Today marks three years since the tragic death of Her's band members Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading, along with their manager Trevor Engelbrektson.
With an acclaimed debut album, praise from NME and the Guardian, and festival appearances under their belt, they embarked on their second tour of the USA. However, while travelling to a gig in California on March 27 2019 they died in a road accident.
Stephen, from Barrow-in-Furness, and Audun, from Flekkeroy, Norway, met at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (LIPA) in 2013. Two years later, they formed Her’s, with Stephen as singer and guitar player, while Audun was on bass.
READ MORE: Unearthed pics show Liverpool Central Station's forgotten level
The band began to gain attention in 2016, during their final year at LIPA. Tim Pike, who was Audun’s bass tutor, wrote in the 2019 LIPA alumni newsletter: “In their third year, they were able to concentrate on the band as a career. They were doing festivals and a lot of gigs around town.
“I remember them doing a great gig at The 2ube Xtra. They had the drum machine (affectionately known as Pierce Brosnan) on a stool as a third member of the band and it was Audun’s job to start and stop it. Occasionally, he messed it up - which was all part of the experience and charm.”
Debut single ‘Dorothy’ was released in April 2016, as the band headlined a number of gigs in Liverpool and performed at various festivals, including the Rising Star stage at the Green Man Festival in Wales’ Brecon Beacons. A UK tour followed before the band signed with record company Heist or Hit.
A nine track compilation record called ‘Songs of Her’s’ came in 2017. An NME review of the track ‘I’ll Try’ read: “Her’s are not a group to stand still. Each song they produce, from the lo-fi bedroom pop power of debut track to ‘Dorothy’ to the duo’s equally melodic take on slacker-rock on ‘Marcel’, sees the Liverpool-based duo shift and float between sounds. Never really fitting into one genre, but somehow nailing whatever they end up doing.”
Further acclaim arrived after the release of their debut album ‘Invitation to Her’s’ in 2018. August of that year saw them named ‘One to Watch’ by the Guardian. In the article, Emily Mackay described Her’s as: “a Liverpool duo who make free with the bossa nova heartbreak of Everything But the Girl (pre-Missing era), the spry jangle of early Aztec Camera and the wistful wryness of the Smiths’ Hatful of Hollow.”
The spring of 2019 saw the pair record a performance for BBC Introducing from South by Southwest festival. A tour of the USA came next.
It was on this tour that Stephen, Audun and their manager Trevor Engelbrektson died in a car crash as they were travelling to a concert in Santa Ana, Californi a. Record label Heist or Hit announced the tragic news in a brief statement on Facebook.
It said: "It is with overwhelming sadness that we regretfully inform you that Liverpool band Her’s, Stephen Fitzpatrick and Audun Laading and their tour manager Trevor Engelbrektson tragically passed away in a road accident in the early hours of Wednesday, 27th March whilst travelling to a show in Santa Ana, California. We are all heartbroken.
"Having recently released their debut album “Invitation to Her’s”, Stephen and Audun were on their second tour of North America playing 19 dates of sold-out shows to a fanbase that adored them. The pair were one of the UK’s most loved up and coming bands."
Fans of the band paid tribute with an event in Her's honour at Liverpool's Bombed Out Church. Two months on from the tragedy, a night of DJ sets, an exhibition by official band photographers; a presentation of the band’s artwork, and exclusive video screenings took place at St Luke's, while fans worldwide were encouraged to hold parties of their own to remember the duo.
In LIPA's 2019 alumni newsletter, Head of Music Martin Isherwood remembered Stephen, who was 24 and 25-year old Audun as, “just the funniest, sweetest, loveliest, most creative lads you can ever meet. They were just so down to earth.”
He added: “The songs are just great and we all thought that they were going to be one of the biggest things out of Liverpool. They were just such lovely boys with so much ahead of them.”
