Jump to content

Draft:Hannah Lew

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Comment: References appear to be based around interviews and announcements, rather than being about Lew. 🇵🇸‍🇺🇦 FiddleTimtrent FaddleTalk to me 🇺🇦‍🇵🇸 08:22, 27 August 2026 (UTC)
  • Comment: Not sure this qualifies under WP:MUSICBIO since the first source, Brooklyn Vegan, does not appear to work? Also for living people we need inline citations per WP:BLP and the one inline source happens to promote her business. ChrysGalley (talk) 07:27, 8 April 2026 (UTC)



Hannah Lew
Genres
Instruments
  • Bass
  • synthesizer
Years active2007-present
Labels
  • Crime on the Moon
  • Night School
Member ofCold Beat
Formerly ofGrass Widow

Hannah Lew is a Bay Area-based musician, filmmaker, and visual artist best known as the bassist and co-vocalist of the post-punk trio Grass Widow (2007–2013) and as the founder of darkwave group Cold Beat (~2012-present).[1][2][3][4] She also runs a record label, Crime on the Moon,[5] and co-founded Contact Records, a record store in Oakland, California.[6] Her self-titled solo album was released on April 10, 2026.[7][8]

Early life

[edit]

Hannah Lew is the daughter of Rabbi Alan Lew. Her family moved often when she was a child. At one point, her family lived in New York City during the week, went to Monroe, New York on weekends, and "lived in the basement for Shabbat."[9] Her family moved to San Francisco when Hannah was 11, just after the Loma Prieta earthquake.[10] Alan Lew later became the leader of Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco, California.

Lew started her first band at age 19. She worked as a visual artist until the September 11 attacks changed her perspective. Lew wanted to "do something that was accessible, that everyone could have."[11] Early in her career, Lew worked at a video store called Lost Weekend. In her twenties, she played moog synthesizer in a band, The Insides, where she was the only girl.[1]

Grass Widow

[edit]

Lew co-founded Grass Widow with Raven Mahon and Lillian Maring in 2007.[12] [10][13] In one interview, Lew described the band's process as highly collaborative, adding, "We collaborate on songs, each writing parts and all singing. We have band meetings where we make decisions together. We don't have a band leader. It's a very empowering project and it takes a lot of work."[1] Songs were created together in their San Francisco practice space and all members contributed equally to the work of the band.[14] They would often tour for two weeks at a time, in order to remain connected to their friends and family.[15]

Members of the band were often asked about the fact that the band is all-women and about their feminism, and responded with a quote from Gina Birch: "And you ask me if I’m a Feminist? Why the hell would I not be?!"[16] They cited influences like Neo Boys, Kleenex, The Move, and The Kinks as major sources of inspiration.[17]

The band dissolved circa 2013, with members moving on to pursue other projects.[18][19]

Cold Beat

[edit]

Lew started Cold Beat after the death of her father, when she felt the collaborative style of Grass Widow (which was already on hiatus) would not work for her.[20][9] Cold Beat's name comes from a song by the British post-punk group The Sound. The project began as a solo vehicle for Lew, and evolved into a four-piece band.[21] Cold Beat has released five studio albums and two EPs on Crime on the Moon (Lew's own label), Dark Entries Records, DFA Records, and Like LTD.[22][23] The album Mother (2020) was recorded while Lew was pregnant.[24]

Filmmaking

[edit]

Lew has directed dozens of music videos for her own bands and other acts, including Erase Errata, Tony Molina, and The Mantles.[25] She has also made and released several short films. In 2009, she received both the Leo Diner and Robin Eichman Awards for her short films Stoplight and Over the Hill.[26]

Other projects

[edit]

Lew released San Francisco is Doomed, an anthology of local bands, on her label Crime on the Moon.[10] She released a self-titled album in April 2026, which was named Bandcamp's "Album of the Day" and positively reviewed in The Guardian and BrooklynVegan.[7][8][27][28]

Discography

[edit]

Solo

[edit]

Cold Beat

[edit]

