The Whitehorse musician has shifted her focus to her solo project
No Yukon music lover needs an introduction to Selina Heyligers-Hare. The folk-fusion singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has been a constant in the Yukon’s creative scene for the better part of 20 years, performing with just about every other local musician you can name during that time, notably a nearly decade-long stint singing in Major Funk, a band from which she stepped down last year to focus on her own project, Hendrika.
“It’s definitely pretty early days,” Heyligers-Hare says of her current project. “I feel as much as I am proud of my previous EP (2024’s I Can’t Remember), it very much spans a bunch of different eras of my life and it’s a collection of music that shows a lot of different pieces of myself in a very vulnerable way.”
Heyligers-Hare compares how she feels about her last EP to the way she feels listening to the first Fleetwood Mac album, saying the songs contain clashing combinations of clear influences, displaying a sound with potential that hasn’t been fully realized yet.
“I feel like it’s on its way to the next thing,” she explains. “I’m excited to really dig in to what my style will be, going forward, and to really hone in on my whole aesthetic and vibe.”
Though she’s still in the early stages of finding her new sound and stepping fully into a new era, Heyligers-Hare has spent much of the past year out on tour across Canada and even overseas. She works with a collection of musicians, playing stints with various band iterations, mainly because most of her musical friends are busy with other projects and bands as well.
“I mix and match often,” she says. “I really like having different people play my music and hear how they interpret it. Different feels and different influences are really cool for me to witness as well, and obviously they’re all great musicians and great personalities.”
While Heyligers-Hare often works with other women, a good portion of her touring last year saw her playing with an all-female band, her first time doing so on tour.
“There’s this kind of bond and understanding that’s really powerful,” she says. “Especially all being women in the industry, it was very special.”
Heyligers-Hare and her band first embarked on a western Canadian tour, followed by an eastern Canadian tour, filling dates around their stop in Toronto at North by Northeast (NXNE). After the two Canadian summer treks and a few one-off stops like the Edmonton Fringe Festival; the Robson Valley Music Festival in Dunster, B.C.; and Folk on the Rocks in Yellowknife, Heyligers-Hare flew overseas to play at Germany’s Reeperbahn Festival.
“I feel so fortunate that this is something I can do for my job,” Heyligers-Hare says. “With the current economy and the way things are going, it takes a lot.”
Heyligers-Hare says she has lots of friends who work stable jobs, but she often sees them working hard for something they might not be passionate about, just to be able to survive, as the dream of home ownership has become much less of a reality for younger generations.
“I just feel so grateful to have a job that I feel so connected to and so passionate about,” she says. “There are challenges, for sure, of being on the road. I have felt them physically and emotionally—the lack of sleep, trying to eat properly, trying to move your body because you’re sitting so much.
“I always find, after the summer, I’m haggard and absolutely destroyed, but I’m able to come home and reset. I’m learning to navigate that and make sure I still take care of myself while pursuing my goals and pushing myself to better myself and get deeper into the music world.”
Though Heyligers-Hare is committed to Hendrika and plans to create more music and chase more touring, festival and industry opportunities, the experience of playing music is still the most important part for her. She still enjoys backing other musicians and, despite her busy schedule, wants to be able to balance her own project with what she calls “side guy” gigs.
“I think I will always love that,” she says. “It’s such an honour to back someone else up if you really like their music and you really want to support them, and it’s a different kind of satisfaction to learn someone else’s music and to pull it together and present that in a good way.”
Though being a part of Major Funk was an unforgettable experience for Heyligers-Hare, she could not keep up their touring schedule, without sacrificing her own, and ultimately decided to put everything she could into Hendrika. It was a tough decision, but Heyligers-Hare is confident it was the right choice.
“They want to push their own stuff, as they should, and they want to ramp up a little bit and I just don’t have that capacity that they need,” she says. “It felt like either way, we were letting the other one down. Etienne (Girard, Major Funk bassist), from the start, has always been super supportive, which I always really appreciated.”
With nothing but kind things to say about her bandmates, memories and growth in Major Funk, Heyligers-Hare is looking to the future now, one where she continues to embark on her own. It may be rigorous and daunting at times, but with a clear vision, she is beginning to live out her lifelong dream.
“Hendrika is different for me,” she says. “It’s me. All of my music is really emotional, really raw and really vulnerable. That’s what I connect to, is that kind of openness and the way that connects you to people and the space it created for people to exist in and feel their emotions. That kind of process and energy exchange is what I want to facilitate.”
Visit hendrikamusic.com to keep up with Hendrika.
