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RA.866 Dam Swindle

Published
Jan 8, 2023
Filesize
205 MB
Length
01:29:31

Ten years of rocking Amsterdam.
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Roughly ten years ago—if we pretend the peak pandemic year-and-a-half doesn't count—Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets first came together as Detroit Swindle, before changing their name to Dam Swindle towards the end of 2020. The original name was meant as a tribute to one of their favorite musical legacies, but recognizing that it didn't come across how they meant it, the duo changed their name to pay homage to their other favourite place: Amsterdam. Dales and Smeets have become core parts of the Amsterdam house scene in their time, especially with their excellent Heist Recordings label, which they started back in 2013 (hey, now that's literally ten years ago). It's easy to understand why the duo have become so popular. In person and onstage, they're goofy, funny guys, the kind of people you might describe as the life of the party. And musically, they're massively appealing, marrying a European tech house strut to deeper and more soulful inspirations, a preoccupation reflected in Heist's impressive artist roster: Ge-Ology, Demuir, Byron The Aquarius, Matthew Herbert and more. Their RA Podcast comes at a time of reflection and change, looking back on the decade-plus history of both act and label and plotting their new album, which they say will expand their horizons even more. The mix is eclectic but smooth, pulling together tracks from the likes of Omar-S, Lil Silva, Ruf Dug and Genius Of Time (with one of last year's most underrated tracks, though not underrated by us). It's always a treat to hear consummate club DJs in a more relaxed mode, and this one's no exception. What have you been up to recently? We've had a busy end of the year, finishing our ten-year anniversary EPs and working together with everyone on the remixes and promo around the ten years. We're also producing an album for a Dutch brass / dance collective, so we're going through all the recordings, bouncing ideas back and forth and fine-tuning the sound and direction of that record. It's the first time we're producing an album for a live band, so we want to make sure we explore this process for ourselves and really get into the vibe of the project. On top of that, we have also had several weeks of recording sessions this year for our new album, so that's already shaping up nicely. How and where was the mix recorded, and can you tell us the idea behind the mix? Lars: We recorded the mix in Ableton in our studio in Amsterdam. In this mix, we're going through a selection of new and older tracks from our collection that show the electronic side of Dam Swindle. We play a lot of different styles in our sets and we've always liked the heavier electronic genres such as techno, electro and breaks. We see that people are enjoying the bold energy of these genres more and more, which is great for us. That open mind for new, exciting music means we get to explore those territories in our sets a lot more. There's also a fresh and open energy we feel and see when we connect with people on the dance floor these days, and we wanted this mix to be a representation of that energy. What's one party, venue or club that has had the biggest effect or influence on you as DJs and producers? For me that would be Club 11, a former club and restaurant in Amsterdam on the top floor of an old building close to Amsterdam Central Station. It was a space that really inspired me and redefined the idea of what a club or night concept could be. It was an old building and then suddenly, coming up with the elevator you'd enter this beautiful open space with big windows, a view over the city, a cool restaurant and great programming. Maarten: The same building also had a basement, which was very raw and had huge concrete pillars. I remember doing some great events there and It always felt like we had a little bit of Berlin in Amsterdam at the time. As DJs, I think playing the morning set from 6 AM to 12 at Wildeburg festival in the Netherlands has made a huge impact on us, and all our friends who were there. It was one of those magical sets where you could play anything. There was so much positive energy during that set. You'd see people smiling and dancing everywhere you looked and the musical journey we were on together was beautiful. What's one social or political cause you want the world to pay more attention to? Maarten: There's so many causes we could, and should, all pay more attention to, but we'll keep it close to ourselves and say that mental health is an important topic for us. It's obviously a thing for DJs and other people that work in physically and mentally challenging circumstances where there's often a lack of sleep and lots of elements around you that make you forget to take good care of your body and mind. It goes broader than that though. We could simply go back to the topic of gratefulness. Being able to take good care of yourself (with sports, education, social interactions), being able to make choices that are good for you and those close to you and in general, being able to live a life in which you're present, will really enrich your life in an amazing way. Some people can do this without any help, others might have experienced something intense that made them re-evaluate life, and others just need help. For us, our health is something we look at from a holistic perspective; feeling (mentally) healthy impacts the choices we make every day, and a good mental health can be the start of a lighter, happier life. We get a lot of inspiration from social accounts such as @the.holistic.psychologist or @yung_pueblo on Instagram. Or read a book such as Choose Again by Diederik Wolsak. It's a good start into understanding yourself and the choices you make. What are you looking forward to in the near future? Lars: We're currently working on our next album and we're really enjoying the process. We're giving ourselves a lot of time to write new music to let the concept for the album come together in an organic way. Sonically, it will have a nice balance between the sound that we're known for, and our more recent electronic vibe. We're also looking at all the different collabs we can do with other artists, which is a hugely inspiring part of the writing process. We honestly can't wait to get into the studio with the amazing people we've got lined up to work on the album with us. 2023 also marks the tenth anniversary of our label Heist Recordings, so we've got a lot of cool things to look forward to in terms of releases and specials throughout the year. We'll have various special edition vinyl releases, events throughout the year, and a lot more. At the same time, we're also both going on big trips personally. I'm doing the Paris to Dakar motor trip which has been on my bucket list for ages and Maarten is going on a long overdue surf trip to the Azores. Plenty of great things to look forward to! You mentioned changing up your sound slightly for the new album you're working on—so what is the musical journey you feel like you've been undertaking? Maarten: It feels like the evolution of our sound is something quite natural. We're both not really the type to stick to one specific sound and keep on doing the same thing, so exploring new directions has always been something we're doing. The new album feels like we've taken the live direction of High Life, and added layers and layers of electronics, but still keeping a touch of that live vibe. It's looking like it will be more of an album you'd listen to at home, full of dreamy synth work, and less club-focused tracks. That said, we're still in the process of writing the album, so there's plenty of time to explore various directions in the coming months. What matters to us most is that we keep that classics Swindle vibe, and see how we can explore new rhythms, textures and vibes within that sound.
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