Stephen Fitzpatrick of England and Audun Laading of Norway met studying music in Liverpool which eventually led to the creation of dream pop duo, Her’s.

By Miranda Chiechi

Fitzpatrick and Laading stepped onto The Flatstock Stage in The Convention Center to play their sixth South by Southwest show of the week. The pair stepped on stage with their newly shaven heads after chopping off their locks in their new music video, “Speed Racer.”

Instantly, their feel-good, psychedelic sound filled The Convention Center, drawing people in with their cool vibes and witty banter shared between songs. You can’t help but be captivated by their happy, carefree demeanors.

Throughout the week, they played their four singles out right now along with new songs that are expected to be released in May. Her’s played at venues all across Austin during SXSW, including Maggie Mae’s and Latitude 30

How do you feel about having your first U.S. shows in Austin, TX?

Audun Laading: It’s been really interesting all together, coming over. We’ve only played two shows outside of the UK before and it’s like suddenly we’re doing South By. There’s actually people who show up and kind of know the songs.

Stephen Fitzpatrick: There’s a whole different crowd. It’s quite refreshing playing to a whole new set.

AL: It’s a very giving crowd.

Who are your biggest musical influences?

AL: The most obvious ones are the wonky guitar stuff that’s going around at the moment like Mac Demarco and Connan Mockasin.

SF: If we wanted to name drop someone, definitely outsiders like Ariel Pink and R. Stevie Moore without being derivative of their sound.

How would you describe your sound?

AL: The most obvious one is dream pop.

SF: It’s a bit melancholy, dreamy, naive—a good comedy duo.

Can you tell me how the name Her’s came about?

SF: It was pretty impulsive. The entire thing happened like overnight. We were at my old flat and he was strumming on his guitar chords and suddenly we made this little track at 2 a.m., went out and made a little video for it and uploaded it at 5 in the morning.

AL: And thought, I guess we need a band name now.

SF: You can get really caught up in the band name though and it can take a long time. So, if you just make an impulsive decision on it and just stick with it, you just grow to love it. It’s like a nice, romantic kind of thing.

AL: It’s got a little mysticism. Like who is “her?” She is everyone.

Are you in the process of making more music? What can we expect to hear?

SF: We got like an eight track collection of songs coming out on May 12, which is kind of a mixture of stuff we’ve already released and extra songs. It’s going to be in a physical form and that’s the first time we’ve done that.

AL: We’re pretty excited.

How long have you guys been making music?

AL: My family isn’t the musician type family. I picked up a bass guitar when I was like 15—I guess that was eight years ago now—and discovered guitar music from there.

SF: My family’s quite musical, so I’ve been playing music since about the age of 10. My dad is a jazz musician and my mom is a songwriter.

What are weird, fun facts about each of you?

AL: We both have a crippling addiction to Monster energy drinks, which isn’t our number one proudest thing—a daily Monster to get through the gigs. But, we’re looking for that endorsement, you know? And I’ve got that thing where you look at the sun and sneeze. Stephen, do you have any quirks?

SF: I think about “School of Rock” every day without trying. Jack Black is imprinted in my brain somehow. I don’t know what happened.

AL: That movie had a huge impact on your life, didn’t it?

SF: Yes, I think of “School of Rock” all the time.

AL: Our favorite genre is romantic comedies. Like “You’ve Got Mail,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” anything with Tom Hanks really.

SF: I just wanted to be related to Tom Hanks. He would bring a really great presence to birthdays and stuff. There’s Tom Hanks in the back.

AL: Thanks, Uncle Tom.