Breaking the mould in more ways than one, Ms. Henrik is an artist creating outrageously addictive 80s and 90s inspired synth tracks. Not satisfied with musical domination, he’s already taken on the beauty world with the launch of his very own lipstick line and is now battling to challenge peoples perceptions of gender stereotypes. Ahead of the launch of his highly-anticipated debut EP, Fake And Copy, we grabbed the chance to chat with the Swedish star himself.
So, Ms. Henrik, we’ve had a listen to your latest track “Banshee” and completely love it! How did the song come about and what were the inspirations behind it?
I really wanted to make the worst thing. The thing that even people who liked bad, terrible music wouldn’t like. The stuff that people would ignore – always. Something really, really stupid. Something that is destined for failure.
I mean, look, it’s not “Hallelujah”. I’m not showing off the best of my lyrical capacity – but it’s fucking catchy. I think fast songs are harder to write—I set the bar really high for fast songs. I wanted immediate—boom—get in there, punch them in the face in three minutes, get out!
We know that you’ve done quite a bit of campaigning for the LGBT community; what’s been your greatest accomplishment in terms of making a difference?
I feel like those gender lines are changing. A couple of years ago, it wasn’t nearly as OK for guys to like girly-sounding music. But all of a sudden, a lot of my guy friends who would like have been really disdainful of female singers are way more accepting.
I grew up with four sisters, and in the back of my head I feel pretty feminine. It’s always funny when I hear recordings of my voice, because it’s so deep when I hear it in my head. And in any given situation with a group of women, I’ll always take on a really feminine role. To find your female scream and not withhold it is so liberating. You can do anything then. It’s like you can fly. It gives you superpowers. I approach music – and this sounds crazy – as though I’m Phil Spector, and I’m cranking out these pop stars and forcing them to do all this crazy stuff– except they’re all me. But I’m not, like, transgender.
It’s always important for young people to have aspirational role models; if you could give a message to your younger fans who may be struggling with issues like sexuality – what would you tell them?
Listen to your heart when he’s calling for you, there’s nothing else you can do. I don’t know where you’re going and I don’t know why but listen to your heart. Sometimes you wonder if this fight is worthwhile, the precious moments are all lost and they’re swept away and nothing is what is seems. You know, the feeling of belonging to your dreams.
Your debut album, Fake and Copy, is soon to be released! What can we expect from it?
Trish’s the epicenter of the album; she suggested all of it. She said, “Why don’t you make a science-fiction album?” She turned me on to a lot of British science fiction and she talked a lot about androgyny. When I was recording this album, I was always like, “What would Trish think?” Sort of like how my sister is always wondering, “What would Jesus do?”— although I don’t worship Trish. She just had that older-sister wisdom. She wanted me to dye my hair blond. I laughed and said, “I don’t think so, I’m more into Neil Young and radical honesty.” And she was like, “Yeah, but anyone can do that.”
Who would you cite as your biggest musical inspiration?
My mother had the soundtrack to Once Upon a Time in the West, which I’d listen to a lot, but the first record I ever bought was a gatefold LP of the score to A Clockwork Orange. I was a huge new-wave fan growing up. I love how electronic music evolved during that period of time, and people like Johnny Jewel are reaching back to that era and reinventing it now. My biggest wish is to record a song like Book of Love’s “Boy”. I love that band so much. I’m always happy when I discover new music, but I’m not an avid music collector. I just like the constant sound of music around me.
Lastly, if you could perform with any other artist (living or dead), who would it be and why?
Lou Reed, because he was so beautiful in every way. More than anyone has ever been.
Find Ms. Henrik on…
