Henrik Sonnergård is my name. The 'å' hints that I am from Scandinavia, more precisely from Sweden. I studied natural science in high school and
are now working with web design projects for a small company. Apart from that I work on my own web projects while earning more experience in the web area.
I think my parents have given me the ability to be interested in many and very different things. Astronomy, biology and chemistry are very close to my heart, as
well as other fields such as sailing, mechanics and even carpentry.
You can't do everything, though, so many of these interests I very rarely practise. Instead I let the interests I have talent in and are very passionate about
take my time. Fields like music production, photography, web design and typography are the things I mostly spend my spare time doing and some of them are even
something I can work professionally with.
music
Since 2005 I have been producing electronic music with the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) FL Studio. Before
that I played around with eJay, a more basic music program, and since my childhood I have been practising the piano.
Not that I am escpecially good at it, but I try to sit down every now and then to play a few chords.
In late 2007 I signed my first record deal with a small American label, using my artist name Warpfuz, and about one and one half year later the single,
titled "Yeti", was released. Not a huge success, to be fair. Not even a small. But from there I started exploring the music industry, at least in the trance
genre. During the latest years I have worked with other producers, for instance Asbjørn Hegdahl, with
remixes and collaborations, some still unfinished. Maybe these will be released in the future.
Recently I have released another music-related work, as a part of the creative group Vovoid. At one of the biggest
demo scene events, Assembly, we released our demo "Luna: Reactivation". This has been a work in progress since about 2007,
where my part has been to compose and produce the music, helping out with the direction and creating some of the graphics that we use. We ended up on third place in the competition,
but you can read more about it and see the demo itself on the minisite vovoid.org/luna.
Currently, I'm working on a full-length album, which I started with a few years back. With this album I try to mix
different genres, mostly electronic music like ambient, downtempo, psytrance, fullon and experimental, but I also try to get more acoustic elements into the
music. My plans are that this album will be ready for release summer 2012. For a little preview, take a listen to the clip below.
photography
In 2007 I bought my first DSLR camera, a Nikon D40. Since then I have been exploring the world of photography, with a passion for nature as my canvas.
When I take pictures, I mostly do it for one of two reasons. Either the picture will be a memory, perhaps from a party of from a special evening, or it will be
a work of art. My photography teacher once told me that the only time I am allowed to use my camera's auto function are during a party. Otherwise, never. With
this lesson in the back of my head I try to experiment as much as I can. Maybe a few pictures didn't end up looking so good, but that doesn't matter. It's digital
these days. Still, he also told me, think before you shoot. Everytime you hit the shutter trigger, check all basic parameters and make sure you know what you want.
A few years back I started to get used to HTML. Version 4, of course, and hardly any CSS, but I guess everyone starts somewhere. When I launched the website warpfuz.se
in 2007 for my music productions it succeeded an old, horrifying website hosted on a free webhost (crawling with ads!). As time goes by, as Sinatra sings, I refined
my website and thanks to different contacts in the music scene I got involved in, I soon started to make basic websites commercially. Mostly for different music producers,
but also for a festival and a local pizzeria (who, in the end, didn't pay me). Those were the days when my code was invalid and br tags ruled the world.
Currently I am working for JT Tech in a small team on a website for a telecom company. The process
of collaborating is pushing me forward to develop my skills in HTML/CSS/PHP/jQuery, but I also feel that I more and more discover what I am good at.
My passion for web design is mostly the design process. Sketching the wireframe, picking colours, choosing the right typefaces and producing the pixel graphics.
I don't enjoy writing the HTML, checking the web browser compability or how the page is displayed on a mobile device. It's lovely when it just works.
typography
More of a hobby, but still something I work with, is typography related stuff. I do from time to time draw my own typefaces, even if they mostly end up looking
awkward. Occasionally I have been working on type based logotypes for some companies. Again, it's the aesthetic part of it that appeal to me, but I try to learn more
about the practical side of typography in print as well as web. So mostly I end up being responsible for the typography on the web projects I work on. How to implement
the typefaces, get them to render properly, being readable for the user, choosing appropriate fallback typeface... This is something that I really enjoy, solving the problems
that the user never will give a single thought.
other
During my, so far, relatively short experience in the different fields that I find interesting, I have come to find free software and the ways of distribute it
enjoyable, especially services like Creative Commons and Flattr.
I like the thought behind it; get the music, images, videos, games, software, etc for free, but legal, and still with a way to show appreciation and give credit to the originator by donating.
Therefore, I aim to release my creative works, mainly my music and my graphic works, for free through Creative Commons licences. It maybe isn't the best way to do it, but
it certainly isn't the worst. In fact it often makes it easier for people to get what they want fast and legally. That way (almost) everybody gets happy.
contact
So, you probably have something to ask me. Perhaps you want to hire me, or you found some cool typeface that I might like. The easiest way to reach me is by e-mail,
or check out any of the networks I am involved in.
