Sola en la Terraza

Greetings Earthlings,

I've been quieter on here than usual, so here's a bit of an update.

Mish and I have taken a small break from the podcast - a bit of rebranding and a bit of recuperation - but we're back next week with a new episode: Zoom In, Zoom Out, all about the push and pull between big-picture thinking and the small, unglamorous work that moves things forward. Re-entry into the small picture work can be quite difficult, and we get into that. I should also warn you that I get quite passionate about a game called Fruit Merge, which has become my philosophy for life.

The post-tour slump was harder than I'd anticipated and the amount of back-and-forth since I moved to Spain has taken a bit of a toll I think. I have a fairly constant sense of purpose in my life, so when that disappeared for a while recently, I felt quite low. Exercise is another thing that keeps me going, and that's been difficult to maintain recently - injuries and burnout over the last nine months have stopped me in my tracks time and time again. A new approach to exercise and physical recovery has completely transformed things for me though, and I'll be sharing more about that soon.

What pulled me out of my recent slump was a surge of ambition about working more in Spain - weddings, bars, that kind of thing. I've always loved the solo instrumental work I do on violin and with that focus came a sudden return to the harp. I originally picked the harp up at a very low point in my life, a moment when I was close to giving up music altogether. During lockdown I got a bit tired of its limitations and set it aside to focus on piano instead - an instrument that had a lot more musical scope for me. What I hadn't accounted for was how hard it would be to get back into harp this time round - I haven't played it properly since I was touring my album Wednesday's Child. But I keep noticing the same pattern: a different instrument gives me a wider perspective on music, and sometimes that's exactly what's needed to fall in love with it again.

It took considerably more work than I'd expected to get back up to speed, and I nearly didn't post anything because the pieces are simple and I know it - imposter syndrome is hard to shake when the internet is full of virtuosos. But I really believe that the appetite for harp content is larger than the number of people playing it and people have enjoyed my harp journey in the past. And having a reason to learn something new every week is exactly the kind of small-picture purpose I needed.

So: Sola en la Terraza. Me, alone on my terrace in Cómpeta, playing harp and violin. Short, low-key pieces that create a pleasant vibe and set me up for the kind of work I want to do here in Spain. I'm on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok under hana_maria_sola and I will be sharing a new video every week. Let me know if you have any requests.

Before I go - I'm back in the UK next month. Hana Piranha will be playing FrogFest in High Wycombe on 24th May, and Crimson Veil will be supporting Scardust in Stockport and London on the 25th and 26th May. Check our socials for more details.

Thanks to all of you for being here, and more from us very soon.