“I was broke, so I said yes to everything. I just knew I could never have a normal job”: How Henrik Linder went from struggling music student to overnight success with Dirty Loops

If you're one of the few who hasn't seen one of Dirty Loops’ hugely popular YouTube videos, check out their cover of Justin Bieber's Baby. Yes, Justin Bieber.

Anchoring and propelling this stunningly original take on pop is one of the bass guitar world's most impressive players, Henrik Linder.

The average Dirty Loops song is an awe-inspiring display of technique, harmonic sophistication, and lock-step rhythmic accuracy. Yet it's the sheer musicality of Linder's concept that elevates him above mere shredder status.

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“We always start from the simplest place possible,” said Linder in the October 2014 issue of Bass Player. “The melody is the most important thing, and we'll prioritize that over everything else. Then, when we're happy with the song in its basic form, we'll go back and make it crazy.”

Linder took to music early on, starting on piano at age four. He found the bass guitar for the same reason many of us do, whether we care to admit it or not: romance. When he was about 12, his first big crush told him, “Bass is the sexiest instrument.” That's all he had to hear.

Dirty Loops Baby (Justin Bieber cover) - YouTube

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By the time Linder was 16, he was a busy Stockholm session musician. He was also friends with two other local up-and-comers, keyboardist/vocalist Jonah Nilsson and drummer Aron Mellergardh, and soon the three were full-time students at Stockholm's prestigious Royal College of Music.

As music students, the trio dived deep into their instruments and musicianship in general. To make ends meet, Linder and his buddies would play as many gigs and sessions as possible, with little concern for the profile or pay.

“I remember playing for a group of older people during their water aerobics class. I thought, ‘Whew, this career isn't going anywhere.’ Basically, I was broke, so I said yes to everything. I took whatever I could get. I just knew I could never have a normal job.”

Overwhelmed and exhausted by the intense academics, Linder and his good friend from childhood, Mellergardh, would let loose and jam as much as possible. Yet, rather than self-indulgent noodling, their early jams were often subject to the same discipline that is now so evident in Dirty Loops’ music.

“When I failed at something, it just pushed me to practice harder. When I had a gig I hated, it pushed me to do better. You have to constantly push to achieve the things you want, and stay true to the vision that first got you started.”

At some point Linder and company needed some gigs. As longtime sidemen, self-promotion and marketing were not among their strongest skills. Nevertheless, they decided to make a YouTube video to show bookers, a loopified version of Lady Gaga’s Just Dance, shot in their rehearsal studio.

Within two months, the video had 100,000 views and over 10,000 Facebook shares. The band didn't even have a Facebook page. Dirty Loops had officially gone viral with zero marketing effort and no gigs.

Recognizing that something special was in the offing, the group continued to produce videos in the same vein: simple and straightforward clips of the band playing one of their outrageously tricky versions of hit pop songs.

The videos garnered the attention of a few significant folks in the music industry, chiefly producer Andreas Carlsson, who signed the band to a management deal, and the songwriter David Foster, who signed Dirty Loops to Verve Records.

How did Dirty Loops develop its concept?

We were all music students and session players in Stockholm. I've known the guys in the band a long time. When you're doing sessions in Sweden, you don't get to play out as much as you'd like, so we decided to start a regular jam session and play whatever we felt like.

It was a lot of fun from the start, so we just kept at it. We never talked about a concept or direction. Everything kind of happened by itself. It probably helped that we had all grown up listening to a lot of the same music.

Who were some of your early musical influences?

I have a sister who's 10 years older, so I listened to whatever she was into. I was about five when the grunge scene got big, so I pretty much grew up on that. Soundgarden was my favorite band from that era.

It's clear from your harmonic awareness that you were also turned on to jazz.

My introduction to jazz was The Brecker Brothers Live. It's my favorite concert ever, just because it means so much to me personally. When I first heard it, I was like, ‘Huh?!' I had heard some fusion and jazz, but the Brecker Brothers were so in your face. It was like everything in music happening all at once.

James Genus is incredible on it, and Michael Brecker is probably my favorite player of all time – not just with the Brothers, but on his solo records, too.

At some point, though, you must have heard some funk.

Honestly, my first exposure to funk was via the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Flea is basically the reason I play bass. I got into Primus, too, but really it was the Chili Peppers' One Hot Minute that set me on the path.

What pushed you to develop such a large technical vocabulary?

With Dirty Loops, a lot of it comes from the way some of the tunes are written. When Jonah writes a song, sometimes there are lines that I'm barely able to play on bass, just because he's writing from a piano player's perspective. I would have to switch around techniques all the time, just because I would often need at least three fingers available on my right hand. So, most of the reason the basslines sometimes turn out weird are because they start on keyboard.

Dirty Loops - Rock You - YouTube

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On much of Dirty Loops' material, you're playing chords. How did you develop that ability?

First, I learned the basic root-3rd-7th voicings for major, minor, dominant, and m7b5 chords. Then you start to develop the inversions. In Dirty Loops, Jonah plays a lot of notes in the bass register, so I can use more rootless voicings. Also being a trio without a guitar player, there's a lot of sonic space for me to fill.

When you practice, what's your routine?

I try to come up with new harmonic concepts. Beyond that, I'm trying to get to the point where I actually nail my bass parts. I also have some technique exercises. There's so much I want to get better at, especially in harmony and my understanding of chords and polytonality.

I was also really into Jerry Bergonzi's Inside Improvisation books. There's some heavy stuff in there, like how to use pentatonics in interesting ways.

DIRTY LOOPS - Rolling In The Deep (Adele Cover) - YouTube

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What do you look for in a bass?

I'm always after clarity and a bass that accommodates a wide range of techniques – everything from fingerstyle to slap. I love neck-through basses with swamp ash bodies and maple fingerboard, and I dig EMG pickups. But it all starts with my Mattissonbass instruments. Working with Anders Mattisson has been an extraordinary collaboration.

It's funny, because I'm known for all of these extended-range high-end basses, but I love the sound of good old Jazz Basses – when other people play them. Whenever I pick one up I feel a little awkward, just because I can't do all my stuff. They're awesome instruments in the right hands, just not these hands.

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Having so recently been a struggling music student and session musician, what would you say to aspiring players who admire your success?

Try to get an idea of where you want to be in the very far future, and direct your efforts to that goal. I want to be as harmonically free as Brad Mehldau. I'm never going to get there, but that's a goal and it keeps me focused on pushing myself.

You can experience a lot of self-blame, especially when you're always seeing players who are better than you. That's a real de-motivator. Try to avoid the temptation, and have your own journey. Have a path, and stick to it.