Herman Dune is a Swedish-French act currently based in San Pedro, CA. Fronted by founder David-Ivar Herman Dune, the band began as a trio in Paris in 2000. Over the past twenty years Herman Dune have released ten full length LPs and numerous EPs. With David-Ivar at the center, the continually shifting line-up has included brother Andre, drummers Ome and Neman and many additional musical contributors and friends that have included Nashville songwriter Caitlin Rose and the horn arrangements of Jon Natchez (Arcade Fire, War On Drugs, David Byrne). The music is described as DIY, anti-folk, folk rock, Americana and alt-country and several other typical labels that get thrown around within the indie/alt cohort. An admirer of Dylan, The Velvet Underground, Lucinda Williams and David Berman/The Silver Jews, David-Ivar doesn’t mind being put into a box, as long as it’s full of good company.
The legendary radio DJ John Peel was an early champion of the band, inviting them to the studio to play nearly a dozen live sessions for his BBC program. Their breakthrough single “I Wish That I Could See You Soon” helped them land on year end “Best Of” lists that included Rolling Stone. Herman Dune continued to raise their profile internationally touring with artists like Arcade Fire, Of Montreal, Kimya Dawson, Wanda Jackson, Jeffrey Lewis and Sleater-Kinney. In 2011 Funny or Die produced the music video for the track “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know,” which cast Jon Hamm in the lead role opposite a hitchhiking blue monster.
David-Ivar is also a painter and illustrator. He has exhibited work at Art Basel Miami, the Paris FIAC and the Milan Trienniale. He publishes a daily comic strip on Instagram titled Yayathon Man. After 2011’s Strange Moosic LP, David-Ivar took a long break from releasing music and relocated from Paris to the small harbor city of San Pedro, CA, located near the Port of Los Angeles. He launched Santa Cruz Records in 2018 with the release of the album Sweet Thursday. He has since continued to release his own music through the imprint as well as several film soundtracks.
The latest Herman Dune LP Notes From Vinegar Hill will be released on November 6, 2020. Early reviews include a four-star rating from MOJO and 8/10 from Uncut. There’s something for everyone on this record—folksy rockers, Bakersfield twang, Big Pink–style Americana, 70s AM Gold, and rough-hewn Cold Turkey guitar stomps. Written and recorded in the early days of COVID quarantine, the songs speak of the suffocating claustrophobia of isolation and fear, the anguish of being an immigrant in a country where policies harden by the moment, but also of the beauty of California, the ocean, and a quiet life with three black cats that turned the heart of a Scorpio toward felines. This album is dedicated to David Berman.
