Hamish Hawk

This Edinburgh-born singer/songwriter’s intense, lyrical compositions blend aspects of indie rock and chamber pop, and are laced with a bone-dry sense of humor and often crammed with seemingly disparate historical and cultural references.
Hawk was born in 1991 and began playing music in his early teens, growing up in a household that gave equal weight to folk, classic rock, Brit-pop, and nu metal. He formed bands at school and, while at university, began to play solo gigs. Early backing came from Kenny Anderson, the man behind King Creosote, who in turn gave him prestigious opening slots and produced Hawk’s 2014 debut album. Self-released under the name Hamish James Hawk, it was titled Aznavour after the charismatic French baritone. This was followed in 2015 by the Mull EP on Anderson’s short-lived Boer Records. Hawk soon found himself working at Assai Records’ Edinburgh branch, striking up friendships with the owner, Keith Ingram, as well as their likeminded punters. At a festival in 2016, he met Idlewild guitarist Rod Jones, kicking off a fruitful relationship, which ultimately led to Jones co-managing his affairs.
In 2017, Hawk spent six weeks zigzagging through 26 U.S. states with Brendon Massei, aka Viking Moses, on a tour of peoples’ houses. He documented the experience by writing songs — often penned while sitting at the pianos of their hosts — and, on returning to Scotland, immediately recorded the results at Mattie Foulds’ Penicuik studio. A limited run of 50 handmade EPs were produced and duly given to friends and used for promotion. One of the tracks, “China & Down,” was issued as a digital single that November. Next, Gordon Maclean produced the comparatively raucous From Zero to One, recorded with Hawk’s full band the New Outfit, comprising Alex Duthie, Andrew Pearson, Barry Carty, and John Cashman. The completed record was issued on Assai in 2018, the first of many supportive moves by Ingram. Hawk’s next Assai release, 2019′s Laziest River EP, gathered three solo piano ballads from the 2017 handmade EP, alongside Jones-produced material composed in London, Glasgow, and Latvia. The EP’s instrumental opener, “Jude the Obscure,” was entirely composed and performed by one of Hawk’s many close musical associates, Stefan Maurice.
With funding from the arts body Creative Scotland, Hawk assembled Pearson, Maurice, Duthie, and Cashman, to record what he would later refer to as his most fully formed record to date. Heavy Elevator was completed in two weeks of sessions during September 2019, at Jones’ Post Electric Studio in Leith. The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to its immediate release but, in 2021 — with the promotion wheels in full spin — pre-release singles from the LP began to receive heavy rotation from BBC Radio 6 Music DJs. The album itself was released on Assai that September. ~ James Wilkinson