Scene Queen is stepping in, stepping up and reclaiming her confidence and sexuality in her own right. Last week she released her debut album, Hot Singles in Your Area AND announced her very first Australian tour, and somehow we got lucky and grabbed a moment to get to know the face behind Scene Queen, Hannah Collins. From what we heard so far, this heavy pop singer sounds like she’s got a lot to reveal.
On Hot Singles In Your Area, Collins draws from her mixed experiences of growing up in the early 2000s. Whether you aspired to become Elle Woods (Legally Blonde), you spent hours on MySpace, rocked out to Avril Lavigne, and hit the clubs when 2000s popstar Ke$ha was in her prime, there’s a Scene Queen represented on this album in all of us.
“I try and draw a lot in my music from current events and things that happen in front of me. With ’18+’, that obviously stems from experiences I had growing up in the scene and also just the general continuation of constant allegations and I felt like that needed to be said. I pay really close attention to what my fans are experiencing and try to write that in as well.”
While music in the early 2000s was definitely more of a male-dominated arena, what Hannah strived to do through her music was to become a voice for her fans and in turn create a safe space at the shows. Latest single ‘Whips and Chains‘ shines a light on antisocial behaviour that may be witnessed at a lot of shows and should be called out.
“A person at the show I was playing that was a fan of mine got their drink spiked and that like, sat with me for months. Because it wasn’t my fan base, there was nothing I could have done to control the crowd that showed up. However, I wanted to make damn sure that if I played a show, people would know what was expected of them. I wrote that song about everyone in the bar going against this evil man and if you don’t like that message, then you cannot listen to my songs and you cannot come to my shows.”
It’s super important to be able to have confidence in bringing up these issues, especially in the music industry today. After all, it is how we contribute to making the scene a safe place and that’s what Scene Queen strives to do with her music and at her shows — be an accepting place for all.
“I’m very thankful that my fans are the way they are. They’re so accepting of everyone in the crowd and the amount of times I leave a show and see people show up to the show by themselves. Then I see them at the next show, and they came with 15 people that they met at the show. They’re all wearing matching outfits because they all joined a group chat and that sort of thing. It makes me so happy that that’s who gravitated towards my music.”
With Scene Queen a collaborative effort straight up from her BIMBOCORE EP in 2022 to her signing to Hopeless Records. the community vibes are strong. Hannah is no stranger to teaming up with her fellow scene tastemakers and one we are very familiar with is her collab with Set It Off’ ‘Barbie & Ken’. On Hot Singles In Your Area, that sense of community rivals this, filling the record with features from The Ready Set, 6arelyhuman and UK alternative metal outfit WARGASM.
“WARGASM was actually the first band to ever really take a chance on me. They were the first band that I ever opened for. They took me out as direct support after the Bimbocore Volume One EP came out. Even before they asked me to go on a tour, I was a huge fan of their work. I think they’re so cool. WARGASM’s style is so incredible, I love everything about their music.
When the time came to make a debut record, if I’m going to have anyone on my album, it has to be Sam (Matlock) and Milkie (Way). Our styles just align so well. We draw from a lot of the same influences, we both listen to a lot of nu-metal and Sam and Milkie are the biggest 2000s pop fans ever. They love Britney Spears. It’s just funny because we have the same exact influences but they just took it in a heavier direction and I went in a little more Y2k Pop direction with it. Our sounds are distinctly different. Sam actually is the whole reason that ‘Girls Gone Wild came to be. It’s one of my favorites on the record.”
What really intrigues us and draws us in even further with Scene Queen is the thrashing waves of metalcore that are compiled in between those catchy pop elements. This aspect definitely keeps things in motion and opens up her fanbase to an even wider audience — that is, the metalcore community and here in Australia, we’ve got the best of the best. Despite these heavier tendencies, Collins has a secret infatuation with Australian pop punk.
“It’s interesting, because I’m not that much of a pop punk listener. But I love Between You and Me and I’m touring with Stand Atlantic in the US this summer. But oh my gosh, Between You and Me. I think I listened to their song ‘Butterflies’ 4000 times when it came out. I am so addicted to them.”
On that note, the songs that make up Hot Singles in Your Area, are an accumulation of the bounciest punk choruses that you’ve heard since well, Avril Lavigne. On the verge of her debut Australian tour this September, pop punk fans are encouraged to give this Scene Queen a go, especially if you’re a RedHook or Yours Truly diehard. With both bands led by some badass women on the local music circuit, it’s no secret that contemporary pop punk today is all about blurring the lines in music and that’s exactly what this album is.
“Now that I make heavy music, I feel like the genres that I listened to have ended up expanding so much because I ended up meeting so many people in metalcore. Then I started listening to pop punk bands and now I’m touring with pop punk. I guess I should start picking the most famous pop stars to become attached to because then I can manifest those friendships as well. Then maybe you’ll see me on a pop tour. I think I would want to be on a Ke$ha tour. That would be insane because Ke$ha is such a huge influence of mine.”
Ke$ha with breakdowns is ideally the best way you’d describe this record to a friend. On the whole, Hot Singles in Your Area is a dose of angst and bratty pop punk in the raddest way imaginable. Having just played Download Festival in the UK, this is a name that will become even more familiar on festival lineups in the not-too-distant future. We’re so keen to experience Scene Queen live for the first time in Australia this September. Are you?
Interview by Tamara May
SCENE QUEEN will play in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for the very first time this September. Grab your tickets here
Listen to Hot Singles in Your Area here
SCENE QUEEN – Hot Singles in Your Area tracklisting:
1. BDSM
2. 18+
3. Whips and Chains – catchy and spiteful
4. Pink Push Up Bra – prolific femme energy, punchy.
5. Mutual Masturbation
6. Girls Gone Wild
7. Pov
8. Hot Singles In Your Area
9. M.I.L.F
10. Amateur
11. Stuck
12. Finger
13. PEG
14. Oral Fixation
15. Climax
