A Whale’s Tale – Henrik Schyffert Reflects on His Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Days

If you could describe the music of the ‘90s in just two words, those words would be “anything goes,” and that was certainly the case with Swedish alt-rock trio Whale, who burst onto the scene in 1993 with their colorfully titled single “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe.”

A mash-up of a plethora of genres, the song was popular on alternative radio, and a staple on MTV thanks to having one of the most memorable videos of all-time, and the co-sign of a certain animated dynamic duo.

The band consisted of Henrik Schyffert, Gordon Cyrus, and Cia Berg, and while they only released two albums before ultimately splitting up, and moving on to different things in life, “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe” is still stuck in many listeners’ heads over three decades after it first hit the airwaves, and MTV.

Needing to know what happened to Whale, I caught up with Henrik, and asked him all about the band, including the story behind the legendary music video, his reaction to it being featured on Beavis and Butt-Head, and what it was like working with Tricky, and touring with Blur.

When you first saw my email, and that I wanted to talk to you about Whale, what was your initial reaction? 

Well, it was a blast from the past. I haven’t heard anything about it for the last 18 years.

You knew the email was real though, right? You knew it was legit. 

I knew we existed, so I figured, yeah, it’s probably legit. And I looked you up, and it looks like you know what you’re doing, so yeah, it seemed to check out.

Thank you. I appreciate that! What kind of memories come to mind when you hear your old band’s name, or when you see it pop up in a message? 

Feels like another planet.

I remember it was fun, but it was also filled with angst, and weltschmerz, because we really wanted to make that work, and it didn’t work out. We became a small flash in the pan.

But in hindsight, I’m really happy I was part of it, so they’re mostly good memories, I’d say.

It seems like it all came together pretty quickly – you and Gordon Cyrus working on a track, and then adding Cia Berg, then being signed to a major label, putting out an album (We Care), having the single blow up. How fast did all that happen? 

It was very fast. It was quick.

We had no plan.

It was cheap, fast, and out of control, and we had no idea of what we were doing.

There were no maps for these territories for us, but it was the ‘90s, and everyone was in a band, and that was always my dream, as well. Music was always the thing that I wanted to do … so when this door opened, we were quick to press it up as far as we could.

Do you think Whale could have existed in any era other than the ‘90s? 

No. Firm no. The planets were aligned back then.

It was also just the way we sounded, the whole sort of Pixies, quiet-loud-quiet thing, the mix, the first sort of mix of hip-hop and guitars. It was just then that I think that could happen. The nonsense lyrics.

I think you’re right. We’re a very sort of ‘90s phenomenon.

I loved the fact that in that decade so many artists were allowed to experiment, and labels were like, “Sure, we’ll throw this out there, and see if it sticks to the wall.” 

But they were lost as well, because I remember when Nirvana came, and something indie started to have the charts, all the record labels were lost. They had recipes for how to do this, and suddenly it didn’t work that way. You have to dig in other basements to find music, and they were desperate.

I remember a band called Helmet … they were cited to be the new Nirvana. There were like eight labels bidding on them, and they were offered like millions and millions of dollars, and nothing happened.

It was also that the record labels had all this money because they had all these CD releases. They could re-release old stuff, and for twice the amount of money, with no costs. So it was a golden era to experiment, and fuck up.

It was all, you know, if one in 10 sticks, it’s worth it.

“Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe” definitely stuck, and it’s a song title no one forgets, but I read the Slobo part is actually a mistake, a piece of slang that was lost in translation. What happened there? 

I have no idea what that means. I don’t know where it came from. It was Gordon’s words.

I wanted to do like … I remember Beck was big in my head, “I’m a loser, baby / Why don’t you kill me.” That thing was big, but (Gordon) was just pissed off with that whole thing. He would just just say, “A wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom. Tutti Frutti.”

So it came from him. It doesn’t mean anything in Swedish either.

Well, that’s good to know. Part of the reason the song will live on forever is the music video that was made for just £300. I looked up the exchange rate, and that’s under $400. Where does that rank among the best investments you’ve ever made in life? 

That’s pretty high up, but that was all Mark, Mark Pellington, who’s the kindest, gentlest, biggest heart ever.

He was far too big to do that (video). He made The Mothman Prophecies (2002). He’s a big Hollywood director.

He made the “Jeremy” video with Pearl Jam (1991). He made “One” with U2 (1991). He was way out of our league, but I knew him because he and I worked together at MTV Europe when I was a production assistant.

It was a shot in the dark that I contacted him, and asked him if he could do it, and he said, “Well, I’m shooting a commercial Thursday, and Friday, and I can tell them that we can’t return the gear until Monday.” He asked some of the skeleton crew to stay on for a day for pizzas and beer, and they did, because they wanted to work with him, because was a big name. He’s still a big name.

It was awesome.

We went to his girlfriend’s house, and borrowed some clothes, and then we just shot it between like 9am and 3pm that Saturday. That was it.

How did you find out that it wasn’t just on Beavis and Butt-Head, but was beloved by Beavis and Butt-Head? 

God, how did that happen? I think someone saw it, and called me.

That’s, of course, the biggest thing that ever … that’s bigger than my three kids.

Being beloved by Beavis and Butt-Head? 

