Henge’s mission is rooted in openness and joy, underscored by a wholesome, pacifist message. Their song Demilitarise calls for humanity to halt the production of weapons of war, perfectly encapsulating their perspective: they’re aliens looking at humanity with hope, imploring us to choose peace over conflict.

This perspective, coming from outsiders, adds a profound layer to their message. Their music is a brilliant mix of cosmic humour and whimsy, the kind of intelligent, tongue-in-cheek sci-fi that’s distinctly British - a humour that’s warm, inviting and unique. While they clearly draw influence from ‘70s prog legends, Henge also embraces the possibilities of modern synth technology, producing basslines that vibrate through the body and rhythms that drive the room forward, with drummer Nom bringing an incredible sense of funk and movement, anchoring the music and keeping it grounded in a groove that everyone can dance to.

The real magic of Henge lies in their ability to blend musical complexity with absolute, straightforward fun. You could analyze their music deeply, but you could also turn your brain off and just groove - and that’s a rare feat. Their goal seems simple: to give everyone the best time they can, spreading love and positive energy in every corner of the room, inviting you into a communal experience of joy and connection. By the end of every show, Zpor is among the crowd, hugging fans as everyone sings along in an uplifting moment of real communion. In terms of sheer fun and immersion, seeing Henge live is one of the best ways to spend your money right now.

To dive deeper into the cosmic world of Henge, we reached out to Zpor to discuss their journey, their electrifying live shows, and the powerful messages woven into their music. Here, in their own words, Henge shares what drives them, their inspirations, and what fans can expect in the months to come:

How did Henge come together across the galaxies?

Greetings Human. I come from Agricular in Cosmos Redshift 7. This planet no longer exists. It was engulfed by its parent star which expanded in its latter years then eventually died. Fortunately, my species left the planet long before this cataclysmic celestial event occurred. We set up new homes on the uninhabited planets of neighbouring star systems. As nice as these colonies were, I am a lifeform who feels the tickle of wanderlust very keenly. And it was this thirst for adventure that led me to explore some of the more remote and unfashionable edges of the Milky Way galaxy. 

When wandering the Milky Way’s Orion Arm I first encountered Nom. We met on his home planet of Xylanthia in the Sirius Star system. He is a wise and slippery creature of the genus Nommo; an excellent drummer on account of his many tentacles. We immediately hit it off. He was looking for a ride off the planet and after a long time as a solo explorer I was happy to have a travelling companion. 

Fastforward to around 750 million Earth years BC, and we find ourselves here in your solar system where we stumbled upon your neighbouring planet Venus. Back then, the planet was not like it is now - a hot, sulphuric stinkhole - rather, it had a pleasant breathable atmosphere and some exquisite vegetation. What is more, the planet was teeming with complex life including an intelligent race of beings which we call Venusians. We discovered that these Venusians had developed an advanced, industrial society but were a dangerously competitive and somewhat barbaric species. Overconsumption and a flagrant disregard for biodiversity on their planet had allowed a runaway greenhouse effect to take hold. Sadly, we arrived on the planet in the midst of this climate apocalypse when too many tipping points had been passed and there was no way to recover the atmosphere. We managed to save one specimen - the creature we call Brother Goo - who has since become a dear friend and valuable member of our crew. Whilst fleeing his dying planet we came across a second rocky planet in the same habitable zone of the Yellow Dwarf star that Venus orbits. Recognising its potential as a place where life could evolve yet seeing how lacking in water it was, we diverted a few large ice asteroids which struck the planet that you now call Earth. As we flew by, we dropped a tracker on the planet and made a plan to one day return to see if life had evolved.

When we returned to Earth (circa 100,000 years ago) we were delighted to find that the planet was bursting with life! Among the native lifeforms we found small pockets of bipedal creatures that particularly interested us. These beings (now referred to by your scientists as ‘Homo erectus’) were social animals who used tools and had some rustic form of proto-linguistic communication. We saw the potential for further intelligence in this species and set about scattering spores of the fungus Psilocybe cubensis around the fertile ground of their habitations. As you may know, fungi are a very important asset when seeding planets, and, as these mushrooms are known to expand thought capabilities when consumed orally, we like to leave them around for advanced creatures to sample if they so please. Again, we left the planet with the intention to return. 

Though we hadn’t planned on returning to Earth so soon after our previous visit, we began to receive distress signals from the planet. In our absence, the creatures we previously encountered had experienced a cognitive revolution and evolved from ‘Homo erectus’ to ‘Homo sapiens’. They were a creative and cooperative species and had managed to build an industrial civilisation similar to the one we found on ancient Venus. We managed to make contact with one of these Homo sapiens via the astral realm. This was when we first encountered the human known to us as Grok. His natural aptitude for lucid dreaming had allowed him to gain access to the astral realm. When he told us about the current situation on Planet Earth we changed our plans, rerouting our spacecraft to Planet Earth.

What is ‘Cosmic Dross’?

Cosmic dross is the traditional folk music of my home planet. In Agriculan culture, music was not separated from the rest of daily life as it sometimes is on other worlds. From birth we were swaddled in sound. Younglings were weaned on the 23 notes of the Agriculan mode, and these musical notes were as food to our babies. Vitamins, proteins and rich mineral chord progressions provided the basis of both our sustenance and our education. For my kind, playing with sound waves is an involuntary instinct much like breathing.

