Haerts: TAS In Session

Newcomers Haerts are an international band, embracing members from Germany, Britain and the States. They've got just one released single to their name, the handsome and lushly retro "Wings," but the quintet is already generating early adoration from the blogosphere  and readying the release of a full-length debut later this year.

Haerts — vocalist Nini Fabi, keyboardist Ben Gebert, guitarist Garrett Ienner, bassist Derek McWilliams and drummer Jonathan Schmidt — are touring with the Shout Out Louds now and will hook up with Atlas Genius in late spring, playing with the latter at Bowery Ballroom on June 18.

Below, watch Haerts perform "Wings" and a new track, "Hearts," in Studio A and listen to their TAS session this Friday, May 17, on TAS on 91.5 WNYE, also streaming online.  

UPDATE: Listen to Haerts in session now in the TAS and FUV archives.

Alisa Ali: How did you all meet? Some of you are from Germany, some from England and some from the United States.

Ben Gebert: We’ve all been playing in different bands, been involved in different projects, and met over the last couple of years.

Nini Fabi: I think, through different projects we were invovled with, some of us knew each other for a few years. We met Garrett through our producer. It all came together in the last year, really. We ended up in the same place and it seemed the right thing, to play together.

Alisa: The band name is “Haerts,” but it’s pronounced “hearts.” Why did you choose to spell it that way?

Garrett Ienner: We just liked to do it that way.

Alisa: I spoke to Chvrches and they said the reason [they used a “v”] is so that when people Google them, they could find the band instead of a million churches. So I thought that might have been your thinking?

Nini: I think that’s just what the name is. There might be a lot of stories about how it came up and the story might change, but we just decided that’s what the name would be... When we had Haerts we knew it would be the right thing. You tell it to your friends and you know they’ll be questioning it, but you don’t care.

Alisa:  St. Lucia [Jean-Philip Grobler] has produced your single, “Wings.” Is he also going to produce the full-length record?

Nini: Yes.

Ben: We met him about three years ago through a mutual friend from Germany. We started working with him two years ago, really casual, and it ended up being a great collaboration.

Alisa: I thought you just formed last year.

Ben: Well, we started working with him a while ago. The whole Haerts project really developed in the last year.

Nini: At the beginning Haerts developed in the studio and it was Ben, me and Jean [St. Lucia] just starting to try out new things. It all came together.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyYa3su-J_w]

Alisa: “Wings” is out now as a single, but will you include that on the album?

Ben: Yes, it will.

Alisa: I saw a video that I really liked — you guys are making a face — but I was talking to your manager who said there was a new video. Can you explain the premise of that creepy video?

Garrett: Somebody that we were working with gave us this footage.

Derek: The footage is from a PSA video that the BBC did in the late 70s. So it has a creepy vibe. But I think the PSA was about kids not messing around power lines.

Garrett: Play it safe videos that told kids how to stay out of trouble.

Nini: The original onces are way creepier since they have scary voices.

Alisa: Do you guys play it safe? Are you accident prone?

Nini: Sometimes.

Jonathan: Depends on who you’re talking to, I think.

Nini: You should check out our Instagram.

Alisa: Are there a lot of pictures of you guys falling down?

Ben: Some.

Nini: There’s a few injuries.

Ben: I touched the transformer of my old Wurlitzer and it fried me.

Derek McWilliams: I was like, Ben, don’t touch that one bit and he did. He went a different color. We had it all in bits. It was plugged in and we were trying to make it better and it didn’t work. He was glowing too.

Ben: I don’t think I ever recovered. My brain is off since then.

Derek: His hair was totally different before. I had the typical walk-up-to-the-microphone to sing and a bass amp wasn’t wired properly. I walked to the mic and it put a massive electric shock into my mouth.

Alisa: What’s that taste like?

Derek: Like lightning really. Like blood and foil.

Jonathan Schmidt: Like when you hit your head really hard, a metallic taste.

Alisa: You all seem to know what that tastes like. Have you all been shocked?

Nini: Many times.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9TVhKFk6gk]

Alisa: Now “Heart” will be released on your forthcoming full-length album. Progress report?

Ben: Right now we’re figuring out the whle concept and flow of the album. I’d say between 10-12 [songs].

Garrett: Regular album length.

Alisa: Do you have 10 or 12 songs?

Ben: We have a lot of material.

Nini: We’ve recorded so much material over the last year and I think it doesn’t really matter how many tracks there are for us; it just has to feel right. We want everything to be a cohesive album and we’ll know when that happens. I think we have all of the songs at this point. We just have to fine tune it and get it ready.

Alisa: Find what you like the best?

Nini: That’s part of it.

Garrett: And make some finishing touches on the album. We just got back from Nashville where we were recording for a couple of months.

Alisa: And where you filmed your new video for “Wings.”

Garrett: The day after the recording session, actually.

Alisa: Is the vinyl copy of “Wings” your first piece of recorded material?

Jonathan: It’s the first physical copy of anything we’ve done.

Alisa: Will you put out the album on vinyl as well?

Ben: Absolutely. Always wanted to have a full-length album on vinyl. It seemed like such a cool thing.

[video:http://youtu.be/yk52XHSpmF4]