Just being on Beavis and Butt-Head. I mean, no one who’s under the age of 35 understands that means anything today, but that’s going to be with me until the day I die – I was on Beavis and Butt-Head.

So you feel that cosign did something for you? 

Absolutely. That was a major thing, and the best part was what that gave us – we got to tour with Tricky through the States, and then with Blur. So we did two tours in the States, and the Blur one was a proper rock n roll, New York to L.A., 30 gigs, 30 days, tour bus, the whole thing, and that was a bucket list thing to do. So we got to do that, and that’s probably what I cherished the most out of those years, those tours we did.

The tour with Blur, was that during the height of when Damon Albarn was tabloid fodder because of his relationship with Justine Frischmann from Elastica? 

I think this was just after they broke up, because I remember there was some Icelandic girl present. So I think this was just after Justine.

Ah, OK. 

But (Blur) were just, I think, happy to get out of Britain. That’s what I remember. For them, this was like a vacation.

They were also frustrated, because they were really trying to break in the States, and this this wasn’t that album … this was before “Song Two” … but we were still playing like 500 to 1,5000 seats places, which for us was great fun.

Having toured with them, could we ever see you animated in a Gorillaz video? 

{laughs} I don’t think they would remember who we were.

They did mention, there was some NME interview where they had to rate all their support acts, and we rated high because we were, I think the quote was, “Out of our minds,” or something like that.

Musically I don’t think we rated high at all, but we were good fun to hang around with.

They also had a Sweden thing. They played a lot of festivals in Sweden. Sweden was, I think, one of the earliest countries to discover them outside of Britain, because the Swedish pop scene was vibrant, and they were here, played a lot of festivals, and they like playing here, and all that. So they had a love for Sweden, or Swedes.

In ’94 the video for “Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe” took home the first ever MTV Europe Music Video Award for Best Director. Do you think Spike Jonez is somewhere, 31 years later, still seething that a video that was made for £300 beat out “Sabotage”? 

{laughs} Yeah, well, he’s got enough going for him. I think that’s fine. He could use some of that.

That was was that the first ever video music award in Europe? Wow. I didn’t know that.

I remember getting the award from Aerosmith, so that was a big night, to get to meet them. I went to an after party with Bono. It was all mad.

Earlier you mentioned touring with Tricky. You also worked with Tricky on the song “Kickin’” from Whale’s debut album, We Care. How did that connection happen, and is there a genius at work type of vibe to him? 

Absolutely.

I love Tricky.

He’s also one of the kindest spirits ever.

He was in Stockholm because … there was a recording studio that Gordon worked at, and underneath was a major. Gordon had a small booth up there, and then there was a big studio downstairs.

Neneh Cherry, who is half Swedish, was there working on an album. Her husband became our manager, and he also managed Massive Attack. So Tricky, who was a part of Massive Attack, was hanging out in Stockholm, because he had nothing to do. This was before Maxinquaye.

So he was working on his album, and we met him in the studio just in the coffee room.

When we went to record in Spain at Neneh’s house, he was there, and then we started working together, because he had nothing to do, and we had nothing to do.

I taught Tricky how to swim.

Oh my God! 

Yeah.

That’s amazing! 

I know. That’s another one, that and Beavis and Butt-Head are the two sort of big checks (for) my gravestone.

I did teach Tricky how to swim.

The second Whale album, All Disco Dance Must End in Broken Bones, released in 1998, was your final album as a band. Did it just feel like it was time to finish that story? 

No, we wanted to continue, but the album bombed. No one liked it, and it didn’t make a dent, so we were dropped by the record company. There were discussions about another record company, and then we just looked at each other, and said, “Well, fuck this. It’s not that important.”

Also, our other careers blossomed, and the amount of work that we had put into (Whale), we didn’t get anything back, it was just like, it’s not that important, so we moved on.

Do you have any lasting life lessons you took from your time in Whale, and doing this completely off the wall thing? 

Well, if I would have done it again, I would have spent less time being anxious, and nervous about how the radio play is doing in Holland, and stuff like that, because I spent a lot of time being worried.

We were all on the cusp of making it, and we never really did, but it was so close. I spent a lot of time being anxious, and nervous, and angry, and frustrated, and if I could do it again I would just skip that part, and just enjoy the ride a bit more.

But that’s hindsight, 20/20.

That’s probably the big life lesson.

What are the odds we could see a one-off reunion at some festival where in a long lineup of bands Whale’s name pops up? 

I would say absolutely zero. Less than zero. I haven’t touched any kind of musical instrument in 25 years. I’m a full time movie director, scriptwriter, and comedian now, but they keep telling me that my best joke I’ve ever done was the band Whale. {laughs}

Oh, no. 

{laughs} I can see the angle.

What are some of the projects you have coming up in television, film, and comedy? 

I’m on tour right now. I’m on a stand up tour. I’m in year two now.

I keep touring, and I’m directing two feature films, one’s in casting, and one is in financing.

So that’s what I do – I direct, write, and do stand up.

Is there anything American fans could connect with? 

No. You have plenty of entertainment all by yourself. There’s plenty of content out there. You’d have to go looking for me.

You can go looking for Henrik at schyffert.se, although it will help to know Swedish.