A year ago I went to a Breaking Sound showcase at Hilma to support a band a friend of mine manages (shoutout to Louis Pax and Nu!). That night, as a bonus, I also saw DENNY, who had a natural live presence, good vibes and clearly some great pop tunes that she performed in acoustic versions. A year later and it’s the same place and the same concept, and I wanted to be there to support her.
Talking with Hilda Denny AKA DENNY ahead of the show, she thought it was a great thing I had actually discovered her live, since most people seem to find her through her translated versions of famous songs on Instagram and TikTok, or her reaction videos on YouTube.
Talking with her brother Lucas, who was backing her up with guitar and vocals on the night, got me actually reflecting more on the way I am drawn to new, up’n’coming and smaller artists and not just aiming to photograph the big stars at the big festivals. The joy of discovering new favorites is always as thrilling, and following an artist’s journey from the start is a privilege. Like how many other people saw Miriam Bryant at that small hotel bar in January 2013, or when she played at that Gina Tricot shop?
So this is your sign to go out to a live show at your local bar, and support those smaller artists who are putting their soul into their music and trying to make their mark. It is ALWAYS worth going out and experiencing music live. And here in Stockholm you really have no excuse, since there are even loads of free concerts all around town!
But back to DENNY, who describes herself as your Swedish-Aussie popstar (and throw in some Lebanese roots as well for good measure). She hails from Helsingborg, and has been pursuing her new artist project as DENNY since last year. She has also been working as a songwriter (including for the K-Pop industry) and a vocal coach, as well as creating content on her socials. So I of course had to ask her how she combines all these different pursuits?!
DENNY on combining different careers and pursuits:
- Time management is very important as it’s easy to get overwhelmed and burned out. It’s definitely taken me a few years to find my balance between working and finding time to rest. I’ve learned to say no to things. I only say yes to projects and work that make sense for me and where I don’t give more than I’ll get.
- Songwriting for others is definitely something I’ve started saying no to more as it’s a job where there’s always something to do. There’s always another song to write. I only say yes to projects with a clear goal and vision and where I know who the songs will be sent to. I also try to manage everything as projects so some weeks I’m in the studio writing and other weeks I focus more on visual content and the business side of things.
- Trying to free up the weekends has also been an essential part of staying focused as I need the rest and time with friends and family. Loading up on inspiration is important and for me it comes from doing things outside of music. Health is also something that is importaint in order to maintain a high paced life so the gym is something I always prioritise. For me it all comes down to, dedication, time management, planning and being able to let go and rest in between.
As my own multi-hyphenate or multipotentialite careers include translation, I was naturally curious to ask DENNY about her process with translating Swedish songs into English and English songs into Swedish. It is clearly more than just translation when you need to re-write to fit the melody, so what is the approach? And does her own multilingual background make the whole language-swapping come natural?
DENNY on her translated versions of famous songs:
- The translating of famous songs IS something that feels second nature to me as I grew up speaking both Swedish and English but also spending so many years songwriting really helps the process. Some songs are more straight forward to translate than others. Most of the time it’s impossible to translate word by word because it needs to flow nicely with the melody and I want it to rhyme in the same patterns as the original. So for ex an A, B, A, B rhyme.
- I always make sure the concept and meaning of each line is the same even though sometimes the words may differ from the original. I start by analysing what the song is actually saying and then I try to break down line by line but sometimes I have to break it down verse by verse and maybe the meaning of each line will differ a little all though the verse in its full will have the same meaning as the original.
- The hook lines can sometimes be difficult to translate. Especially if it’s a saying. An example would be Miley Cyrus “The Climb”. She sings “it’s the climb” as the hook line and I had to really work around that as a direct translation wouldn’t sound good with the melody and also not really make sense in Swedish. So I said “jag kommer komma fram” which means “I’ll get there” and together with the way I build up the Swedish chorus, the meaning ended up being the same.
Having already released a few fun pop singles such as last year’s On My Knees and this summer’s Get On Me, which have been on rotation on our playlists, I wanted to ask how she would describe the sound she is going for with these recent and upcoming pop releases – and what is in the pipeline now for DENNY?
DENNY on her sound and upcoming releases:
- I’m definitely still in discovery mode when it comes to my sound as DENNY. I believe that my voice carries the ID through the sound and realising that it has made me experiment with different production sounds and still have it feel like me. So listening to my current releases it’s a broad mix between organic pop and more electronic sounding productions.
- My first and second release this year will be a lot lighter than what I’m aiming for as I thought it would be fun to release something uplifting for summer time. But you will hear how the sound will change into a darker world with emotionally charged pop melodies on top of dark productions with a lot of texture. I love playing around with sounds that don’t sound too clean. So get ready for a darker version of DENNY coming up end of this year.
- The plan for this year is to release some of my translations to Spotify followed by another 5 releases that are lined up and ready to go. This autumn I’m going back into the studio to create the next batch of songs. I’m also hoping to go on tour next year.
So that’s what we all have to look forward to. The unreleased songs DENNY played at Hilma did sound excellent, and I must confess that personally one of my favorite things is actually when darker themes are explored in catchy pop format. So can’t wait to hear how those tunes sound in fully produced arrangements!
All photos © Nina Uddin
