HELEN makes great synth-pop songs from relationship foibles. The lyrics are relatable and the music will distract you in a very happy way. You can see her play on May 29 at the Pillar Forum.
Please tell me how you first got involved in music.
I have been involved in music basically my whole life! I’ve been singing since I could talk – my mom sings and so she was always singing to and with my sisters and I when we were kids. She also started us all on the piano at age 5 so I took piano lessons and played classically for about 15 years. That is really what laid the groundwork for me with music. Once I hit middle school, I sang in choir and I was a full-on choir kid throughout high school and college. What got me started playing guitar and writing songs, though, was my discovery of Taylor Swift when I was somewhere around ten years old. I started writing songs because of her, and I taught myself how to play the guitar because I wanted to be able to play and sing her songs. From that age on I’ve been writing and performing my own music.
I love your new single, I Hope You Hate Your Life. How cathartic was it to write? And now to sing?
Thank you!! I Hope You Hate Your Life was such a fun song to write. I feel like the imagery in the song of staying up late at night stalking your ex online and comparing yourself to their new partner is so relatable and yet cringey- so I really wanted to lean in to the cringe with this song. It can feel embarrassing to be still hung up on someone for so long and to still care about what they’re doing, but I think it’s a very common experience. I also wanted to lean into the pettiness and trying to seem like you’re healed and moved on and the bigger person (i.e. I hope you’re happy), but inside you really don’t feel that way at all (i.e. I hope you hate your life). When those feelings can seem embarrassing or petty in real life, it’s cathartic to write them in a song and be able to say all the crazy things you’ve been thinking inside your head. All that being said, those feelings and that situation are in the past for me now, so singing it is honestly just fun.
Your song, Round and Round, feels so honest. I love the video because you’re going through the motions of missing someone but in the most glamorous setting. It feels again like you’ve turned a loss into a win. Was it fun or difficult (emotionally) to make the video? Or maybe both.
Making the music video for Round and Round was so fun because it was my first ever music video. I love fashion and playing dress up so I loved the chance to lean into the glamour of it all, with the dress and the shoes and the setting. Round and Round is definitely a very raw and honest song, and it was written at a time that those wounds were still open. But, similarly to I Hope You Hate Your Life, that situation isn’t my reality anymore (thank GOD!), so by the time we shot the music video thankfully I was able to approach it from a more artistic perspective. I definitely tapped into the emotions I felt during that time when I was acting in the video, though.
Did I see that you recently ran a half marathon?! Congrats! I trained for one – but when to a music fest instead but I have successfully shown up for (and completed) a couple triathlons. So, I know the work and the dedication it takes. You also seem like someone who puts that effort into her music. Can you compare the two? And how skills from one help the other?
Thank you and wow that is so cool that you have done triathlons! I definitely think the two are very similar in that they take a lot of time, dedication, and effort. I ran cross country in middle and high school so, funnily enough, I have been running almost as long as I have been writing songs. Something that running and music share is that they both take a lot of mental strength. There are lots of points in a half marathon where you want to stop, but it takes mental strength in the moment to keep going and cross that finish line. Our bodies are actually capable of a lot more physically than we give them credit for, and it is often the mental strength that allows you to push yourself and achieve your goals. In music, there are endless moments where it would be easier to just give up than to keep pursing this dream that, quite frankly, there is no guarantee of ever attaining. It takes that same mental strength to show up over and over again, for late night band rehearsals and studio sessions after having worked a full day already, booking and showing up to shows, posting on social media every day even when you get 5 likes, in the hopes that you can get your music out into the world.
Please tell us about your upcoming show.
On Tuesday May 29, my band and I will be hosting the I Hope You Hate Your Life release show at Pillar Forum! We will be joined by the amazing MegaFlowerPower and Ben Vogel who will each perform sets, and then we will close out the night with a full band set including the new single! It will only be the second time I Hope You Hate Your Life has ever been performed in the wild, so if you come to the show, you will be one of a very special very small group of people in the whole world who have every heard it live! We will also be playing most of my released discography, a brand new unreleased song, and we also have some awesome covers by some of my favorite artists up our sleeves. Pillar Forum is also one of my favorite venues in the Twin Cities, so it’s going to be a fantastic night.
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