How old were you when you first realised that you were gay? From the age of around five I always knew I was different. I struggled with understanding why until I was in my mid teens. I was in denial when it came to my feelings towards girls and I thought it was best to keep it to myself. I had relationships with boys because I wanted to fit in with my friends. We used to talk about which boys we liked and gossiped about each other's boyfriends, but it never felt right to me. I used to spend time with my male friends in school as I felt I could be myself and not have to worry about trying to avoid topics like boys, clothes and make-up. Girls always picked up on the fact I was different which would often make me feel a bit alienated. What was your coming out experience like? When I was 15 I went on a school trip to the zoo with my friend Ciaran. He had noticed that over the course of the day I had been paying a lot of attention to a female friend. After the trip we went back to his house for dinner and I spent the whole evening talking about the girl until he eventually asked me if I was gay - I denied it. Ciaran had come out at 13 and I had always admired him for it. "We spent the evening talking about sexuality and I eventually admitted
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Do you find that your sexuality shapes your songwriting a great deal?
I think my experiences shape my songs more so than my sexuality. I feel that my songs appeal to both gay and straight people and that anyone could find some common ground with my music. I write about relationships and I don't think that same sex relationship are different to straight ones; they both have their ups and downs! A lot of my songs do have references to women of course - I'm not afraid to include my sexuality in my songs.
Is it difficult to appeal to both gay and mainstream audiences? I'd like to keep a healthy balance because I like to appeal to all people. I'm not ashamed of who I am but I wouldn't want to limit myself to one type of audience. My sexuality has never come into any of the career choices that I've made so far. Who are your musical influences and are there any artists you dream of working with? I grew up in a very close-knit family and so I spent a lot of time with different family members, each one introducing me to different genres of music. I love listening to new music and have always been open to learning from it. "I remember listening to The Beatles and
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What does the future have in store for you?
The dream is to be a successful recording artist. In a few years time I'd hope to be gigging/touring in different countries and have produced a few albums. Ever since I was really young I have wanted to perform on the Jools Holland show - that in itself would be a dream come for me. I'd also like to write songs for other musicians as well as just writing for myself.
Hana spoke to RUComingOut's Wayne Dhesi
Facebook - facebook.com/hanabushnellmusic
Twitter - @hana_bushnell
Bandcamp - hanabushnell.bandcamp.com
Youtube - youtube.com/hanabushnell
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