Written by Amal Murni & a collaboration with SWANZ
In the span of two weeks, Kepala Seni will feature two Brunei based Hip Hop artists and/ or rappers per-week in the Spotlight segment in order to encapsulate the spectrum of our motherland's music scene.
There will be numerous grounds to cover, and we intend to try our best to introduce each and every one to the Internet-sphere. For now, we are focusing on the Hip Hop genre, but mostly on self-made producers, independent rappers and Hip Hop artists in Brunei and today, we are introducing you to SWANZ in which he was kind enough to share us his side of the story for you.
Before we begin, mark your calendars for his upcoming track releasing this Friday, 26th April called NCTRNL and keep your eyes pealed for his new project as well!
SWANZ
"A friend had recently asked me, “What’s your inspiration when you write songs?" I still have no idea how to answer that. I’m not much of a writer but I still remember why I started in the first place."
"It was 2009 when I thought I had my first break up. It was a 'cinta monyet' (monkey love) kind of thing so I’m way past that a long time ago. But anyway, I had a piano keyboard, guitar, a microphone, notebook, and Audacity (an open source DAW). All of those had costed not more than $100 altogether. So, as cliché as it may sound, I actually started pouring my emotions into that notebook before I jumped onto Audacity to record my stuff then. I honestly don’t even remember why I was so angry about that break up now that I think about it. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the process of writing, composing, and recording all those original songs even though it was an amateur production. The songs were even on YouTube for a while until I took them down because they were unforgivably cringeworthy!"
"So, you see, if it wasn’t for that breakup, I would not have started writing my own songs. There is just something about composing my own stuff that I find very exciting and, at the same time, peaceful. Music production has always been something that I have experimented with since then but only in 2016 was when I actually started doing this more seriously using FL Studio. It was in January 2017 when I released my first ever hip-hop mixtape called ‘673’. Honestly, I had no idea what I was I doing but as a huge fan of Childish Gambino’s work then, I have gotten more inspired than ever to keep making more music."
"3 months later, I decided to release a mellow vibe type of mixtape called ‘sunset’. This was also the time when I started attending more local music gigs, made a lot of friends and even be a part of a friend’s band jamming sessions. They were the only people that I had connections with musically at that time. I didn’t know many local rappers back then so this was the only way I could understand how songs were recorded and engineered."
"So, I started getting feedback from them on how I could improve my production and that was also when I decided to curate the ‘Stay True’ mixtape. It was the first project of mine that had several features in it including Azizi Alli Sabri, Meez Feeq, and Zawanie. I had to make sure everything in that mixtape made sense to me and to my potential listeners back then before releasing."
"To say that I am an introvert can be a bit contradicting sometimes because I enjoy performing and getting people to rage in mosh pits."
"Getting people to sing along and dance to my songs is always a goal of mine. My first ever gig was in October 2017 at this local Hip Hop Event called Beat Culture (shout-out to Kaleidoscope Studio and Perspective Music for making that happen). I honestly did not expect the turn out during that event. Overall, it was a great experience and the audience were amazing and so supportive too. My second gig was in October 2018 at Beat Culture 2 and being a part of that crazy line-up was something else for me."
"I’m always open to collaborations in any way possible and I’m pretty happy that I kept on networking for the past 2 years. As a result, I got the chance to work with a lot of talented people locally like Wacko Genius, Fice KB, Meez Feeq, Lambak Lord$, Adinosaurr, Afnan, Riff, & 24Roses. I even had the opportunity to collaborate with a few underground rappers in Malaysia including Quai and Yonny.
"My goal is to keep making catchy songs that people can vibe to and to evolve the Hip Hop community in Brunei into something bigger."
For more SWANZ:
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/psychoticprophet
Instagram: @itsswanz
Email: beatsandcaffeine@gmail.com
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