The Alt songstress details her musical foundation, the community she has found on TikTok and how she takes the haters in stride.
Our own Staci/DC linked up with TikTok fixture and emerging songstress Hannah Collins, better known as Scene Queen, to delve into the inception and musical foundation of her brand of ‘Bimbocore’ – which also happens to be the title of her debut album on Hopeless Records.
For Collins, her education in music began at an early age thanks to her sister who introduced her to bands like My Chemical Romance while still in elementary school. Collins recalls being all of seven years old and already singing along to bands like Brand New.
She explains how that early exposure made her receptive to all kinds of music from get-go and that nurtured her further cultivating her own palate. Diving into the Tumblr-era of artists, bands Pierce the Veil, Sleeping With Sirens and The Story So Far quickly resonated with Collins though they were balanced with more of pop spectrum of bands just the same like The Ready Set, Cobra Starship and Millionaires all becoming her early adolescent soundtrack.
Collins goes onto explain that around the same time she started college, she began to distance herself from the scene that was so formative throughout her high school years. In light of allegations being leveed against enough bands from that era, Collins began to question whether the community she was so heavily invested in personally was a safe space for women – so, she began to explore other options.
Collins would eventually find herself working in the hip hop and Latin music space as a songwriter. While her intentions were to move to Los Angeles and get involved on more of the business end of music, her knack for a good hook and song dynamics made her an asset on the creative side. Ironically, Collins explained that she applied for an internship at Hopeless Records and was denied, which partially led her to rethink her plan.
Cutting her teeth as a songwriter for more mainstream genres only fueled her love for alternative music however. While Collins was helping to pen club hits and pop anthems, she still maintained her love for her musical foundation and always had what would become Scene Queen on the brain. It was in 2019 however when things finally clicked, watching Machine Gun Kelly score big with his pop punk crossover, Collins decided she would go it alone and began her solo career utilizing TikTok launch her first single, “Are You Tired?”.
She goes onto explain how TikTok was initially about reconnecting with that sense of community that she first found in music at such a young age. The platform allowed her to create content that was for scene people, by scene people, that spoke to scene people. It’s that authenticity that ultimately created such as supportive base when Collins eventually launched her own music and with every release since, her contingent has not only continued to show their support, they have grown exponentially.
As for the moniker of ‘Bimbocore’ Collins explains that her tongue-in-cheek approach is about playing into the shitty stereotypes of women and flipping the script on the people that are looking to hate. The look and feel, complete with all things pink, is all very deliberate and intended to present an obvious clash. Collins explains, “We don’t really think were are unintelligent, but we know how you perceive us… by playing into that, the people that get it think it’s hilarious and the people that don’t are so mad about it.”
Collins goes onto explain how the hate has actually become great fuel for her, not just personally be professionally. While there are plenty of people that are looking to call her an industry plant or take jabs are what she is doing, Collins explains there are so many more that are quick to come to her defense and speak up to say they like what Scene Queen is all about. Ultimately, whether they love it or they hate it, they know it and there are numbers to prove that.
Watch the complete interview with Hannah Collins, aka the Scene Queen below. The debut album Bimbocore is currently available via Hopeless Records and can be found – HERE
Sign up for the Knotfest Email List for exclusive access to news, tours, interviews, pre-sale codes, giveaways and more.