“I guess most people start by hating themselves.” We sat down with Copenhagen duo First Hate to discuss love, hate and everything in between.

Few artists have the audacity to be as deliciously pretentious, and yet as self deprecating as First Hate. The Danish duo’s unconventional debut, A Prayer For The Unemployed, side-glances the whole spectre of human emotions, embracing solitude and still frolic with ballsy melodic twist and self-indulgent snippets.

Dipping into the sonics of this illusion of apathy and bliss, Joakim Nørgaard explains the diverse marvel.

We wanted to do a mix of different styles, instead of making something that sounds the same on all the tracks.

It’s also a mix between thinking it through and just going with whatever feeling was in our hearts at the time. We tried to create a universe around it with soundscapes and story lines to make it a whole thing – Anton Falck elaborates.

Speaking of the feeling wanted for the debut, it’s clear that there is more to this collection of songs than merely an interesting sound. Speaking of the songs Joakim says that “combined, how they compliment each other gives a good view into our emotional register and personal universe.”

Anton takes a moment.

I think there’s a lot about vulnerabilities, and how, for me, to look into myself without getting self-absorbed… Life is always about finding a way to understand yourself in the world you live in, and to make yourself better every day, and make the world better. This is kind of a prayer for ourselves and a prayer for the world.

Prayer is a word seemingly close to First Hate’s heart. The title, A Prayer For The Unemployed, actually stems from a friend of the duo who, whilst breaking into a church, stumbled upon a prayer called ‘A Prayer For The Unemployed’.

There’s something really funny about having the church, which for me is like an institution, having a prayer for people that are unemployed. There’s a juxtaposition of the institution praying for you to be a part of the institution – Anton ponders.

We thought it was a weird perspective on things, that there’s a premise of being either employed or unemployed. We thought that was a really special way of perceiving the world – Joakim explains.

Shifting through the modern production and immense capacity of A Prayer For The Unemployed there is certainly a curiosity lingering about how these tracks came to be, and Anton generously explains:

When we write, usually the music comes first. We sit and write and something, just a sound or a change of melody just hits, and we look at each other and we’re like; Ah that was really something. You know the feeling but you don’t know exactly what the song is about, and you start searching in yourself…

Everything kind of comes from a subconscious perspective. I think our way of working is to try and decipher all of these subconscious mistakes that we make and keep them. It’s never deliberate.

There seems to be an immediacy to everything that First Hate do, from their evoking art works to the brooding realities in their songs and videos. The sense really reflects the statics of modern life, yet the craft comes with a yearning.

I think it’s important when you make something to try and think – is it worth making this, has it been done before, and then, do people really need to see this? I think you have to be inventive and try to create something that hasn’t been done before – Anton ponders.

It’s also a quest to try and broaden our own horizons and other people’s horizons to what can be possible – Joakim adds in.

Through the self-deprecation, nihilism and melancholy of the album there’s a beam of love piercing through.

You say that love is everything. Love is also something that can be just between the four of us right now. I think that is also a very beautiful thing to just notice these tiny details in human relations.

What was the first thing you hated?

For me, I think it’s like when you have your first real hate for someone is when you realise how hurt you can feel, and that’s when you realise what love is. So for me that’s why that name was interesting – Anton answers.

I think the thing I hate the most is that it can be very difficult to blame other people and to truly hate them. Cause easily you see why they are doing what they are doing, but then you have this negative feeling, you have this frustration that turns towards yourself – Joakim contemplates.

It’s easy to be self deprecating.

Yeah! So, I think that’s the first and the last thing I hate.

I guess most people start by hating themselves – Anton exhales.

Moving on the the subject of music and it’s fundamentals, it’s clear that the guys perceive their craft in a very different way. Whilst Joakim states that: “to me, music is very essential. Music to me is a very nice way to enter other people’s emotions and other people’s perspectives and make it your own and connect,” Anton uses music more as an outlet: “I was never really into much music when I was young. I have to express something, then I found out I could do music.”

Differences aside, things seem to be going pretty good for First Hate. With the album finally out, the possibilities seem endless.

It’s so weird the point of trying to figure out what the possibilities we have are. Maybe figure out what we want for ourselves cause it’s a strange position to be in. Success is a very strange thing – Anton reflects.

Letting the band have the last message, First Hate want you to remember:

Brush your teeth and take good care of yourself, and forgive other people, but don’t turn the hatred against yourself.

Photos: Kasia Osowiecka