US-based electronic musician, Hana Acbd (whose moody synthpop melodies we first heard on the Bandwagon to Wanderland 2015) and PH-based producer, Alisson Shore release a new track called "Closer" - a collaborative effort defying distance, a 15-hour time difference and third world internet connection. 

via GIPHY

We speak to Hana and Alisson about "Closer", working around different time zones and the pains of third world internet. 

You're based in the Philippines and Hana is currently in the US, how did the collaboration come about?

Alisson Shore: 'Closer' is a personal song written by Hana for someone (could not be named - sorry haha) whom she's longing for. Hana tapped me to produce and input my music creativity into her lyrical prowess, and so (in) about two weeks we created this song and we loved the output! 

Hana Acbd: Our common friend Jordan introduced us to each other over Facebook chat. It started with a hearty discussion of music we’re currently into and (we) ended up with a collaboration!

Alisson Shore 

There's a 15-hour time difference. What was your collab working schedule and process like? 

Alisson Shore: She's an owl haha. She sleeps at 3 am or 4 am (New York time). And I was a sleeper. (We were) sending each other stuff and critiqued each other, we got along just fine and we both loved the output. 

Hana Acbd: There was a 15-hour difference, but it worked to our advantage. Alisson would send me tracks and by the time I woke up, I get to work on it while he’s probably sleeping and vice versa. It was a smooth, uncomplicated process that went on for the whole duration of our collaboration.

Because of the distance, you had to rely heavily on the internet for this collaboration to happen. How did that go? 

Alisson Shore: Absolutely a problem. Internet connection hinders the momentum and excitement. One of the problems we encountered was the downloading of .wav vocal stems because it's big (about 50 - 70 mb per vocal stem) and my connection was slow.

Also one day before the release, it's been 3 hours and I'm still uploading the Youtube video to be passed to Hana for her to upload it to her own Youtube account. It's a pain but it's worth it haha

Hana Acbd: It didn’t affect me as much because aside from the time difference, I’m willing to wait for things like this. I felt really bad for Alisson though because he had to deal with it, but what’s awesome is he worked through it and is dedicated enough to even send a whole video at 720p for posting despite the 3rd world internet!

Listen to 'Closer' here:

Hana Acbd and Alisson Shore's 'Closer' is available for purchase here.