Hwaino
Official page of Norwegian Ambient/Post-Rock act HWAINO.
05/10/2023
04/10/2023
New album coming *very* soon. Enjoy the previews, and don't forget to pre-save to have it show up in Spotify when it's out.
The Scars We Leave Behind by Hwaino Stream and Save The Scars We Leave Behind - Distributed by DistroKid
02/08/2022
S2E2 of Prog Metal Pantheon, by Layered Reality Productions, is out now. One hour of sweet sweet music, and yours truly included as well. Check it out!
Prog Metal Pantheon - Season 2 - Episode 2 Welcome back progmetal fans! Here is episode 2 of Season 2 of Progmetal Pantheon and we have another solid 50+ minutes of progressive metal awesomeness for a...
02/01/2022
Best of 2021. "Lithium Lullaby" at number 5. Gotta love In The Woods; amazing channel!
POST-ROCK COMPILATION (BEST OF 2021) ✸ POST-ROCK COMPILATION (BEST OF 2021) ✸1. BRUIT ≤ (Industry) 00:00Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/2OWtdQ0Facebook: https://bit.ly/3trsOUB2. Longwinter (Burning Sea...
23/07/2021
Nordic Music Review did another piece on Hwaino, this time on "Lithium Lullaby".
For the record, I do play everything myself, *except* for the violins. Come to think of it, I have a violin lying around, but never really learned how to play the damned thing.
NMR seems a bit confused about the whole "post" aspect of music. That's okay. Post-musicians don't really understand it themselves. It's just a nice and pretentious way of saying "sort of, but not quite". Post-metal being sort-of-but-not-quite-metal. 🤷♂️
Hwaino (NO) – ‘Lithium Lullaby’ (track from recent EP) As is regrettably all too often the case these days I know little about Hwaino but he was covered here only a while ago with a full in-depth analysis of a convoluted book he’d written which bears comparison with the epic ‘Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’ tale by Genesis. He’s just released an EP,...
Response regarding The Insomniac Sessions has been almost overwhelming so far. That makes me happy, sort of. (See what I did there?)
All releases counted, we're closing in on 40 000 plays across platforms. I feel like celebrating when we reach 50 000, but have no idea how. Suggestions are welcome.
11/07/2021
In The Woods just uploaded a video with the full EP. The best channel for post-music and avant-garde projects in my opinion, head and neck above WHPR and WPRD. Yes, I said it.
Get in there and show your support, both for the music and for the channel.
Hwaino - The Insomniac Sessions (2021) (Full Album) Ambient Post-rock from Bergen, Norway.Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/3r1i3YNSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3kcnKlrApple Music: https://apple.co/2Vlea55Tidal: https://bi...
08/07/2021
https://hwaino.bandcamp.com/album/the-insomniac-sessions
"The Insomniac Sessions" is now available on Bandcamp. If you like it, feel free to buy it. I still make about 150 times more from a Bandcamp purchase than from an album stream on Spotify.
Hugz and kissez from ya boi,
Tommy B,
[Hwaino]
The Insomniac Sessions, by Hwaino 5 track album
06/07/2021
It's out there.
This is probably my favorite track on the EP. Though one should definitely listen to the entire thing in proper order to get the full picture.
Signing off for now,
Tommy B,
[Hwaino]
Come Back When the Tides Have Turned Hwaino · Song · 2021
06/07/2021
It's happening, people. Starting from midnight (in your local time), The Insomniac Sessions will be out there.
Rinse out your earholes, because you don't wanna miss this one. 5 songs. Soon™.
Working on new material. Fueled by gin, of course. Harahorn with Fever Tree and lime this time around. I like to keep it simple.
Minor update:
- As usual, I'm burning a candle in both ends and working on different releases simultaneously.
The next release will be an EP; stylistically speaking, it will fall somewhere between "Haust" and "We Lost Another Moon". Not quite Downtempo, not quite Post-Metal. All instrumental, and still carrying a lot of Hwaino DNA. These songs were mainly written as a sort of therapy while dealing with some emotional trauma, but they turned out well enough that it would be a shame not to release them. ETA is probably on this side of summer, but we'll see. It's only been two months since I released an album that was more than a year in the making, so I'm not in a hurry. Though I received the album cover from the designer tonight, and might do a reveal with some snippets soon.
- I commissioned the incredibly talented and classically trained Welsh violinist Dayna Townsend today, to lay down some tracks on two of the upcoming songs. She did the violins on "The Great Nothing", "At the Darkening of Their Heavens" and "Ash and Ember".
- I grew tired of seeing the band name change font for each release, so I've finally gotten an official logo, and one that I'm pretty damned pleased with at that.
- On the other end of the candle there are a lot of blackgaze ideas hatching. If all goes as planned, that release will have quite a bit of vocals, both grim and clean. Though I'm guessing it will take me a good few months before any of that material is ready, as I'm working under the banner of AKNF: All Killer, No Filler. If I'm not satisfied, it goes in the trash.
Until next time,
- Tommy B
Okay, so... I ended up making blackgaze. The infamous genre which one can only write about, and never speak of.
That nice little background melody? Yeah, that's a semi-acoustic tenor ukulele. Fight me.
