About

The owner of Salon Sonics, Holly Hansen, is an acclaimed musician, producer and audio engineer as well as the artist behind the band, Zoo Animal. Zoo Animal grew from a solo songwriting project to a fully-fledged, heavy-gigging band, and put out 3 records from 2008-2012 to critical and popular acclaim. In 2018, all 3 Zoo Animal records were re-released by Waxploitation Records (founded by Jeff Antebi, best known for developing the careers of many Grammy Award winners). She has toured extensively and performed alongside artists such as Damien Jurado, Wye Oak, Scout Niblett, Trampled by Turtles, and Low among many others.

She was named City Pages Artist of the Year (2011) and Best Live Artist (2012), and was the feature of a 30-min PBS documentary “Holly Hansen: My Way Back Home”. She is the recipient of a MN Emerging Composer Award from the American Composers Forum (2017), and was named one of “9 Queer Musicians to Watch in 2020” by Twin Cities Pride Magazine. 

Holly is also the founder/curator of t.e.e. (Tuesday Early Evening), a weekly performance series that took place at the 331 Club in NE Minneapolis. In addition to her extensive performing and recording career, she has over 20 years experience as a live sound and recording  producer and engineer. She regularly teaches audio workshops for often marginalized artists to share her knowledge and create a safe space for learning in an often intimidating industry dominated by white cis-gender men.