We had the good fortune of connecting with Hannah Beeghly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Hannah, how do you think about risk?
I’ve always been a very cautious person even though I pretend not to be. I have lived most of my life avoiding risks and feeling severely anxious, and when given the choice between sitting out or feeling vulnerable, I’ve often chosen to sit out. It’s made life feel more lonely than it needs to be and certainly scarier. This perspective didn’t start to shift for me until I began teaching. One of our school’s goals was for our students to have growth mindsets and to take risks. As I read through the teaching materials and tried to think of risk-taking examples in my own life, I realized I had almost none. I’d always been so afraid of failing that I’d usually not participate rather than try and face possible embarrassment. Working together as a class to grow our risk-taking skills made me aware of how much room I had for improvement, and seeing my students change and mature reminded me that it IS possible to do, despite how difficult it can feel. I’ve since switched from teacher to musician, and I recognize I could not have made such a big career leap without the risk-taking I’d practiced with my students. I’m grateful that experience allowed me to question the way I’d been living, especially because taking risks is such a necessary part of sharing your art – something I’d let myself give up when I was so afraid of being judged. And looking back, every exciting collaboration or gig we’ve been able to perform has been the result of a risk-taking action, whether it was playing something personal for the first time, investing time and money into the project, or forcing ourselves to network. I’m still anxious and cautious, but learning to put myself out there even in small ways has changed the way I approach people and the world, and my sense of belonging in it. 

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Not too long ago and not very far away, mlady was born to proud parents Hannah Beeghly and Austin Bourdon. Austin and I had been playing music together for a while, but usually just cover songs for bar gigs, weddings, and churches. I had recently gone through some big life changes and was navigating the realization that I was pretty depressed. Songwriting became an outlet for that, and with all these new songs came the desire to share them. Usually I’d be too timid to put my songs out into the world, but we’d met Ian Mahan at our first open mic, whose encouragement and promise to help get us situated in the Denver music scene gave me a newfound sense of confidence. He helped us book our first shows and even recorded our first demo in his house! mlady played as a duo for most of 2018 but has since added Sydney Jones on drums, Karina Demagistris on bass, and Ian on guitar. Our music is emotionally indulgent dreamy indie rock, and since transitioning to a full-band, we’ve recorded and released our first EP, went on a DIY West Coast tour, and got to play a sold out show at the Bluebird! Although 2020 has been especially challenging for us, we’ve been trying to distract ourselves by getting our first full length album ready for release (coming March 2021!). We also filmed our first ever music video and have been playing livestreams as both a duo and band. It’s also given me a chance to record from home, and I’m incredibly excited that those demos (which were mixed and mastered by Chris Beeble of the Blasting Room) will be included in our next release too 🙂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to shoutout Heather Steven (https://www.heathernsteven.com/)! She has recently made the switch from working in a large hair salon to running her own booth as an independent stylist. The move has enabled her to work one on one with clients, which feels so much safer during the pandemic. She is not only incredible at her job (and especially talented at balayage), but she makes all her customers feel cared for, beautiful, and heard!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mladymusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/mladymusic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mladymusic
Other: https://soundcloud.com/hbeeghly https://mladymusic.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
Jesse Quandt Talia Perez Ben Lohle Seth Beamer

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