Also known as Hen Name Richard Henshall Years active 2004–present | Occupation(s) Musician Origin England Role Instrumentalist | |
 | ||
Born 8 August 1984 (age 40) ( 1984-08-08 ) Genres Progressive rock, Progressive metal, Heavy metal Albums | ||
Face2face haken an interview with richard henshall charles griffiths act i
Richard "Hen" Henshall is a British progressive metal multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for being the guitarist and keyboardist for the bands To-Mera, Haken and Opinaut. He has released one album, Earthbound, with To-Mera; four (Aquarius, Visions, The Mountain and Affinity) with Haken and the EPs Oxygen (with Opinaut) and Restoration (with Haken). Henshall was classically trained on the piano from the age 7. By 11-12, he started playing the guitar on a self-taught basis. He also had drums and clarinet classes.
Contents
- Face2face haken an interview with richard henshall charles griffiths act i
- Diego Tejeida Richard Henshall The Architect solos
- Formation of To Mera
- Formation of Haken
- Formation of Opinaut
- Influences
- With To Mera
- With Haken
- With Nova Collective
- With Opinaut
- References
Diego Tejeida & Richard Henshall - The Architect solos!
Formation of To-Mera
To-Mera formed in 2005 between a few friends, Julie Kiss (vocals), Thomas MacLean (guitar), Lee Barrett (bass), Akos Pirisi (drums), Hugo Sheppard (keyboard). They released a demo, which caught the attention of Candlelight Records. The band's musical style was drastically different from conventional Progressive metal; the band drew upon a plethora of influences such as Progressive rock, and others. In 2006, Candlelight released Transcendental. The radical new style opened up slots to open for groups such as Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and Emperor. In 2008, To-Mera released their next album, Delusions, in 2008. In 2009, they parted with Candlelight. Hugo Sheppard left after this, and they recruited Henshall for the post. They then self-released the Earthbound EP.
Formation of Haken
Haken was formed by school friends Ross Jennings (vocals), Matthew Marshall (guitar), and Henshall at first in 2004. The members parted ways for a while to study at university, reuniting in 2007. The current members found Peter Jones on keyboards and Raymond Hearne on drums. Jones left soon after, and was replaced by Diego Tejeida. Charlie Griffiths was found on guitar, and Henshall brought in To-Mera bandmate Tom Maclean on bass.
Henshall has composed most of Haken's songs by himself and contributed to some of the lyrics. He composed the whole Aquarius album alone, most of Visions (except "Premonition", co-written with keyboardist Diego Tejeida and bassist Thomas MacLean; and "Insomnia", written by all members), and most of The Mountain (except "As Death Embraces", written by Tejeida). In this album, Henshall (as well as every other instrumentalist in the band) contributed with lyrics for the first time, on the song "Cockroach King". He would be credited as a lyricist again in the band's 2014 EP Restoration, for the song "Crystallised" (co-written with Hearne and Griffiths). The band's latest album Affinity (2016) had all of its songs credited to every band member.
Formation of Opinaut
Opinaut formed in early 2011 around a group of four musicians working at the Sutton Music Centre. All four are talented multi-instrumentalists who work in music full-time as session players and tutors. Jon Hart – Singer, John Vince – Drums, Richard Henshall – Guitar, Samuel Brooks – Bass. Opinaut are a merge of drum & bass rock with dreamy electro vibes and epic chord sequences. Their E.P 'Oxygen' was released in 2011 and is available online.
Influences
Henshall has named many influences, such as Jazz and conventional Progressive rock, as well as many notable acts, such as Dream Theater, Alan Holdsworth, Shawn Lane, John Petrucci, Wes Montgomery, Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Yes, Pain of Salvation, Jethro Tull, Johan Sebastian Bach, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Gomez, Muse, Pink Floyd, Mozart, Aphex Twin, Magnum, Earth Wind and Fire, Jordan Rudess, Prince, Michael Jackson, Queen, Beatles, Ocean Colour Scene, Al Di Meola, John Williams, Danny Elfman, Ray Charles, Pharcyde, De la Soul, Jeff Beck, Epmd, James Brown, Symphony X, Adagio, Devin Townsend, Knuckledust, Stampin, ELP, Björk, Sigur Ros, Bob Dylan, Opeth, Curtis Mayfield, RATM, Sikth, Hatebreed, and Mike Oldfield, among others.