Hanz

Hanz is a shadowy experimental hip-hop producer whose fractured, collage-like tracks are equally influenced by golden age rap, early industrial groups like Einstürzende Neubauten, and gritty, abstract post-punk bands such as the Fall. His unpredictable beat tapes patch together television samples, shades of tribal rhythms, nature sounds, and rough, jagged beats. Born Brandon Juhans in Augusta, Georgia, he later moved to Durham, North Carolina and began producing stripped-down beats inspired by Southern hip-hop. His sound quickly mutated into something denser and more abstract, and he began self-releasing albums online in 2012. His recordings began attracting attention from blogs and music websites, and he remixed Alt-J’s song “Ms” on their remix EP Summer in late 2013. Hanz signed to Tri Angle in early 2015, performing at their five-year anniversary concert in New York City that May, and garnering acclaim from Björk. Tri Angle released Hanz’s Reducer as a free download that month, and issued the album on vinyl in February of 2016. A handful of alternate versions and non-album tracks surfaced online, and the EPs Plasty I and II appeared in early 2018. ~ Paul Simpson