A Tribute To Her's
During the Summer of 2017, wide-eyed music lovers across the globe were introduced to the corduroy-coated world of Her’s. With their early collection of ballads “Songs of Her’s” the band quickly made their mark on modern hopeless romantics. Lacing playful riffs and hooking bass lines with wry lyricism more akin to the likes of Morrissey, the band’s wistful melodies made feeling melancholic as bittersweet as ever.
Stephen’s dream-like baritone voice combined with the introspective, jangly tones of his Fender Mustang, was enough to knock even the thickest skinned fan down nostalgia lane. With tracks such as ‘You Don’t Know This Guy’ we were truly blessed with an insight in to the mind of a young and talented songwriter.
Fuse that in with the deep, swinging tones flowing from Audun’s fingertips which seamlessly pull you in from verse to verse, along with the unmistakeable sounds of their drum machine, “Pierce Brosnan” and you’re left with nothing less than complete satisfaction. Releasing their debut album “Invitation to Her’s” the following year, Ste and Audun were a pair of young musicians teetering on the brink of something truly special.
Renowned for their energetic live shows, fans were guaranteed to be lulled into a state of hypnosis, and before they knew it, dancing without a care at the foot of the stage. Sadly, during their second tour of the United States, they and their tour manager, Trevor Engelbrekston, tragically passed away in a road accident.
Although I did not know Audun or Trevor fully – it is due to the mass amount of tributes to them both, that I can confidently say they were incredible people, who were loved and respected beyond the restriction of words. Fortunately, I can say I had the honour of knowing Ste personally.
He taught me my first Ollie on a skateboard, introduced me to my most treasured music, and gave me memories that I will hold close to my heart forever. Without him I most certainly would not be the man I am today. It is with a heavy heart I’d like to say goodbye to an old friend, and a group of people who were almost certain to make a positive impact on such a confusing world.
With the blessing of family, we decided to go ahead and include this interview with the guys. Please enjoy reading the piece and hopefully it provides a just reflection of their personalities.
Thank you, Her’s.
How would you describe ‘Her’s’?
Two guys sharing a dream, only equipped with sound planks and a Mac to make it come true!
You released your debut album ‘Invitation to Her’s’ last summer. Can you tell us a bit about the recording process?
Going into this one we had the chance to demo all the tracks pretty thoroughly before we went in to record the album. This let us get a good feel for the direction we wanted the sound to go in and how we wanted the album to sound. That was throughout December 2017 then we spent the next three months recording it with our good friend Saam Jafarzadeh at his house, we had a great time, not sure about his housemates though!
How was the UK tour? Any stand-out moments/funny tales?
The UK tour was great! It’s nice because we’ve really gotten to know the cities and a lot of the venues quite well now. And also made a lot friends around the country, so we’re always bumping into someone where ever we go. This time around we played a valentines show at the Fulford Arms in York with Trudy and The Romance who are some of our best friends and neighbours! We realised we played with them exactly four years back for our second ever show too, so it was like coming full circle a little bit.
Your drum machine is called Pierce Brosnan, can you tell us why?
Pierce to us is like Mufasa in the clouds for Simba! He hovers above giving us guidance when we’re in doubt. At this point people have come to rely on him making an appearance in his cardboard glory at our gigs, so he is forever cemented in the Her’s lore.
Your gigs are very energetic, what can people expect when they come to your shows?
We try and make it a kinda chill hangout situation. You’re free to shout stuff at us and we can have a little chat and a dance! We don’t want to take ourselves too seriously, and when you got a nice dialogue with the audience we think everybody’s having a better fun time! We also like to hang out for a chat afterwards, the people who come out to our shows are all well sound! We’re lucky to have such a nice bunch! You just started your tour of the US.
Are you looking forward to any venues & cities in particular? Have you played any before?
We’re super stoked to get to see a bit more of the country this time around! And Canada too! As neither of us have been able to spend much time here before. We did a ten hour drive from Toronto to Washington, which allowed to see some legit American local hangouts. Last time we played New York we had a super steamy night at ‘Baby’s All Right’, this time round we had a big boy show at Music Hall Of Williamsburg, which was rammed with nice people!
You’ve both won a free weekend with Pierce. Where would you go? What are you getting up to?
His son had actually invited us around his house in Malibu, so the dream might be in reach. We imagine we’ll be chilling by the pool with Paris while Pierce cooks up some mean hotdogs wearing a Golden Eye apron! Slightly awkward though, we’re not sure whether or not Paris knows about the cut out of his dad or not, as it’s not really come up in conversation!
You both come from small, coastal towns. Do you think that has influenced you and your music in any way?
Yeah definitely! It’s been essential to our character we think, but loving away has been just as important. In a way the whole band would not have happened, had we not needed to move. Saying that though we both love the peacefulness of our respective homes, but needed to look elsewhere for some new inputs and perspectives. For example, for me (Audun) most of my friends only wanted to play black metal, and power to them, but I think it was pretty important for my musical development that I made it to Liverpool!
I know that you’ve played in Ste’s hometown of Barrow, have you played in Audun’s? What’s it like returning home and playing a gig there?
We’ve not yet managed to reach Norway somehow; we would rally over to go though as it’s likely to be a pretty unique show! The one in Barrow certainly was, as it was probably one of the rowdiest shows we’ve ever played. For me, it was like some strange high school reunion except I was singing and screaming at everyone, to be fair everyone was screaming that night!