Albums

[edit]
  • Over Me (2014, Crime on the Moon Records)
  • Into the Air (2014, Crime on the Moon Records)
  • Chaos by Invitation (2017, Crime on the Moon Records)
  • Live Studio Recordings (2017, self-released)
  • Mother (2020, DFA)
  • War Garden (2017, Like LTD Records)

Other releases

[edit]
  • Worms/Year 5772 (2013, Crime on the Moon Records)
  • A Simple Reflection (2018, Dark Entries)
  • Year Without a Shadow (2021, self-released)
  • Double Sided Mirror Remixes (2021, self-released)
  • See You Again (2021, self-released)
  • Mandelbrot Fall (2021, self-released)

Grass Widow

[edit]

Studio albums

[edit]

Other releases

[edit]
  • Grass Widow (2009, Captured Tracks)
  • Milo Minute 7" (2011, HLR label)
  • Disappearing Industries (2012, HLR label)

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 3 NPR.
  2. ↑ FADER 2014.
  3. ↑ SPIN 2014.
  4. ↑ "WAMU's Bandwidth Presents: Cold Beat". NPR. June 29, 2015. Retrieved April 8, 2026.
  5. ↑ SF Weekly 2015.
  6. ↑ Contact Records.
  7. 1 2 3 Stereogum 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Bandcamp 2026.
  9. 1 2 Silvers, Emma (December 6, 2013). "With dad's legacy as inspiration, rabbi's daughter uses music to heal". Retrieved April 10, 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 Phaneuf 2014.
  11. ↑ The Creative Independent 2019.
  12. ↑ Colville, Liz. "Grass Window: Past Time". Pitchfork (album review). Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  13. ↑ Merry, Stephanie (May 19, 2023). "Grass Widow, a band in perfect harmony". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on November 10, 2012. Retrieved April 11, 2024.
  14. ↑ "Grass Widow interview: "Our own internal logic"". Dummy. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  15. ↑ Vail, Tobi. "Grass Widow [band]". The Believer (interview). Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Grass Widow". Interview. Lady Bang Beat. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Grass Widow". Kill Rock Stars. Archived from the original on October 3, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  18. ↑ Canino, Gary (October 6, 2015). "Cold Beat [band]". BOMB Magazine (interview). Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  19. ↑ Fortune, Hether. "On figuring out how to do whatever you want". The Creative Independent (interview). Retrieved July 7, 2020.
  20. ↑ Pearis, Bill (April 24, 2014). "Grass Widow's Hannah Lew formed new group Cold Beat, releasing debut album in July". BrooklynVegan. Archived from the original on February 25, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2026.
  21. ↑ "Cold Beat Dodges the Ghosts of San Francisco, Dives Into Surf-Kissed Post-Punk". Spin. July 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2026.
  22. ↑ Gotrich, Lars (February 8, 2017). "Cold Beat's Dreamy Synth-Pop Song '62 Moons' Takes Off". NPR All Songs Considered. Retrieved April 11, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Cold Beat discuss the inspirations behind their new album 'War Garden'". BrooklynVegan. September 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2026.
  24. ↑ Pearis, Bill. "Indie Basement (2/28): Caribou, Real Estate, Juniore, The Orielles, Cold Beat, Pictish Trail, David Roback's Rainy Day". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved April 12, 2026.
  25. ↑ Lew, Hannah. "Music Videos". HannahLew.com. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  26. ↑ Lew, Hannah; Stewart, Chris (April 10, 2026). "Hannah Lew and Chris Stewart Just Want to Connect". Talkhouse. Retrieved May 22, 2026.
  27. ↑ Biddles, Claire; Beaumont-Thomas, Ben; Snapes, Laura (March 6, 2026). "Add to playlist: the maximalist melancholy of Hannah Lew and the week's best tracks". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved August 30, 2026 – via The Guardian.
  28. ↑ Pearis, Bill. "Indie Basement (4/10): Squarepusher, My New Band Believe, more". Retrieved August 30, 2026.

Sources

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]

Category:Hannah Lew Category:Living people Category:Musicians from San Francisco Category:Singer-songwriters from California Category:Jewish American songwriters Category:Jewish women songwriters Category:American post-punk musicians Category:American synth-pop musicians

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Hannah_Lew&oldid=1372656708"