Brit Soul Stars Honne talk “Re-Inventing Babymaking Music” Ahead of Aug 1 Tango Gig

There was a time when the “being big in Japan” trope was slapped on one hit wonders like Mr. Big and other Western bands that failed to gain lasting traction outside the Far East. But for Honne, that phrase isn’t so much a pejorative as a recipe for success. For starters, the British electro-soul duo (comprised of Andy Clutterbuck and James Hatcher) took their name from a Japanese term meaning “real intention.” And while the duo (who are both credited with “songwriting, vocals, keyboard, bass guitar, drums, guitar, programming, synthesizer” and more on their 2016 debut LP Warm on a Cold Night) weren’t overnight sensations in Japan, they did begin selling out shows in Korea at spellbinding pace. After warmly received legs in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and other Asian locales, Honne now set their sights on China. Hatcher tells us more ahead of their Aug 1 performance at Tango. 

The Telegraph described your music as "futuristic soul destined to re-invent babymaking music." How does it feel to be described that way?
[Laughs] I actually quite like it. We like the thought of our music evoking emotion in people, making them feel good and being a soundtrack for their lives and relationships. So if it’s making couples wanna make babies, we’re all for that.

Why did you name your band, Honne, after a Japanese word (本音) meaning "real intention"?
It kind of all started with Andy having a bit of a love affair with Japan. He’d visited a couple of times and ended up getting a chance to stay there for a couple of months. We wrote some songs whilst he was there and I was in England. We wrote about 10 songs when I found this word “Honne” and it seemed to fit perfectly with everything we’d been writing about. All our songs are about things that have happened or are happening in our lives, so it all clicked into place with the name.

You told Radio China in Hong Kong earlier this year that you were surprised by your success in Asia. When did you realize you were breaking through here?
It all started right at the beginning after our first release actually. We started seeing quite a few posts from South Korea tagging us on Instagram, and it seemed to keep on growing. Eventually, we put a couple of 2,000 cap gigs on sale in Seoul and they sold out in a few minutes and we had a load of messages from people who couldn’t get tickets, so we put another one on and that sold out in minutes too. When we got there we were even greeted by fans at the airport, which was pretty mad! But it’s at the gigs themselves that you can feel the love the most, when people are singing along to every word. It’s incredible, and one of the best feelings!

What was it like to work with Izzy Bizu on "Someone That Loves You?"
It was a lot of fun. We already had the instrumental before Izzy got to our studio. Then she came round and we wrote the rest of the song. It all came very naturally and it was close to being finished after that first day. She’s super cool, we had a lot of laughs and ate a lot of pizza.

Tell us about your upcoming album, Love Me / Love Me Not.
Love Me / Love Me Not is an album of two sides. We wanted to describe the highs and lows of life that everyone goes through. It all came together as soon as we wrote the song “Forget Me Not.” At the start, there’s someone saying “She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not,” and that’s how we came up with the whole concept.

What about musical inspiration?
We’d been on tour a lot and listening to a load of music whilst traveling. A lot of what we’d been listening to was hip-hop or rap, and the production on these tracks really inspired us. Artists like Chance The Rapper, Frank Ocean, and Kendrick Lamar. So we set out to make this new record a lot more beat orientated and make you feel the drums. Which I definitely think we achieved in tracks like “Day 1”, “I Got You”, and “Me & You.” We also wanted to experiment more with production and not just stick to what we’d done in the past. It was a great experience making this album and I think we’ve both developed a lot as producers because of it.

Honne will play at Tango on Aug 1 at 8.30pm. Tickets are RMB 320, RMB 280 (advance) For more information, click here.

More stories by this author here.
Email: kylemullin@truerun.com
Twitter: @MulKyle
Instagram: mullin.kyle

Photo: Billboard