Haerts Releases First Album; Song Featured in 'Cake' Trailer

Just months after the band Haerts released its first studio album, one of its songs was chosen as the music for the new Jennifer Aniston movie, Cake.

The coup is the latest in the band’s growing list of achievements. Composed of Garrett Ienner and Berklee graduates Nini Fabi ‘10, Ben Gebert ‘09, and Derek McWilliams ‘10, Haerts released its eponymous album in October 2014 and was a regular on festival circuits last summer.

The band's label, Columbia, and Sony/ATV pitched the song "Hemiplegia" to "either the studio or the trailer house, and they liked it and put it in [the Cake trailer]. We were very excited about it and it fits the trailer so well," Haerts's manager, Jason Ienner, says. 

Despite its rapid-succession achievements of late, the group has been a long time in the making. Fabi, who leads the pop-music band with vocals reminiscent of Stevie Nicks, and Gebert first met and started making music as teenagers in Munich, Germany. Knowing that they wanted to pursue music, Fabi says Berklee was the only school they applied to.

At Berklee, the two formed a popular duo, Nini & Ben, which played regularly around campus. Jeff Dorenfeld, professor of music business and management, said he remembers the first time he heard Fabi’s voice—”that special voice”—when the duo submitted its song, “Mother,” to Heavy Rotation Records. “And in 2013, eating breakfast in a Brooklyn cafe, I was so delighted hearing Haerts played over the radio for the first time. I just love the unique quality of Nini’s voice.”

Steven Santoro, associate professor of voice, was also struck by Fabi’s distinct sound. “There was something about her voice and her delivery that was so intense and personal.” She is, he said, completely present and authentic as an artist and humble as a person.

In addition to her duo with Gebert, Fabi said she grew as a performer at Berklee as she was put into new and uncomfortable musical situations. For her, making music had always come from within, but at Berklee she learned the more technical side of writing.

Still, she said, her band’s songs come from the heart, and that’s how it got its name. (Fabi said that not much thought was put into switching the “e” and “a” of the word, and it holds no significance.)

“When we approached the production of it all, we never set any limits. We just tried to create the sounds and dynamics that elevated each song,” she said. “After doing that for a while, we found certain common elements and colors that became part of an overall sound for the album.”