When indie was a way of life, not a genre

Revisiting the wild 90s through the nostalgic sounds of Henry Ate's first new song in 22 years

Back in the nineties, back when indie wasn’t a genre but a genuinely independent route to making and releasing music, Henry Ate blazed onto the South African music scene with a set of songs and a live show that inspired a devotion that’s not dulled in the decades since. 

It’s not hard to understand why. 

To be in the audience at a Henry Ate show - whether in a sweaty club or in arenas when they supported heavy hitting internationals like Skunk Anansie and Garbage - was to be fully part of  an expression of that fidelity. It was to be uplifted and immersed in something spiritual and beautiful because songs like “Just” and “Henry” off 1996 debut Slap in the Face were transmissions from that magical place where pop hooks and lyrics that really say something come together in one unforgettable whole. And it was also a thrilling and visceral experience. Because while Henry Ate mostly played in the classic rock formation (vocals, guitar, bass and drums) with some of the country’s best musicians, the heart of the band was Karma-Ann Swanepoel and Julian Sun and, like the best musical two-punch combinations, there was often a frisson of surprise in the air. Would Karma get pissed off with Julian and toss an undisguised glare at him mid-song? Might Julian glare back? Or maybe this would be a night - and there were many - when the two musicians tore through the songs with the fierce self-possession and cohesiveness that left those in the audience breathless. 

Photo of Karma-Ann Swanepoel by Areo Rodriguez

It helped, of course, that Henry Ate had emerged in the wake of South Africa’s first democratic election, a time when possibility was in the bright air and original music was emerging at a sometimes stunning speed out of all corners of the country. It was also a time when artists globally were building careers through the ignition of a desire to be part of an unfolding scene on the part of music lovers who came for that feeling of community and never left because the music was that good, and, at times, yes the drugs were too. In all respects it was a giddy and intoxicating, intoxicated era. In South Africa, Henry Ate achieved terrific heights and they did it independently: their first record was released by maverick Joburg label, Tic Tic Bang and, instead of taking the frequently trodden payola route to radio play, they found believers in the media who brought their music to a wider audience and so moved the band beyond the underground and onto the national stage. 

All of which makes the release of a new Henry Ate song - the band’s first in 22 years - an occasion to give thanks for. 

Released on March 28th, “You Were My First Everything” is everything you might imagine a new Henry Ate song to be: a striking opening verse describing a scene that’s effortlessly universal  (“You were my first everything/We don’t text and we don’t speak/I don’t recall if it was you or me/Probably both, but you know a part of me/No one knows…”) and an affecting, instantly memorable chorus, all wrapped in soaring pop hooks and layers of acoustic and electric guitaring that never intrudes. Like all Henry Ate’s songs, these are words and this is music that fans take to their hearts. It’s nostalgia of the best kind, an evocation of a time and place and feelings that is carried by music that’s fresh and fertile.

“I’m really happy with the result,” says Karma of the new song. “I’ve probably listened to this song more than anyone. And I still go back to it. I like it a lot. Jules likes it, too. I hope it sparks joy in Henry Ate fans and delivers them the same gift of youthful reminiscence and nostalgia I enjoyed that Saturday morning while writing it. It was fun looking back. Good times. I feel super lucky to have had the 90s as the era of my youth and super lucky to have survived!”

Karma’s not alone in feeling that way: there was a wildness to Johannesburg in the 90s that could frequently verge on reckless abandon as the young and not so young moved between Bob’s Bar and 206 and raves in the Carlton Hotel or downtown Joburg, high on everything. And this gifted lyricist captures this in four perfect lines:

“You were my first everything

A million dreams I got to dream

I know my memories playing tricks on me

We were the wildest, most destructive thing”

For Karma, who went on to make music as a solo artist after recording a handful of albums as Henry Ate and continues to create out of her base in Joshua Tree National Park in California, when it first emerged, there was no question that “You Were My First Everything” was a Henry Ate song.

“I can’t say I have ever set out to write a Henry Ate song. When I started writing songs the moniker didn’t even exist. That said, over the years I have noticed a difference in the songs I choose to release as KARMA and those that feel more like Henry Ate. And that’s just it - it’s a feeling, a mindset, subject matter probably plays into it as well, and maybe the sound … there’s likely a bunch of factors - but for me it all adds up to a feeling.

“I knew ‘You Were My First Everything’ was going to be a Henry Ate song the moment the lyrics started falling out of me. It was a Saturday morning. June 11, 2022. I was feeling pretty excited about a dance party I was going to later. My friend and I were texting back and forth about our plans for the evening - figuring out how we were actually going to stay awake to make it to the party! I was super aware of the feeling of excitement. I recognised it. It reminded me of my life back at university when similar plans were being made. 

“I took a moment to reminisce. The memories came flooding in. Something sparked and I wanted to put that feeling into a song. I don’t plan songs. I just pick up a guitar and see what happens. I do recall wanting to see if I could pull off putting the words ‘90s rave’ into the lyrics. ‘You Were My First Everything’' was finished by that afternoon. I called Jules and we spent over a year recording, mixing and mastering it. We looped Kevin (Leicher) in a few months later when it came to thinking about who should play guitars on the track. I loved the idea of having the original Henry Ate lineup – which was just the three of us – work on this song. Kevin did a fantastic job on guitars and mixed the song as well.”

Julian echoes Karma’s feeling that “You Were My First Everything” was always going to be a Henry Ate song. 

“It’s pure nostalgia, from Karma’s plaintive lyrics about 90’s raves, to the acoustic guitar, to the electric guitar hooks, to the final mix itself, It could’ve come straight out of the Slap in the Face sessions. And when I first heard the rough mix, it was like being transported back in time to when Henry Ate first started and provided pure inspiration for the vocal harmony. I’m so happy with how it’s turned out. It’s quintessentially Henry Ate and a gift to people who’ve been fans of the band since we first started. It allows for both them and us to reminisce about the good old days - “when we were beautiful” - while getting to experience the first new Henry Ate song in years.”

For longtime fans and newcomers alike, hearing Karma and Julian sing and play on a song that recalls a time when they first began performing together is as joyful and affirming an experience as music can be. Listen to “You Were My First Everything” to feel this for yourself. 

I leave you with this dear reader.

In the interests of full disclosure, I share that Karma is a close friend and the godmother of my daughter Hannah and so when she asked me to write this reflection on Henry Ate’s new song, I happily agreed. Not long after I had written it, I set off on a trip to South Africa for a wedding and a funeral of sorts as I joined my siblings in scattering my mom’s ashes in the place she had requested. It was an emotional visit that ended with a handful of days in Johannesburg. Traversing the city that was my home for several decades, memories of where I first heard and watched Henry Ate slapped me gently in the face. “The joy of nineties raves,” sings Karma on “You Were My First Everything” and, as the city’s skyline came into view when I came off the N3 highway, I remembered nights in places like the Carlton Centre, for 46 years the tallest building in Africa (and probably the party that delivered the most awesome view to the ecstatic ravers way at the top of the 50 floor structure), and I allowed the nostalgia to hold and steady me.

If you’re new to Henry Ate or KARMA’s music, you can start with listening to the band’s breakthrough hit, “Just” off the 1996 album Slap in the Face. Nearly 30 years on, it remains a stark, beautiful and memorable piece of songwriting. Or try the wry before-its-time gender conceit “Hey Mister” off the same album. And then explore the rest of KARMA and Henry Ate’s material. It’s a joyous trip.