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| Henrik Palm Photographed by Chris Shonting |
We reached out to Henke to ask him a little bit of everything about "Nerd Icon", from the writing process to his own perception of the music, from the title to the cover, some hints at future plans...and more: he treated us to some very interesting insights, which are obviously making us even more curious to hear the album!
Find out what he told us here below and we hope you'll enjoy reading this as much as we did.
We want to thank Henke once again for taking the time to promptly and kindly answer our questions, it's always great to hear from musicians who are so dedicated to their music.
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UM: Hello Henke, "Nerd Icon" is going to be out in April on Svart Records: can you tell us a bit about how the songwriting process was for this third album? Did it span over a rather long period of time, or was it relatively short?
HP:It was written in a short span over a long time if that makes any sense. I kind of go in and out of it and all of a sudden - Poof! - I have an album. That's the usual route.
UM: Did you eventually have to leave out some material for one reason or another, or did you find a place on the album for all the music you have been working on?
HP: Nope. It's all there. But I have written some more songs after that so I might do a 12” this year.
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| Henke with Jerry A. Photo from HP official's Facebook page |
HP:I’m a massive Poison Idea-fan so obviously this is a milestone for me. We met in Portland a year ago through our mutual friend Dennis Dread and we hit it off. I just asked him to sing on one track and he was happy to be onboard! Jerry is an amazing human being and I'm really thrilled and honored to have him singing on the album. Poison Idea is really the kings of punk. I mean, I have their freakin’ logo tattooed on my body!
UM: Additionally to your solo music, in the last years you have been playing with other bands such as Södra Sverige, Gösta Berlings Saga, (can't remember if you also played with Contaminazione?), and mainly with Viagra Boys. Do you feel these live shows have a strong impact on your songwriting when you work on your solo material, or would you rather say that you tend to "detach" from all your other musical activities when you write for your own solo stuff?
HP: No not really. It’s two completely different things. Maybe in my subconscious there is some crossover but I try to not mix business and pleasure :) The whole album was written and done by mid-2022. Then it took forever to finish the damn thing but that's another story.
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| "Nerd Icon" Cover |
UM: Contrarily to your previous albums, the cover for "Nerd Icon" is a photograph of you (or, of many "yous" we can say!), instead of an artwork or illustration. Is there any specific reason behind this choice?
HP: I just wanted to do something completely opposite from what I've done before. Simple as that! I think I took the black/white-format as far as I could and it was time for something new (for me).
UM: In our previous interview, you mentioned that you have been trying on your albums, and especially on your second one, to "translate over from movies to music a clear beginning and an end on the album,like some kind of "storytelling" even however I hate that description".
Now, looking at the titles of "Nerd Icon", they do seem to somewhat unravel a sort of "narrative" so to say, beginning with an "Instrumental Funeral", all they way up "From The Grave" to be "Back To Abnormal" etc. Is this just our twisted minds connecting inexistent dots, or is there some actual thread that joins the songs?
HP: Oh my lord. Did I say that? I must have been a very pretentious asshole four years ago. Cringe! Yeah I guess my records have some cinematic vibes here and there but it's really a way for me to fine tune the ebb and flow in the songs. The track sequence is really important for me. It's the icing on the cake. I guess it's pretty common for people like me who make RECORDS rather than ”just” a collection of songs. I hope the listener wants to listen to the whole thing all through cos that's the way I listen to music.
There is no thread that connects the songs but it's open for anyone's interpretation, of course. The lyrical content is just - deliberately obscured - observations of my everyday mundane bullshit life.
UM: Speaking of titles, would you tell us how you came up with the album title "Nerd Icon"?
HP: It came to me in a dream! Or right before bedtime more likely. I had a long ass title first which I can't even remember now. After a while I scrapped that and went for something short and sweet instead. I’m a total nerd so its just an overexaggeration and a ironic joke on my own behalf.
UM: We read a very well written description of "Nerd Icon" on Svart Records, which mentions how, capturing inspiration from many influences, you manage to create a different style of your own, which stands out and in its own way, eludes strict categorization. This has certainly been true also on your previous albums, but, aside from what is the listeners' perception of your music, we are interested to ask you how "Nerd Icon" feels instead from your own perspective: do you feel you were pretty much let's say, focused, on a certain kind of sound throughout the whole album, or would you rather say that depending on the song, or on the mood or anything else, you allowed the music to take even quite broad diversions here and there?
HP:First of all, I didn't write that text myself haha. But I'm flattered (Thanks Bonden!). Overall I wanted it to be more raunchy sounding with a little more oomph to it. I wanted a guitar sound in the vein of Blue Cheer, first Stooges-album etc and I think we pulled it off to my satisfaction. I'm really happy with the whole guitar production this time (Thanks Gurkan!). I'm really happy with the whole thing to boot! Maybe this album is a bit more cohesive in styles and straightforward but at the same time the arrangements are much weirder.
UM: Are there any plans yet to bring your new songs live in the near future?
HP:Yes!!
UM: Well, this is all, last time you told us some music and movie recommendations to conclude our interview, so if you feel like doing that again, it'd be surely appreciated!, otherwise, thanks a lot once more for taking the time to answer our questions, and feel free to add anything else if you want to!
HP: Sure, here is a bunch records I jammed in my bunker over the weekend:
The Dream Syndicate: "The Days Of Wine And Roses"
Ho-Dad Hootenanny 1 & 2 (compilations)
Cecil Taylor: "Unit Structures"
William Onyeabor: "Who is William Onyeabor?"
Solger: s/t EP
Autopsy: "Ashes, Organs, Blood And Crypts"
Marcus: "From The House Of Trax'"
Peace Corpse: "Terror Of History " EP
As far as movies/television goes I currently watch an unhealthy amount of Columbo-episodes and just started to rewatch X-Files again. Comfort TV. Recommended to everyone!!!
Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the album.
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Henrik Palm's third album "Nerd Icon" is due out on April 19th, 2024 on Svart Records - pre-orders are already up for different editions: red/black/gold/marble vinyl, transparent vinyl, regular vinyl, and CD. The first single, "Swim To The Light" is already out and streaming on all major platforms.
Official Henke's profiles on the Web: Facebook - Instagram .