About going back to touring life, with gig after gig. And about being able to just be themselves and rest for a bit. Taking some time apart from each other is a routine that allows them to recharge and come in with new ideas and fresh vibes to go all out again. We ask what their immediate priority is.
“SLEEEEEP!” They chuckle. “But seriously, we’ve been busy! We run a label and we’re making an al- bum now.”
“Last week we came back from Panama on Tuesday morning. We worked on Tuesday afternoon, Wednes- day too, cause we had recordings for our new album. On Thursday, we had recordings in London and yes- terday we played a night show. Today we got an early flight here, so the first thing we now need is sleep. That´s key to our lives and a pretty important part of our pre-gig ritual.”
Even though Lars and Maarten have been together for about 12 years, coming together and playing a set off from each other is always a challenge, but time has allowed them to read the crowd and rapidly adjust to get in sync.
“If we’re not on the same level, it just takes a little time to get in sync. Usually, this happens within the first 15 to 20 minutes of our set but sometimes it a bit longer. It’s not just about the interaction between 1 dj and the crowd, but between us as
well.It really does make a difference if you’re playing together or by yourself.
But hey,. we’ve been together for 12 years so we know eachother really well.… we’re practically married by now!” They laugh. We know what we’re doing.”
Being together from the start gives you a special sense of what it means to “make it” but reflecting on their journey you can tell the guys found out it’s also important to spend time away from each other.
It is nice to find time to be on their own.
“We talked about this just the other day. When we started getting our first international gigs one of them was in Germany and we had to sleep in a side room of the promoter’s house, together, on one infla- table bed that was slowly deflating during the night. It was super cold, and we ended up sleeping on the cold floor.”
“After we started to travel more, we got individual hotel rooms and that was a nice step up because when you spend as much time together as we do, you also need some time to be alone, to simply have no one around”.
Still, communication is key for them
“We talk a lot about our creative process and discussions can get really heated, but over
the
years we’ve learned to be open and direct. It’s never easy when you have creative differences, especially when it’s about something as personal as the music you’ve created or that you want to create. We’re also pretty specific about how we want the tiniest details to sound, but in the end we always work out a nice balance.
Continuing with the conversation, the duo agreed about their most amazing experience, a gig that they will remember for the rest of their lives.
“One of our most memorable moments was playing for the Wildeburg Festival in the Netherlands. It’s not been around for that long – but it’s quickly beco- me iconic in the sense that it mixes arts and culture, creativity, and music so well. It’s a festival where you get lost because the whole setup is that you have no idea where you go. They want you to discover your place in it.”
The environment of Wildeburg was perfect, and Dam Swindle took charge of a slot that spanned from 6 am till noon. Creating the perfect scenario to get the party going.
“We got the people still partying from the night be- fore and the people that went to bed and set their alarm for our show, so the crowd was an interesting mix of both.
It was busy right from the first half hour. We played for six hours, and we decided to play our set in the opposite direction. We started very dark and ended up very upbeat with a lot of disco. Lars ended up on top of the table and more or less accidentally stage dived into the crowd. I was just ecstatic. There are very fun pictures from that set and even years after, people still come up to us saying how special it was for them.”
After such a great anecdote we can only be excited and eager to listen to what’s coming next, Dam Swindle´s third album.
“Right now, we’re making our third album. We’ve been working on it for the past two years, and with the recordings we’ve done in the past week and the recordings we’re doing in the next few days, we’re close to finishing it. Now it’s just mixing and deciding on the visual concept. It has been a big project for us, sort of like giving birth.” they share laughing.
We’ve recording this album with a lot of different artists from all over the world and it’s amazing to build a personal connection with all of them. It’s turning out really great and we can’t wait to share it…”
The new album reflects Dam Swindle´s evolution as producers. From their banging classic house tracks to new songs that are inspired by music away from the “dance” genres. This collection of tracks shows a lot of what the guys have been listening to for the last 2 years along with the inputs of amazing vocalists and musicians from all over the world.
But it’s not just about the music for Dam Swindle; it’s also about the adventure.
“Absolutely! They say excitedly together.
“We’re both passionate about snow sports. It doesn’t happen that ofther tht we get to com- bine our love of music with activities like ski- ing and snowboarding. We’ll be hitting the slo- pes before and after our performance for sure.”
Photo: Artist Courtesy -
mixmagde.com 15
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66
