On March 25th, 2025– I got to speak with Kenneth Nixon who is the vocalist for Framing Hanley that has easily helped us elder emo’s survive our younger years with Lollipop being a major hit as well as Hear Me Now. When this band released their first album “The Moment” in 2007, I would have never guessed almost 18 years later, I will be able to speak to one of the bands that made my middle school days manageable and allowed me the freedom of who I truly wanted to be.

Interviewer: So I’ve been listening to you guys since 2007 when major hit came out, Lollipop. Tell me a little bit about the band and how you came up with the name as well as the creative process over the years!

Nixon: So the name, we originally someone very close to our band, she was in a lot of ways like the, you know, the sixth member of the band. She was there from the very beginning, in the garage when we were, you know, just making a bunch of racket, when we were younger kids. And, she did photography for the band and such. So, her name was Ashley Hanley, and she passed away in a car accident, shortly before we actually, got signed to our first record deal. The framing part of that was kind of preserving someone in a picture frame. So that’s where the name Framing Hanley came from. As far as the creative process over the years, this was my first baby. I’ve got a lot of real human ones now, three boys and a newborn daughter, actually. But this was the first baby I ever had. So, you know, I’ve always been the principal songwriter, over the years.

There’s a lot of stuff that Nick and I wrote many years ago before Nick joined Framing Hanley. He and I started a side project, actually, as a way to kinda explore some some musical influence and stuff that we loved that I couldn’t really tap into at the time of Framing Hanley. And, you know, I’m talking, like, bands like churches and, like, synth pop kind of stuff. And it’s funny years later, just the way the universe works now that he’s a member of Framing Hanley. A lot of the songs that we’re working on now are songs that we originally began messing with, you know, ten years ago even.

Shit. Some of them fifteen years ago. And now, you know, it’s kinda like bringing them out, blowing the dust off the old album frame and exploring those songs again. So, yeah, a lot of the stuff now that we’re doing is stuff that Nick and I wrote or I wrote. And then a lot of stuff was is with Richie Wicander.

That’s spelled W I C A N D E R. But, he’s the drummer from Fire From the Gods, and, I did a couple songs with him back in 2023. Went down to Houston. I originally met him. I was doing a vocal feature, for another band, and he was the producer on that.

And, honestly, we were kinda sculpting this song together, and I was like, man, they’re like this this guy and I, like, vibe well together. So when it came time to start working on, you know, the next chapter of Framing Hanley. I’ve reached out to him, and I went down and recorded Say Less and Mean It, (Photographs and Gasoline Pt.2), our current single. Those were recorded actually in the February. Just funny because we just put Mean It out this year.

But, yeah, we hit it off. It was honestly just like he was one of the long time member of Framing Hanley. We clicked creatively, saw eye to eye on a lot of things. And, yeah. So, you know, in terms of creating now, I’ve been writing on a lot with him as well.

Interviewer:, I saw that you guys are going on tour. Too bad you’re not gonna hear me.

Nixon: Where are you located? 

Interviewer: South Carolina. 

Nixon: The tour almost started there originally. The tour was gonna come to The Carolinas, and we just couldn’t make it work with when we were able to start. But Charleston is, like, legitimately one of my favorite cities in the country. We never played there, I don’t think, but we went and recorded with Eric Bass from Shinedown out in Charleston. So we kinda stayed out there for two and a half weeks.

Muddy Waters, I think that’s the name of the little coffee chain y’all have there. I don’t know if that sounds familiar to you, but, yeah, I love Charleston.

Charleston’s super rad. And I’m being from Nashville, you know, which is I wouldn’t say close to Memphis, but Memphis is my home state. I’m not really allowed to say that I like Carolina barbecue, but I do like Carolina barbecue a lot. So, I’m at this point in my life where I determine if I like cities, I feel like based more upon their cuisine than anything else.

Interviewer: Like me, it’s based on coffee shops. Like, if you have a good coffee shop, I like you.

Nixon: Same. Yeah. Muddy Waters. If you haven’t checked out Muddy Waters that’s in Charleston. Like, there’s a couple of them and those were some of the best lattes that I ever had, but I’m the same. I’m sober now, so it’s like coffee is my love, so I’m the same. Good coffee and good food, I’m in.

Interviewer: So before we go into depth about new releases and such, how has it been being a band for so long, and what inspires you to keep creating music?

Nixon:  I think that I’ve experienced probably every horror story that you’ve heard your entire life, as it relates to being a musician in today’s day and age, especially. I’m very fortunate to be able to create music and have people out there that give a damn. To give it time of the day and that’s not lost on me. We kind of went on hiatus in like 2014. And my oldest son was starting school back then, and I just didn’t wanna be gone, you know, two hundred and fifty days out of the year anymore. So, found a career outside of music that I was able to find some success in, and I wasn’t depending on music anymore, like for financial reasons. So going back to music, you know, after taking that hiatus where it was for the right reasons. It was like the fact that’s my passion and a lot of ways my therapy. Always has been my favorite part. I mean, sure, playing shows live are fun, but for me, it’s always been about the creative process. And I’m fortunate to be able to say that I’m doing it with the best collection of guys that this band has ever had in any iteration of this band. When we get in the ring or in the room in the ring. When we get in the room, it doesn’t feel like a ring, and I feel like I’ve been in that situation before with bandmates as well. But when we get in a room together, it’s just easy. It comes natural.

Interviewer: For your upcoming tour; is the band going to be performing a mixture of older music from “The Moment” and newer music from “Envy”? Will the band be performing unreleased singles as well?

Nixon: I feel like it’s a nice mixture of our catalog. As of right now, there’s only one unreleased song that’ll be in the set…but I think it’s going to quickly become a fan favorite.

Interviewer:  As a seasoned musician that’s been in the music industry for so long: what advice would you give to upcoming musicians?

Nixon: Don’t let the outside noise become louder than the noise you’re creating. Stay true to your inner voice and what YOU want to create as an artist. Fuck everything else.

Make sure you check out Framing Hanley’s newest single: Mean It (Photographs and Gasoline, Pt.2)

If you are not busy and want to go support Framing Hanley on their upcoming tour; go grab a ticket!

Keep Up With Framing Hanley Online: Facebook / Spotify / Instagram