Hana Vu is a romantic. On her new album, the appositely titled Romanticism, she traces the peaks and valleys of romance. Right after the Los Angeles songwriter embraces the optimism of dreams, she finds comfort underneath wilted trees, considering life to be some kind of “big disease.” It doesn’t feel like whiplash so much as it does a candid portrayal of Vu’s experiences.
It’s an astute, self-aware record that reckons with both the joys and sorrows of love’s promises. Alongside co-producer Jackson Phillips (AKA Day Wave), Vu gives her interiority a bigger stage, with sweeping guitars and propulsive drums that lift her songs to vertiginous new heights.
Following the record’s release this month, Hana Vu sat down with Uproxx to talk about why she wants to visit Cypress by herself, her love of Solange, and why she doesn’t like following people on social media in our latest Indie Mixtape 20 Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
Girl, singing, yelling, guitar.
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
I think in 2050 I will still be alive, and I hope to not be forgotten just yet because that is kind of soon. Hopefully I can be remembered by the omnipresent statues of me in every major city center.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
I am probably most inspired by my friends and family. The people of whom I am closest and can very deeply empathize with really color my life with perspective and richness. We are only what we know and what we’ve done.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life, and what was it?
I eat a lot of really good meals, and it’s hard to think of what is best. I will say that my favorite place in SoCal to go to if I have the chance is Jus’ Poke in Redondo Beach.
Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.
Best show I’ve ever seen was when I saw BLACKPINK at Coachella 2023. I don’t really attend a lot of big pop shows, so it was really a stimulation overload. Haven’t seen anything like it, though.
What song never fails to make you emotional?
Every song makes me emotional, but when I am being particularly emotional, I have to listen to “Cranes in the Sky.” Nothing feels like “Cranes in the Sky.”
What’s the last thing you Googled?
The last thing I googled was Alicia Keys’ birth chart, and what I found out is that she is a Libra moon.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
I don’t know if I have ever crashed anywhere ‘weird’ per se, but I have definitely crashed at some pretty gross houses. One time I stayed in a house that was so decrepit, and I convinced myself that I was going to get abducted and murdered, so I actually did not sleep. So I don’t know if that qualifies as crashing.
