Herine
I love Herine. She’s probably one of the best artists I’ve ever gotten to discover and I’m super excited to get to feature her for this new single “Favorite Things”. First of all, I’m super proud of Herine for expressing who she really is as a person and as an artist. “Favorite Things” is a smash. The hook has such amazing melodies and I cannot get enough of it.
Congrats Herine for being who you are. You are fucking amazing and “Favorite Things” is my new favorite thing :)
Go stream “Favorite Things” and make sure to support Herine :)
Photo credit: Matt Blum
Hi Herine - you're about to release your debut single as Herine - how does it feel like?
I’ve never been more proud of anything in my life. Getting to this point as an artist, and honestly a person, is the result of years and years of late nights, therapy sessions, closing doors and finding new ones. It would be so easy to just keep doing the work. Letting such a massive project fly and exposing your inner thoughts is terrifying. I’m ready though, and so is the music. I’ll probably cry or vomit, maybe both. But in a good way.
How would you define Herine, the artist?
Herine is the side of my name I always hated growing up, and it’s the most raw & imperfect side of myself. Music saved me from an incredibly turbulent upbringing. Writing songs is my form of therapy. By putting my traumas, pain, and joy into lyrics, I find the strength and understanding to keep going. I’ve found a lot of peace through accepting every little bit of my existence, even the ugly parts. Herine “the artist” is my way of spreading this healing to others and repurposing baggage as something beautiful.
What's the story/inspiration behind "Favorite Things"?
“Favorite Things” was inspired by a breakup and moving back home. When the idea came to me, I was moving on from someone I shared everything with, and a friend of mine was going through a similar thing. One day while we were hanging out, he shared with me that he hated listening to this soul record that he used to love (I forget which one), because he listened to it with her all the time, and now it reminded him of her. I thought about all of the things I once loved that are now associated with pain. Malibu sunsets, tattoos, and Bleachers’ “Gone Now” were among a few of my pressure-points referenced in the song. The more I thought about this, the more I realized that this concept comes as a package-deal with feeling lost and isolated. If you give someone everything, you can be left with an abysmal emptiness. It’s a process of existential questions like, “Where can I go and not be reminded of you?,” or “Are our mutual friends going to treat me like strangers and ignore me?”, and finding yourself again. Thus spurred the heart of the song now. It’s mixed emotions to the max, just like the real life situation.
Could you describe the songwriting/production process for this song? How was it like to work with John Samuel Gerhart?
I met John Samuel over the pandemic in a Zoom session. To be honest, the session wasn’t anything to write home about (which we now recognize as a sole product of internet sessions being weird). That said, we didn’t work together again, but still became solid friends. I had been thinking about the Herine project for that whole year, trying to lock in the sound. Fast forward to March, the week before I was to move back home to Nashville, JS suggested I pop by his studio to hang and write a bit before I left LA. That night we wrote what I still believe is one of the craziest songs ever made. I had that feeling of “this is what I’ve been searching for in myself; this sounds the way my heart feels and my brain thinks.” Being such close friends with similar musical influences, he has an intuitive sense of what I am drawn to sonically and what I’m going through. He isn’t afraid to say “Kat, that’s not you” or to hand me some CBD gummy bears when I’m starting to question myself and anxiety kicks in. The switch flipped for us both that this was a creative relationship worth pursuing further. We scheduled ten days in July that I would come back out to LA for more one on one session work.
The first day of that trip, we made “Favorite Things.” I had been listening to Stay by the Kid LAROI (it had just come out) on the way there. I walked in like “major key, turbo with the tempo.” I had been stocking up on hooks for months that I specifically wanted to save for our sessions, and we picked “Favorite Things.” The meat of the songwriting process and key parts of the track maybe took two hours tops. I recorded what ended up as the final vocal that day, and then we wrote what is the outro. I was dead set on a switch up at the end that more or less gave listeners a closer look at the true feeling behind the song. We had a mix by 4PM. It was mixed early this fall by JJ Catalyst and mastered by Ruari O’Flaherty.