30/04/2021
Stone Principal Studios just leveled up!
Which direction should I go next? More French-y post-metal? Progrock? Ambient? Blackgaze? Or everything all at once?
To my 700+ new listeners in Chicago: I like you. 🤜🤛
Who said FM radio is dead?
Edit: I mean the 1100+ new listeners.
I'll be getting some air time on traditional radio today. WRRG 88,9FM in Chicago will play material from "We Lost Another Moon" on a show about progressive rock, along with Wobbler, Airbag, Pendragon and others. For those of us not living in the Chicago area, the show will be available through the TuneIn app; search for WRRG.
The show will start at 7 pm CST, so at 02.00 Norwegian time. I'll be working night shift and will hopefully get the chance to tune in myself.
"We Lost Another Moon" recently passed 10 000 streams across all platforms. I love that. And I also love that people have been buying the album on Bandcamp after I uploaded it there, as I make about 150 times more from an album purchase than from an album stream. I have no idea who you crazy bastards are, but I love you.
The idea for this concept and title came to me in April last year, when it was discovered that Earth had a second moon. A tiny and temporary thing that would soon be ejected back into the void. We barely even knew it'd been there before it left us.
Over the last few months this album has gained a deeper meaning. It's not just about the astronomical aspects, but also the human side of it; how we sometimes lose something or someone way too early, and maybe never even had a chance to get to know them. Maybe our ways parted after having held them for only a few hours.
And in this process, it may feel as if your world is stopping. Like it stopped spinning and everything suddenly lost colour. Still everyone else's worlds keep spinning, saturated with colour, and you just want to punch everyone in the face and scream at them how they cannot see your pain. How something which never had a chance to become a proper part of your life can still be so dearly missed, and you feel bleak, alone, and left behind.
To those who have felt this way, or is feeling this way right now: This album is for you. For you, and for the Moons we've lost.
Cheers for the 10k 🥂
Yours truly,
Tommy B,
[Hwaino]
11/04/2021
The amazing channel In The Woods has uploaded a video with the full WLAM album for their 129 000 (!) subscribers. Give it a spin there and support the channel!
Hwaino - We Lost Another Moon (2021) (Full Album) Ambient Post-rock/Post-metal project based in Bergen, Norway.Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3wGsFihApple Music: https://apple.co/2RspBGkTidal: https://tidal.com/a...
It's out there, on pretty much all streaming services. Give it a spin!
25/03/2021
We Lost Another Moon Hwaino · Album · 2021 · 7 songs.
18/09/2020
Release day is upon us! Give it a spin!
A great many thanks to those who've contributed, especially Elisabeth, KimS, Christopher and Gøran.
Haust Hwaino · Single · 2020 · 5 songs.
17/09/2020
Click to pre-save in Spotify, and it'll pop up in your library the moment it's released!
Haust by Hwaino Stream and Pre-save Haust - Distributed by DistroKid
Okay, so I obviously have NO idea how this thing works. I was just noodling around, trying out different effects, but for some reason the Ocean Machine had recorded some of it. And I pushed a button that didn't do what I thought it would do, and suddenly it was looping it.
Backwards.
And it was beautiful.
Having no idea how this happened, nor what I was playing at the time of recording, I was afraid to touch anything, knowing fully well that if I did, the song might disappear and never ever be heard by anyone again.
So naturally I started filming and playing around on top of the loop.
28/06/2020
Farewell is closing in on 500 streams on Spotify. Those are rookie numbers, but as an indie artist with no major label or marketing department to back me up, I am grateful for every single playthrough. Especially considering I have no idea who most of these listeners are, as they are spread around the globe.
I am also very grateful for all connections I've made in the process, with talented artists such as Darkfield, Chameleon Dream, A Good Man Goes to War, Artyom, Apocalyptic Leaders, and more. Post musicians look out for each other. Digital bro-hugs to all of you.
I am currently working on new material, and it's coming along nicely. I'm experimenting a lot, and the style varies between post-rock, ambient, blues-rock, prog and blackgaze throughout the record. And sometimes in the same song. At the moment I am also communicating with different designers to find cover artwork that's perfect for the album.
Give Farewell an extra spin tonight if you're in need of something to take your mind off whatever burdens the world has lowered upon your shoulders.
Peace out.
Farewell Hwaino · Single · 2020 · 6 songs.
Working on some new stuff. Might be good.
Working on some lead guitars for the climax of an 8 minute (!) track. Working title "Hyperborea". Shout-out to KimS of Melancholicious for helping me figure out the harmonies.
03/04/2020
Release day is finally upon us, and my debut EP is out there. Months of hard work is over, after more technical issues than I'd like to admit, including a guitar that decided to die on me after 16 years of faithful service. But it's done.
A huge shout-out to everyone who has contributed with feedback and input, especially KimS, Øystein G. Brun, Lars Jensen, Grjótgarð Hálfdanarson and Uncle Petromax. You guys rock. And the greatest shout-out of all to my wife Elisabeth, without whom this would never have been completed.
Farewell Hwaino · Single · 2020 · 6 songs.
03/04/2020
We're nearing release, and just because I'm such a good guy, here's the opening track in its entirety. Enjoy!
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