In the world of dance, SWACQ is a well-known name. He works with big artists like will.i.am and Tiësto. On VIRPP, he wants to give emerging artist a chance to make the next step. “It’s realy cool to share your experience with new artists.”
How does one become a producer?
“I was around twelve when I saw Tiësto perform at a television show. From that moment I knew that I wanted to do the same thing. But how do you start? That’s simple, you just start with spinning. At first, I made simple loops with Magix Music Maker. The first 100 songs I made were not the best, but I knew I was on the right track. I learned a lot at the Herman Brood Academy in Utrecht and was lucky enough to join John Dirne’s studio White Villa. I’ve been working here for the last seven years.”
You’ve produced for will.i.am and Tiësto. How did that happen?
“John introduced met to Tiësto. It all started with his album Clublife China, and from there Tijs and I made several remixes like Party Time. That track was with more than 10 million streams on Spotify in two years’ time the most successful. Party Time as also one of the most played tracks during Tomorrowland. The story of how I met will.i.am is a great tale. I’ve remixed the Black Eyed Peas track Pump It, and shared it without thinking, on Soundcloud and YouTube. Five days before their show in Amsterdam, I’E heard that BEP were using my remix in their live performance. My manager reached out and I met him backstage and we had a good vibe. I got his phone number and will.i.am said “if you ever in LA app me, maybe we could work on something”. At the beginning of this year I was and we did. The rest is history.”
What are your thoughts on VIRPP?
“It’s incredibly cool to share your experience with new artists. They’re in the same situation I was a decade ago. You make great music and have big dreams, but what’s next? This platform can really help them. It is hard for any artist, producer or DJ to get your music heard by the right people. VIRPP can provide direct access to other artists and labels. Before, you had to network in the hope to make that useful connection. With VIRPP, you upload your music and are part of a big community. I’m an active user of the service. On my commute to work, I always listen to new tracks on VIRPP. On the Spotlight page, you can see the best rated tracks and believe me, there is a lot of good music there. Records, that should have been on heavy rotation on the radio.”
On VIRPP you do more than just listening
“I try to be as active as possible. I’ve organized several contests with special prizes. Users can win a collab with me, where me and my team will be looking for a label to release it. Also there is the possibility of a Skype call where winners can look over my shoulder and ask what they want to know. This is kind of a masterclass. I wish I had something like that when I was starting. How did I get the knowledge? I watched a lot of YouTube tutorials. On top of all that, we’re looking into organizing a live set where we only use music that is on VIRPP.”
One last question, does SWACQ stand for anything?
“Yes, it most certainly does. SWACQ is an abbreviation of Sound With A Certain Quality. The name shows that you can’t put me in one musical genre box. Personally, I’m a big music fan and have lots of favorite genres. From Latin to dance till soundtracks. So SWACQ fits my work perfectly.”
