Danica Hobden is an Australian guitarist, improvisor and teacher currently based in Hamburg, Germany. She enjoys crossing musical boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and classical genres as well as interdisciplinary explorations into theatre and film.
Danica is currently working on various projects including composing for her modern jazz quartet Warmbluetig, who recently released their debut album; performing with Hamburger Guitarist Pouya Abdi as duo Guitar Club; Guitarist in Martín Zamorano’s rock-jazz-avant-garde European Ecollective Ensemble, and working on projects with composer Elizabeth Jigalin as New Music duo dnka+zil.
Danica is active in the Free Improvisation scene in Hamburg, performing with Vlatko Kučan’s SPIIC+ ensemble with featured guests such as Lukas Ligeti, Maya Homburger and Barry Guy, Satoko Fujii and Natsuki Tamura in venues Hamburger Kunsthalle, Ligeti-Zentrum Harburg, Resonanz Raum, and St. Jacobi Kirche among others.
As a session musician for pop and rock acts, Danica has experience working as the backing band for Australian artists such as Courtney Act and cabaret performer Catherine Alcorn, performing at venues such as the Sydney Opera House and ELEVATE Sydney Festival, as well as playing guitar, banjo and mandolin in pit orchestras, including the State Theatre and Hayes Theatre Co.
© Anton Deyß 2023
Danica is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, holding a Bachelor of Music Studies in Classical Guitar and a Bachelor of Music Performance in Jazz Guitar. She is currently studying in the Dr. Langner Jazzmaster programme at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Hamburg with a focus on composition, studying with her musical heroes Andrea Keller and Reinier Baas.
“The level of musicianship throughout the album is superb, but the real star here is Danica Hobden — as a guitarist, as an artist, as a composer, and a storyteller.” - Nikolas Fotakis, Australian Jazz 2024
“Hobden has crafted interlinked originals that not only reflect her compositional skills but also bring out the best in all six of her colleagues. Thanks to her leadership, both quartets are delightfully collaborative and the interpretations dynamic and captivating. These attributes make It Was Long Ago, It Will Be a Long Time one of the best debuts of 2024.” - Hrayr Attarian, All About Jazz 2024
“Not an album you’d want to rate or pigeonhole… one of the best debuts of the year…atmospheric floating images emerge alongside sweeping interiors – this has a stillness and devotion in a moment of maturing sound : an intensive care unit of melodic development and dramaturgy” - Clemens Verhooven, Verhoovens Jazz 2024