On the occasion of his concert at Les Étoiles in Paris, The Concert Chronicles met with Haiden Henderson. A rising star in American pop, his new EP Tension is a true gem, combining catchy songs with honest lyrics that reveal the full authenticity of the artist.

Haiden first gained attention on TikTok, but this time, he’s coming to Europe with a tour that sold out in just a few minutes and is fully booked for most of its dates. The artist maintains a truly special connection with his fans, built on closeness and sincerity, making each of his performances unique and deeply moving.

TCC: How do you put together an EP? What is your writing process? Do the melodies come to you straight away?

Haiden: I knew that I had to write a project. And I had started writing some songs, some of which were “lips”, and I had started “sweet tooth,” and I had written “sweat.” And I was writing them based off of a past experience. But more than anything, I wrote the flirty, fun songs pretty early on. But I didn’t have an emotional attachment to them, if that makes sense. There was nothing going on in my life that made me feel like those songs were emotional for me.

And that’s really important to me. And then I had a falling out with my best friend. And we had a complicated relationship. We had started having feelings for each other. And then we had a very messy fallout. And I felt so many different emotions that I rewrote all of the songs. And had this very, very intense emotion throughout all of them. So, I added the story a little bit after the fact.

As for what writing is like for me, every song is kind of different. It depends. Some songs start on a guitar. Most of them do, honestly. They start with chords or something on the guitar that makes me feel something. And then it’ll be melody. And then I spend days and days and days writing.

TCC: You’re the only one writing, right?

I write all the lyrics. And then me and two of my collaborators, one named Middy Jones and the other one named Lauren Christie, they do the production and they help with the melodies. It’s just the three of us that work on everything, basically. And then Ross right there behind you is the one that mixes all of them. So, they’re the ones that make the songs sound good, basically. And so, we have a very small group of people. Very few people writing the songs.

And they know everything about me. And so, I’ll come in telling them how I’m feeling, like a therapy session. And then we’ll find some chords, we’ll find some melodies, and then I’ll go home.

And while I’m driving or while I’m walking in my neighborhood or in my bedroom, I’ll just write all the lyrics over the course of a couple days. And make sure that every lyric is exactly the way it needs to be.

I did it in the subway in New York as well. That’s where I wrote some of it.

TCC : Favorites songs on the EP?

Oh, my favorite, it changes every day, honestly. It depends on my mood a little bit. I think I’m a really big fan of “AA” today. Also, everybody that I talked to in VIP, their favorite song on the new project was “AA” as well. I don’t know what it is, but maybe it’s a French thing. There’s a sound to that song that made it. This is the city that has said it more than any other city I’ve played.

TCC : Your stage persona and real-life self-seem to merge effortlessly. How do you define “Haiden Henderson” versus yourself off-stage? Some people have a character on stage for example:

Haiden: Yeah, I don’t think I do anymore. I think, if anything, the character that I play is just trying to be more confident. Like, my music sounds very flirty and fun, but the lyrics of my songs are very, as we say in America, “self-deprecating.” And in “one track mind,” it sounds very flirty and stuff, but it’s saying, like, probably got no shot. You’re so hot that I’m going to shoot it…Got to make you mine. I got a ‘one track mind’ with the DJ spinning. I got my card declined (which means I’m poor). But I wrote this line, and I think you’re into it.” Every line that I write that is flirty, there’s another line that follows it that is insecure. And so maybe the only character I play is somebody that is trying to be a little bit more confident, because I’m generally shy.

I feel like everybody here is the only reason that I get to come here. And so, I always, when I’m on stage, I’m constantly just thinking, like, I hope they’re having a good time. I hope I’m giving them enough. I hope that they’re getting their money’s worth. People flew to this show from Australia to come to Paris. And I’m like, what? That’s insane. That’s amazing. That’s a 15-hour flight.

TCC: Writing and performing can be very personal — is there one of your songs that feels like it’s “too honest,” and how do you decide what to share?

Haiden: I think the most, like, the song that I think about being potentially too honest oftentimes is maybe not one. I don’t know if you would know the song, but it’s called “you don’t even like me.” And we’re playing it tonight. And that song, as I’m singing it, I’m like, this is really, really open and honest, and it’s a song about not really knowing who I am.

And therefore, if somebody likes me in any way, not even romantically, but in any way, if they like me, I don’t believe them because I don’t even know who I am. So, whoever they like, it can’t be real. And that’s such a specific emotion.

It was my second project, which was the project that I really pushed myself to be as honest as possible and as emotional as possible. And also, with a song like “killed the kid.” Those two are really, really… (smile)

TCC: Your first opening tour, everything is selling so fast, congrats! You clearly pay a lot of attention to your fans, like with the free event you organized in Paris recently — how does that connection influence the way you plan your shows and interact with your audience?”

Haiden: I don’t really rehearse what I’m going to say on stage because I want every show to feel kind of different. I haven’t been doing this for that long, but the longer I’ve been doing it, the more me I try to be, the more myself I try to be. And so, a lot of the things that we do for the merch or the things that I say, they’re all just inside jokes with my fans.

I have something called Discord, and we have, like, a community of thousands of us, and we just, like, get together, and we watch Twilight movies together. We do games together. We just, like, gossip and hang out, and it feels like a big family of people. And so, I don’t really think too much about, like, what I need to do because I just think about what we are like because we’re all pretty similar, and that’s really fun, I think.

TCC: It’s a good way for people to meet each other.

Haiden: Absolutely. A lot of people meet through the Discord, and then they come to the show together. Or in my comment sections on Instagram and TikTok, people are like, I have an extra ticket to London. Do you want to come? And people would just show up together.

TCC: If you could have a jam session with any fictional character/ or artist dead or alive, who would it be and why? Any dream collab?

Haiden: I don’t know if I would want… I wouldn’t want a jam with this person, because I think I could do well. I think that they would make me look so stupid, because they’re so talented.

But I would love to watch them. I would love to be in the same room as them. I think Elvis Presley would be one that I would love to be in the same room as.

Let’s see. I think it’s interesting if they’re already gone. Who else is gone? I’m such a fan of Joni Mitchell’s songwriting that I would just want to ask her so many questions. I admire her so much. Such an amazing lyricist. Maybe Bob Dylan as well. I know that they’re not dead, but I’m just thinking about people I’m like… They’re not even real humans to me, because I admire them so much. Yeah, I think those three are really, really special to me.

TCC: Perfect! That’s it! Thank you so much.

Haiden: Thank you so much for having me.

Go check out Haiden Henderson new EP tension.

Follow HAIDEN HENDERSON | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | TIKOK | SPOTIFY | APPLE MUSIC