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 If you want to sell your mobile phone network then it is de-rigueur for any TV advert to feature a folk soundtrack, be it a track from the past or something oh-so-2007. Hey, if you can marry folk music with a bit of electronica then you’ve found the mobile advert holy grail my friend. The first question advertising scum probably think when they get a new contract is “Hey, I wonder what Vashti Bunyan song we can get clearance for”.
It wasn’t so long ago that folk was considered a dirty word, automatically triggering the general populace to imagine someone in ludicrous trousers playing a lute. But - in the words of Roots Manuva - “Perceptions change, wrong's right an' right's wrong”, and folk music is losing its aura of uncool.
The anti-folk movement of recent times was based around this notion that folk music had an image problem and that contemporary singer-songwriters should steer away from using the ‘f-word’. Anti-folk attempted to bridge the gap by claiming the ‘cool’ image of punk rock and new wave, yet fusing this with the sound and nature of traditional folk music. Inevitably this led to anti-folk evenings having a disparate group of performers on show, from relatively straightforward singer songwriters such as Toby Goodshank, to the art-folk of Jeffrey Lewis, and even to the pysch-pop of bands such as Misty’s Big Adventure.
It was on one such evening that I first came into contact with Herman Dune. I had gone along to see the aforementioned Jeffrey Lewis (who was great) and to check out Schwervon. What I wasn’t expecting was for a band fronted by two men with beards to leave me so lost in awe that I remember the performance vividly almost 4 years later.
Usually when I go to see a band I’m au fait with their material. Sometimes I see a band that I haven’t heard of before and pick up enough to pique my interest. However, what remains etched in my mind are the rare occasions when I’ve seen a band that I’ve never heard before and have become instantly spellbound - times when the new seemed instantly familiar and everything clicked in my mind on the first listen. This was one such occasion.
I wasn’t the only one there who felt like that, when Herman Dune played that night the normal hubbub of the bar dropped away, replaced with an almost reverential silence. I’ve seen this in every Herman Dune gig I’ve witnessed since, epitomised when David-Ivar sings without amplification and there isn’t another sound in the room.
It quickly became apparent that no two Herman Dune gigs were the same; the two brothers in the band (Andre and David-Ivar) would take it in turns to start a song they’d written and the rest of the band would instantly pick up on what was being played. There was no setlist, this was just a group of musicians fitting perfectly together, tuned to each other completely.
What stood out was that even though the brothers were obviously different, both musically and in the way they interacted with the audience, they complimented each other perfectly. David-Ivar was garrulous, friendly and his use of the ukulele naturally leant the songs an upbeat air; Andre was virtually silent when he wasn’t singing, picking at his guitar with an aloof air (usually of cigarette smoke) hanging around him. I hoovered up merchandise for the evening and it became apparent that this special charm of the group transferred convincingly to record.
 All Herman Dune records have David-Ivar and Andre songs alternating with each other, sometimes they sound indistinguishable from each other, and at other times it is possible to guess at what is currently influencing each brother. Songs range from the sweet with endearingly funny lyrics (mostly David-Ivar), to the sparse and more atmospheric (mostly Andre). That they never jar against each other is either a happy accident or – more likely – down to a shared familial upbringing and musical education.
Herman Dune are originally from France (with one Swedish parent) and thanks to an exhausting touring schedule, a staggeringly prolific output (numerous CDs of the solo work of each brother are available at each gig) and an enormous amount of talent, waves are starting to be made. New release Giant is the first Herman Dune release I’ve seen in Music Zone anyway. Whether anything will come of it will depend on the group holding together (Andre has mysteriously stopped promoting or touring Giant) and whether Orange come calling.
New album Giant is the first recording on a relatively major label, and this can be heard in the sumptuous sound of it. The fact that they supported The Ko*ks last December makes me slightly uneasy, like I generally am when people/bands I have no time for upsettingly like the same music as me. The fact that the band are getting noticed is obviously a good sign, but are my rather selfish worries that this “little secret” is about to be discovered (and possibly spoilt) unfounded?
There is “hope”. Herman Dune are built round a DIY aesthetic; recordings were often made in unusual studios and on antiquated equipment (I have an Andre solo CD that was recorded wholly in a sauna), and the artwork on every CD, accompanying comic book or t-shirt is done by the band themselves. Even though Giant is a big step up in label terms, full artistic control still rests with the band. David-Ivar has even expressed concern over the use of anti-folk as a descriptive term for the music, claiming that folk shouldn’t be seen as something unspeakable and taboo.
They’re touring the UK in 2007 and I hope to see them. It is in the live environment that you get the bug, where you witness an event – to quote myself - “Warm, inclusive and life-affirming”.
Glenn (March 2007)
Not On Top (album)
Giant (album)
Sheffield, January 2006 (gig)
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