We are back again with a brand new Artist Spotlight. As you know we have made it our business to showcase and spotlight the hottest and most talented in African dance music, so you can get up close and personal with them and their work. Our latest Artist Spotlighter comes from Thaba Nchu in the Free State and we are super excited to get up close and personal with him and to also share with you on his journey, philosophy and his musical heart and mind. His name is Siphiwe Sesing but you may know him as SWVRE (pronounced ‘Sware’).
From Siphiwe To SWVRE...
Born on the 15th of October, Siphiwe Describes himself as ‘Melomaniac, curious and detail oriented’ with a love of anime and cartoons. He is not only currently a producer but is also a student at CUT studying Electrical Technology in Electrical Engineering.
From Siphiwe... to SWVRE, we had to know what the story was that brought this name about –“Sware was given to me by my high school mates. I really don’t know what was the motive behind it, but I accepted it anyways”. He shares that the name is a South African slang which means “brother in law”.
SWVRE’s story began with his love for computers and video games. He shares that when his brother went to study abroad in 2012, he was left with his PC and all its applications that he started playing around with. His interests were piqued. It wasn’t until after his matric around 2017 were he decided to take tips on youtube and play around with Fl studio after seeing some of his friends playing around with the music creation programme. Suffice to say that eventually came with an addiction, a love for it and eventually the sound that we now get to enjoy. He also tells us that at some point between 2018/2019 he decided to start posting snippets of his songs and people and record labels started noticing his work and encouraged him to release the music. “I was very doubtful of my work. I felt like the quality of my sounds was/is still not where I actually want it to be”. This goes to show that what we actually think may not be a reality for someone else. Well thank goodness that decision was made, because we get to experience it.
His brother played a major role in who he is a musician because not only did he one day decide to pick up his computer to play around with, but he has also been SWVRE’s biggest inspiration musically and academically, not to mention he is also currently his manager. SWVRE tells us that observing his brother and his friends influenced his love for deep house so he grew up listening to prolific deep house musicians such as At Jazz, Stimming, Jullian Gomes, Chymamusique, Duke Soul and Da Capo, just to name a few. It seemed as though deep house was going to be the natural direction for him, although not at first as he shared - “Im really surprised that im actually this deep in the deep house industry”.
SWVRE's musical heart and mind
He describes his sound as “very electronic, filled with bouncy basslines, electric synthesizers and wavy automations”. That means LIT, for those who are wondering. He says his sound can be aggressive but soothing at the same time. With that said we had to know whether or not he works with other genres’ and the answer was a resounding most definitely, saying “ As a producer I do not actually limit myself to one genre as I get bored of using the same sound over and over. So to open my mind and expose it to new ideas, I always twig around with whatever I feel comfortable making. Be it Amapiano, Lofi or Hip Hop music. It actually depends on my mood”.
So what is SWVRE’s studio routine, what gets him into the groove of making music? “I Wouldn’t say it’s a routine you know, but it’s my everyday habit. First thing I do when I wake up is switch on my pc. I spend almost half of my day on the pc, either scrolling to learn something new or producing music. My friends don’t even need to call me because they know they always find me in studio”
We like to make sure you know everything about the people that make the music you listen to so that means also knowing what the best and worst thing about being in this line of work is like for them. SWVRE shares that the best thing about being a musician is working, networking and connecting with other artists and appreciates the bond that he has created with them. As a producer that also DJ’s he also enjoys travelling to deep house gigs and being exposed to other deep house obsessed places and their culture. The worst thing? –“Event organisers wanting to book you for free or wanting to negotiate for a smaller amount for your booking, that time we work so hard for our craft, that is really depressing”. He also attributes some challenges to not having enough knowledge about the music business and it dynamics, especially the contractual sided of the music business – “ I feel like that is one of the most fundamental aspects a producer should consider be it releasing under a label or collaborating with artists”.
The latest on SWVRE
Speaking about releases, SWVRE recently released a project titled OPIUM and shares that it’s doing quite well for his official first independent release. “ I’m actually quite satisfied with the results and I would like to appreciate each and every one that has supported the Ep”. You can stream OPIUM down below.
SWVRE Signing Out
Its time for our Artist Spotlighter to sign out, and he leaves us with this scripture from Mark 6:4 “But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house” .