Meet SLUG’s Digital Media Assistant, Ana Hardy. You might’ve seen her at a local show at The Borough, noticed her timeless style in our December 2015 SLUG Style feature or listened to her performing live, most recently at the SLC Pink release show, electric guitar in hand and touting pastel pink hair.
Ana is a writer, poet, singer and songwriter. Mostly, she’s a romantic. Love and introspection—however radiant, however obscure, however volatile—informs her work. Her writing comprises anything from lofty, meandering prose that starts with being lonely on a Sunday night to thoughts about self-love, captured and condensed into a poem.
Regarding her music, Ana cites growing up listening to her father, a fellow singer/songwriter, and his “Neil Young voice.” Master lyricists like Nick Cave, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits continue to influence Ana’s work, inspiring her to take her own writing to task, to find a way to put the indescribable into words. In her own songs, Ana combines delicate, echoing guitar picking and gentle, stirring croons to underscore her lyrics, which are just as personal and reflective as are her poems. Her recently recorded “Amnesia Love,” for example, serves as a validation of sorts, an affirmation that it’s OK to love someone, even if it’s only for an instant.
For Ana, her music, writing and personal experiences all come hand in hand. In this episode of SLUG Soundwaves, Ana reflects on growing up and struggling to express what she wanted to express; on how her poetry and lyrics help her voice, and come to terms with, everything that she feels; and why she endeavors to shares her work, however personal, so that others might gain something from her writing.
Find Ana’s music online at SoundCloud and her writing on WordPress. Catch her next performance on Sunday, May 22, at Kilby Court with Nick Jaina and Joey Brandin.
Thanks for listening to SLUG Mag Soundwaves.
• This podcast was created by SLUG Magazine and produced by Angela H. Brown and Secily Saunders
• Associate Producers: Alexander Ortega, Joshua Joye, John Ford, Shannan Hansen, Kathy Zhou
• Executive Producer: Angela H. Brown
• Background music by Ana Hardy
• Soundwaves logo and art design by Nicholas Dowd
• Technical design by Kate Colgan
• Photo of Ana Hardy by Tyson Call
SLUG Magazine’s mission is to provide an honest journalistic alternative to mainstream coverage of arts, music, events and lifestyle. SLUG adds value to lifestyle through community engagement. Available in print and digitally on SLUGmag.com.