However, cosmic dross is not merely a dusty ancient artform from a dead planet, cosmic dross lives! And like any living thing it has mutated and evolved over time. 

With Nom on board the ship, the music has infused with his amphibious rhythms over eons of jamming together. As a Venusian, Brother Goo has a particular fondness for violent bass frequencies which naturally found its way into our music. And since landing on Earth, our dear human friend Grok has been helping us to adapt the alien sounds of cosmic dross for his fellow Earthlings; tweaking these extraterrestrial frequencies for maximum efficacy on the human nervous system and using synthesisers to catalyse euphoria.

How would you describe HENGE’s music to Earthlings who’ve never encountered it before?

There are no Earth words that can adequately describe this music. Rather, we urge you to encounter it for yourself at the first opportunity.

How do you channel the cosmic energy for your live performances?

When one is smitten by the bewildering beauty of life, existential wonder has a tendency to burst out in a kind of involuntary cosmic blast. It is a perfectly normal expulsion of joy, given the circumstances.

When composing, do you start with the cosmic rhythms, the galactic synth lines, or the message?

We have made music in all the ways you mention and more besides. Sometimes a bass sound inspires a rhythm, sometimes a full chord progression is created without a melody attached, sometimes work is done on other instruments or a computer and then transcribed, converted or warped into something else. A voice can sing a synth idea, a synth can provide a vocal melody. Riffs emerge from hypnosis, beats from the aether. Often the best of our music seems like it is flowing from some other realm. It is like we are picking up a mysterious radio signal into our brains which is converted into sound waves through the collective equipment of our limbs, hands, instruments and hearts. We are not composers seeking to plant the flag of ego into a self-aggrandising mound of musical notes, rather we are explorers who shun ego in order to discover interesting terrain, terraforming each new sonic world with the diligent work of musical arrangement.

There’s a powerful injection of rave-like energy in your delivery. Was this inspired by the humans of Britain?

Yes, Grok has taught us about this Earthling ‘rave’ music and its history of bringing people together in joyous union. Through the technique of fixing a major 3rd into the oscillators of his synthesiser, we have been able to create riffs which incite much ecstasy in humans.

How do you balance such otherworldly & complex frequencies to make them accessible to Earthlings without causing a schism?

As you may imagine, exposing human beings to other worldly frequencies could present considerable risks. Therefore, having a human in our crew is crucial. He advises on how to fine-tune our sonic transmissions so we can maximise their positive effects while eliminating any potentially problematic vibrations.

How have humans responded to your music so far?

We have been carrying out a study to investigate the physiological and psychological effects of exposure to cosmic dross on human subjects. In a series of controlled experiments we measured baseline and post-exposure heart rate, smile width, and self-reported happiness levels. Analysis of the data collected at HENGE live shows revealed that exposure to this extraterrestrial music led to an average increase of 72% in happiness levels among participants. Additionally, there was a significant rise in observable behaviours indicative of euphoria, including smiling, clapping, hugging, the waving of hands and other outward expressions of joy.

What led you to include the message to demilitarise?

Such is the scale of the threat to humanity, not just from manmade disasters such as climate catastrophe, but also natural threats like asteroid strikes, supervolcanos, viruses etc... it seems senseless to be ploughing so much of your resources into killing each other. On this tiny pale blue dot, your beautiful home Planet Earth, you are all vulnerable, even those with lots of weapons. So we propose that you demilitarise your planet and turn your resources towards transitioning to clean energy, restoring your atmosphere and exploring space as a species.

Your earth performances feel like a gathering of intergalactic allies. What do you hope the humans take away from a HENGE performance?

Indeed! Our gatherings are particularly joyful occasions. We are grateful to those who attend these special events, for they seem to have a particular aptitude for engaging in fun and displaying kindness to each other. Our sonic transmissions are designed so that these humans feel amused and uplifted in equal measures. We use quantum entanglement to create a tangible connection between all lifeforms in attendance, enabling us to share our love for the cosmos and leaving participants both engaged and inspired.

What’s next on your mission?

We are delighted to be releasing a new album ‘Journey to Voltus B’ on January 31st 2025. With this record we invite human listeners to join us aboard our spacecraft on a mission to a distant planet. Here we meet an intelligent species on the brink of discovering the power within atoms. The stakes couldn’t be higher: Side B of the vinyl contains two different outcomes, and the record player’s needle will randomly select one of two grooves, revealing the ultimate fate of Voltus B. 

The release is accompanied by a huge tour of the UK and Europe. And so, we invite your dear human readers to take this journey with us in person. 

To order the album and find ticket links to all live shows please visit: WWW.HENGEMUSIC.COM

Above all else, what do you wish the humans understood about themselves?

Humans owe their success as a species to the playfulness that initially inspired them to create vocalisations, which eventually led to the development of language. What amazing things have been achieved since then! And now, as seriousness levels reach a dangerous peak on Planet Earth, we wish humans would realise that it is only in the spirit of playfulness that humans can embrace their true potential and enter the next phase of their evolution as a species.