A Chat with I AM HANDS (2025)
The new project from musician and producer Owen Gillham, who previously worked with Junkboy and singer-songwriter Ellie Madeland, I AM HANDS explores and celebrates life in all its gritty glory. A collction of instrumentals and songs touching on themes of depression, hope, loss and healing, I AM HANDS release their debut album in 2026. We speak with Owen Gilham about the single, ‘Lastings’, what music means to him and much more.
OSR: What does music mean to you?
I AM HANDS: For me, music attaches to places, experiences and memories. I tend to listen to music in the car or when I’m walking the dog, and maybe it’s a personal thing, but I find I relate specific music to particular moments in time. It’s kind of similar with the music I write myself – the direction my writing takes is often a surprise to me and I often end up thinking “how did I end up in this place with this result?”. But then, on inspection, what I’ve written is really closely associated with a feeling, a memory or a place. So music, for me, is something that seems inextricably linked to memories and feelings, places and people.
OSR: What can you tell us about your upcoming single, ‘Lastings’? Is there a particular theme or backstory?
I AM HANDS: My dear friend and musical partner, James, was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in 2001, and over the course of 23 years the illness slowly robbed him of his freedom, mobility, sight and speech. But, James’ determination to make music never waned.
I’d visit James at his home each week and we’d work on music together. I’d normally sit beside his bed with my laptop and we’d stitch together samples, beats or melodic ideas. He knew how he wanted things to sound and my role was facilitator.
One afternoon last November, James’ carer rang me to say that James was determined to write a song, so wanted me to bring my guitar with me when I visited. When I arrived at his apartment he was really tired and wasn’t really able to talk much, let alone sing. I sat down in the chair next to his bed and picked out a chord sequence on the guitar, and got an approving smile from James just before he drifted off to sleep. When he woke up, he apologised for falling asleep and for not being able to sing anymore. He promised me that one day we’d write a song together again, like we used to.
‘Lastings’ is based around the acoustic guitar phrase I played to James during that visit in November 2024. James passed away just over a month later, so I’d like to think, even though we didn’t finish it together, that ‘Lastings’ is the fulfilment of the promise he made to write another song with me.
OSR: You have an album set for release in early 2026. What can you tell us about that album?
I AM HANDS: I lost my dad and then my best friend in the space of a few months. The album is really an exploration of that experience – of love, grief, loss and hope. I hesitate to use glib terms like ‘journey’, but I think that’s what grief is – a journey without a destination. You experience grief, there’s a trajectory, and a direction of travel away from the epicentre – the tragedy – but I’m not sure you ever arrive anywhere. You just keep moving in and out of the experience and the feelings associated with it. The album tracks that movement and the realisation that loss is inevitable – there’s no blame to be apportioned and no reason for what has happened. And, in spite of the complex nature of that ‘journey’ and all the emotions that go with it, either we can choose to let it consume us, or we can accept the reality that everything has its time and we are all just moving on through life. At some point, we will inevitably lose the people we love. There’s a sadness and pain in that realisation, but a freedom and a hope too, and that can amplify the love we have enjoyed with those we have lost. It’s a precious revelation.
OSR: What do you find more challenging: melody or lyrics?
I AM HANDS: I feel like both are equally difficult. It’s probably the nature of this album, but I don’t think I had a single melody or lyric ready to record when I started working in the studio. I was blessed with a lot of snippets and ideas to work with, but none of them were melody lines or lyrics. Also, the lovely thing about recording at home is that there’s no rush, so I can endlessly record and fiddle and just see what happens, then the melodies and lyrics come out of that process. It’s all one big improvisation.
OSR: You mention that all income received from sales of ‘Lastings’ will be donated to the mental health charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably. Why do you choose to support CALM? Is there a specific story?
I AM HANDS: I’ve struggled with depression for a number of years, but when I lost my dad and then James, as you might imagine, that pushed my emotions to a new level. I’m in a privileged position – I have people around me that love me and look out for me. A lot of people aren’t in that position, so anything I can do to raise awareness of resources like CALM is surely a good thing.
OSR: As a seasoned musician and producer, how have you seen the music industry change over the years? What are your thoughts on using AI in creating music in melodies and videos?
I AM HANDS: Well the music industry has certainly changed, but I think change is a double-edged sword. I’ve been actively involved in music since 1995 and back then it was really difficult and expensive to record music, at least to any high standard. There was an elitism about the industry too – musicians were something special. Advancements in technology has enabled a lateral shift – nowadays anyone can be a ‘musician’, make a record at home that is of previously unattainable quality, and get it on the internet. It’s an amazing thing, but it’s not done much for quality assurance. Having said that, it’s a puzzle for me – I hate the label ‘creative’ (as in “he or she is a creative”) as it suggests there are all these people out there who are void of any artistic or creative spark. That’s simply not true – they might not have engaged with their innate ability to create art, but at least now they have the opportunity and aren’t solely reliant on their school being able to afford to run a music department… they can just download a music studio app on their smartphone instead.
AI on the other hand is a weird one for me. James was an advocate for technology and especially AI – he just loved the potential of it and even wrote about it. As for me, I see the potential in AI, but it also bothers me. I suppose I’m mostly concerned that AI might detract from the potential for real-world music to be heard and valued, especially if it becomes impossible to tell the difference between human artistic endeavours and AI-generated alternatives (which I think it probably already is). Having said that, I very much doubt human beings will hang up their guitars and not bother anymore.
My biggest fear about AI is actually the distorted reflection of what I’ve said above. I actually feel most fearful about how people are likely to abuse the power offered by AI – it’s already happening. I discussed this one with James a lot and concluded that a knife is a tool until it’s used as a weapon. The same applies to AI.
OSR: What advice do you have for new artists entering the music industry?
I AM HANDS: Remember that the ‘music industry’ is only a little over 100 years old and it doesn’t care about you or me or anyone else. You shouldn’t give the industry too much thought.
Music is a vehicle for love and joy and communication and communion. That’s always been the purpose of it and always should be the purpose of it. It’s not a product of industry, it’s a reflection of humanity.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
I AM HANDS: You are loved.
Many thanks to I AM HANDS for speaking with us. Find out more about I AM HANDS on his official website and Bandcamp.