What did you feel when writing this song?
I felt complete euphoria. The song just poured out of me. Before we even got past writing the first verse, I knew it was something great, but didn’t want to jinx it. I credit some sort of divine inspiration for that whole week of writing actually, but especially “Favorite Things.” It was kind of like we were there, but it wasn’t really us, rather a higher power moving through us. At the end of the day we listened through the entire completed record, turned and looked at each other and were both jaws dropped and joking like “Yep, okay, I guess we can just cancel the rest of the week; we got what we needed haha.” I listened to the first bounce probably 50 times in the Uber on the way to my friend’s apartment where I was staying thinking “holy shit, this is the best thing I’ve ever done.” It was a total out of body experience.
What made you want to release "Favorite Things" as your first single?
The song feels like a really great representation of who I am as a person and creator. It’s kinda playful, kinda deep, and kinda chaotic at times. There’s more to me as an artist than breakups and makeups, but love is so universal. This felt like a nice way to introduce myself and relate to my listeners early on, or at least inspire some dancing!
What can you tell us about the artwork?
The photo itself is actually a film photo taken by my best friend @_mattblum. I wanted the shoot to be on film, because I liked that the shot would be the shot- no edits, just raw realness. From the developed pictures we got back, I chose the one with flowers covering my face partially. To me it felt like the song. Big sky, flowers, curls- all the playful energy… but there’s something contemplative and mysterious about it too. I thought that paradox parallelled the whole “I’m singing a really fast song that seems happy but is actually about hating everything and feeling lost” thing quite nicely, haha. Graphic elements came later (credited to Slater Goodson).
As an artist, what is the hardest part? And what is the best part?
The hardest part is living with the fear that one day the ideas will stop. It’s hard to roll up to the studio and be expected to paint something beautiful out of thin air...but the best part is when you do. Whenever I leave the studio knowing I made something incredible, my energy is off the charts. You’d think I had just won the lottery.
What are your thoughts on today's music industry? If you could change one thing, what would it be?
I love that we live in a time where the internet provides so much opportunity. People who wouldn’t traditionally “be found” are breaking big. Whether it be a high schooler posting videos from their bedroom, or a nurse on the night shift who can’t go out to shows and “network,” so much great talent is being discovered and given a platform to support their gifts. This is game changing. As artists we don’t necessarily have to pack a van and go on tour to find our audience, and as fans, we can find our new favorite bands at home on the couch. However, there are two sides of the coin. Sadly, amidst so much promise, there is so much noise. As a musician who has dedicated the last decade of my life to perfecting my craft, I hate that I spend so many hours a week editing videos… for the hope that eventually hopefully some algorithm will help me cut through videos of college kids shotgunning White Claws and be heard. It feels pretty ridiculous. Many labels are using these algorithms to find artists. I think that’s great. But if I had a magic wand, I would change the industry to put a little less stock in social numbers, and more belief in true talent.
What biggest lessons have you learned since the beginning of your career?
People are always going to give you their opinion, but when it comes to your art, yours is the only one that matters. Follow your gut. I’m still learning how to do that, but I’ve come a long way in the last two years of embracing that mantra. It’s definitely been the biggest lesson.
What advice would you give to artists?
No one is going to give you permission to start, and no one will want it more than you do. Put out what you love. Fight for what you believe in. People are going to share their concerns and opinions on your art, especially the people you love or respect most, and that might really hurt. It’s easy to get lost in those voices. Listen, but make sure you can still hear yours, and that you never stop using it.
What message do you want to deliver to the world?
In being open about my flaws and traumas, I hope to inspire listeners to hold on through any adversity they may be facing and let go through the songs. This is a new beginning I want to share with anyone who seeks the same freedom, the eye in the storm, that music has always brought me.
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