Malmö four piece Hater (Caroline Landahl, Måns Leonartsson, Adam Agace and Lukas Thomasson) released their debut EP Radius earlier this year, three songs of achingly pretty indie pop. 2017 is set to be a big year for them, with the release of their debut album You Tried scheduled for March 10. Ahead of that though, they have one of the biggest gigs of their career supporting The Radio Dept. tonight at Debaser Medis. We caught up with the band via email ahead of the gig.

Can you tell us a little about the history of the band? How did you guys form?

Before Hater, we had been playing together in different music projects but we wanted to start a pop band.

What kind of music and bands brought you together and influenced Hater’s sound? You’ve got a sound that echoes back to that sharp, tight C86 indie tradition.

In the beginning we were (and still are) into straightforward-pop, bands like Real Estate, The Pretenders and Wild Nothing. However, our taste in music differs a lot, Adam loves U2 and Caroline likes Bob Marley. We had no idea what C86 was, but we checked it out and liked it. Lukas claims that he recognises some of the bands.

Your first full-length, You Tried, is out on March 10. Can you tell us a little about that? What can we expect?

We recorded the album this summer with Joakim Lindberg out on the countryside and are very much looking forward to the release. A really good album that we’re super proud of, we wrote eleven songs in a month and nine of them ended up on the album. They all feel connected even though they’re often very different from each other.

‘Mental Haven’ sounds a little glossier and more directly poppy than the songs on the EP. Do you think you’ve changed significantly stylistically since Radius?

We wrote the songs the same way as we use to and it felt right to let them be more direct than the songs on the EP. It’s hard to say how much we’ve changed, we play a lot and like to create as freely as possible.

How did you feel when you got the call to open for The Radio Dept.? Måns, you’ve previously mentioned that the band’s ‘I Wanted You To Feel The Same’ is one of your favourite songs.

Caroline and Lukas were out partying on the same street and Caroline got a text from Johan (from The Radio Dept.) asking about if we wanted to play with them so Lukas ran to Caroline and they hugged so much and then answered the text. It’s still one of Måns’ favourite songs and to tour with The Radio Dept. feels tingly.

And finally, what are your plans for 2017 after You Tried comes out?

First we have to wait for Måns to come back from his “escape the cold in Sweden-trip” [he’s taking ] to Ecuador, and then maybe record something new and play some more live.

You Tried is out on PNKSLM on March 10. The Radius EP is out now.

Words: Austin Maloney