Swiss metalcore band Henriette B are working on a new EP which is to be released in early 2016, and about the new songs, inspiration and playing live guitarist Vincent tells us below.
What does the band name refer to?
It refers to a Norwegian actress, Henriette Bruusgaard. She acted in a horror movie called “Manhunt”. We saw the movie in 2009, a couple of months before we started the band. We enjoyed the movie and the actress, so we decided to keep the name for our new project.
Where do you guys draw your inspiration from? How does the song-writing process look like for Henriette B?
It’s hard to say where the inspiration comes from, we all are huge music fans, so we’re listening to a lot of music in any style. When we’re listening to a good song, it gives us the desire to play music and to create some music too. Our song-writing process starts with a first draft of a song produced by Vincent (guitar). It contains, guitars, bass and drums. Then we review the chords together with Thierry (guitar) and Fabien (bass), they gave thier inputs and ideas and when it’s done, Fabio (drums) rewrites the drums with his own style and ideas. When the song is done, we start to play it together and Ian (voice) starts to write the lyrics. We work with Guitar Pro, it allows us to do a lot of work by our own at home. So the first time we play a song in rehearsal, everybody knows his part and we just have to put the whole together.
Which bands or musicians have an impact on your work?
From the beginning of the band (2009) we are highly influenced by August Burns Red and Parkway Drive. Lately we were amazed by the last Texas In July’s album, “Bloodwork”. The work on the guitars and the drumming is really really good. We had the chance to play with them in Zurich for their Farewell Tour in Europe in June. We had a really good time, they are nice guys and very talented musicians.
Are there any swiss bands that we should check out in your opinion?
Yes, a lot! Ha ha! We would suggest to have a look at Breakdown Of Sanity, Promethee, Conjonctive and Buried Side (the other band of our singer Ian).
Tell me about your EP, how is it going to sound like?
Heavy as fuck! The tracks are going to be mixed and mastered by Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland from the Atrium Audio (USA). They worked with August Burns Red, Texas In July and many more. We’re really looking forward to work with them!
Will there be certain changes in your sound comparing with your previous works or will you just keep improving your sound in Henriette B way?
Improvement is a good summary. We invested more time in the pre-production phase to improve the harmonies and the drumming. Beside that, we took some time to add some keyboards and effects to improve the finished product. We pushed the violence and the melodies a little further but we tried to keep the “Henriette B’s touch”.
How does a Henriette B show look like?
You will see a lot of energy on stage! We always try to give our best to transpose the energy hold in our music to the stage. This way you can share it with the audience. People don’t come to a show to hear a sterile reproduction of your CD. They want to see a show and feel some emotions!
Are you satisfied with reactions of audience when you are on stage?
So far yes. We had some bad experiences of course, but globally we received good s from the people who attended our shows.
Are you guys satisfied with how far Henriette B have come?
Yes and no! We had really good shows so far (we played with Anthrax, Texas In July, Dagoba, etc.) but we went through a lot of lineup changes and it slowed our development. But now we found a good way of working and in 2016 we will try to make our fanbase grow in Europe (mainly in and ) with some shows and a better promotion.
Where do you see Henriette B ten years from now?
It’s really hard to say, but the objectives of the following years is to go on tour as a ing act with a band we love and to play in a major open air festival. If we reach that goals in the next 10 years we will be very happy!
