Honest Mistake is the rich sonic texture: the tense yet bare sound of Infinity EP, that was essentially built around piano and voice, gives way to delicate guitars plucking and scattered percussive sounds sustaining Ford’s amazing and warm vocals. Honest Mistake is a beautiful and melancholic pop-gem, featuring personal and introspective lyrics (such as in the powerful verses I didn’t mean to start a riot / In the California quiet / There’s a canyon between our twin beds). Following Ford’s own words, “This song was written in a moment of quiet in between emotional chaos, far away from home. Trying to make sense of and coming to terms with letting go of someone. Sometimes the loudest moments are when everything’s quiet, and the closest person to you can feel the most far away.”
Being especially a huge fan of her, I’m pretty enthusiast to say that Ella has kindly accepted to grant an interview for the readers of my blog. It’s a great honor for me to host the interview on these pages, and I hope you will enjoy the interesting and very passionate answers she gave to my questions as much as I did.
Question: First of all, I want to thank Ella for agreeing to grant me this interview. It’s a great pleasure for me, especially because I consider myself first and foremost one of your fans. I remember very clearly thinking, the first time I heard your single Infinity, “wow, what an incredible voice!”. It’s not something that happens to me very often, so I’d like to start this interview by asking you which artist you’ve had a similar thought about, and which artists come to mind when it comes to your instrument, your voice.
Answer: That is very kind. It truly means so much to hear that. Artists that made me turn my head and reassess what I’m doing.. to name a few! Merril Garbus from tune-yards, when I first heard WHOKILL I could believe it. So much power and rawness. And of course, Donny Hathaway’s voice has to be one of the greatest of all time. My dad had a vinyl copy of Donny Hathaway LIVE growing up and it absolutely stopped me in my tracks! One of the most healing, heartbreaking, powerful voices. Kwabs, an artist I’ve had the pleasure to know, also possesses that power. The world stands still when he sings! Esperanza Spalding also opened my world to how much colour and texture and warmth you can uncover in an instrument – she was a formative voice for me. The list could go on and on…
Q: Besides having an extraordinary voice, you’re also a very skilled pianist, and you write your own songs. What is your compositional process like? Are there preferred methods in your songwriting? Do you usually start composing from musical ideas or fragments, or from words?
A: My best songs usually stem from an idea where the words, melody and harmony all appear at once. But these are gifts from the skies and I can’t always count on inspiration striking! So, I have some methods to keep the well from drying up. I am always taking notes or recording melodies, journaling and reading so I have a bank of emotions, phrases or things to express. Then I usually sit at a piano, and try to find a harmonic world that connects to the words and emotion.
Q: Speaking of inspirations, are there other art forms that inspire you when composing your songs? Like cinema or literature? I find that some of your songs have an intriguing cinematic character, as if they weren’t just made of music and words, but were able to evoke real images and bring stories to life.
A: I love stories, I’m no film expert but any medium of storytelling works for me. I love reading. I love falling in love with the cracks and flaws of characters and how it makes you think and reflect and reevaluate things you thought you knew. How stories and characters teach you compassion, in the same way humans you meet do. How language can transport you and create worlds in your imagination.
Q: I think your compositions can be classified as extremely brilliant and elegant pop songwriting. At the same time, even to a casual listener, it’s immediately apparent how deeply passionate you are about jazz. What aspect of this musical tradition interests you the most? It seems absolutely natural for you to blend a delicate pop character with vibrant jazz inflections into your musical style, probably also as a result of your musical background.
A: These questions are so generously put!
Jazz will forever be close to my heart. The Great American songbook is a great source of so many amazing songs. The quality of those melodies is pretty untouchable, timeless and endlessly inspiring. In terms of the Jazz lineage, it is ever evolving and we can learn so much from studying the ‘Greats’ for their craftsmanship and innovation. How to interpret song, how to challenge listeners, how to emote on so many levels and let musicianship bleed into politics in a way that empowers and brings together community. That is, for me, the epitome of music – community and resilience. Jazz and Folk are the best demonstrators of this to me.
Q: I listened with great interest to the string versions of the songs in your EP Infinity. I couldn’t help but notice how the strings give your melodies an atmosphere sometimes close to traditional jazz (a bit like the vocal jazz that Charlie Haden honoured with his Quartet West) and other times to more classical sounds. Have you ever thought about writing music for a small ensemble, like a trio or quartet? If yes, are you interested in pursuing this direction?
A: My musical history is steeped in organic and acoustic sound and instruments so I will always be excited to incorporate as much as that as I can. I played flute growing up and have loved playing alto flute recently (that makes a feature on my upcoming EP!), I would love to explore that further. I also would love to explore working with more woodwind instruments and more unusual instrument combinations. For example, a wonky ensemble of double bass, harp, alto flute, viola, and flugelhorn for example. We’ll see! Some time!
Q: I’m very curious about your upcoming music. What can you tell us about it?
A: It is a piece of me! My heart is deeply embedded throughout the songwriting and the soundworld. I made it with Luca Caruso, my friend of forever and we built it in a tiny room in Deptford over a few months. It was challenging and I’m so proud of it. The EP is dedicated to Imogen Shelley Moore, who passed away last summer. Any magic in this EP is her light rippling on.
Q: You are an incredibly talented yet very young musician. I wonder what you think of the way in which we consume music today, very different from the way it was consumed 10 or 15 years ago. I mean, we’re in the era of streaming, with all the positives and negatives that come with it. Do you find good opportunities to perform your music live? I understand that this is an enormously vast topic to address, but as a musician, what do you expect from the future of this medium? You will surely be aware of the great debate about the future of music in the context of streaming and the internet.
A: I see the industry in a different light everyday. It is complicated, I’m still learning about it and am no expert. I love performing live more than anything and will continue to seek all the opportunities I can! I find the performance setting brings songs alive and reminds me why I do what I do. The industry is being democratised, which social media is helping with. It’s outgrowing itself and from that I hope only great things will happen. We must be careful of greediness. I like to think it’s not in human nature. Streaming needs to be reformed, and I believe it will be. I have faith in the artform of albums, great albums will stand the test of time and there is nothing like the connection we have to a record. That’s between artist and listener, and will always be there.
I want to thank Ella again for taking the time to answer these questions, and I obviously wish her all the best for the future. I consider particularly interesting her last answer about the artform of albums: the idea that the album as a way to communicate music, to convey sense, is destined to survive this era of streaming and fast-consume is something I strongly believe in too, and I sincerely hope she is right. In the following, you can listen to Honest Mistake.
Special thanks go to Serena Chiofalo, who patiently proofread and corrected the questions I prepared for this interview.