Welcoming Swayze.
New crew member on Ninetofive® kicking off the High Street. II series
Today I have two very exciting pieces of news.
First, let’s welcome the incredibly talented producer Swayze, hailing from New Zealand, to our movement. He has the ability to flow between genres while always maintaining soul and groove in everything he creates—ranging from R&B and deep basslines to classic East Coast-inspired beats.
He is best known for his ‘THE VAULT’ bootleg tapes on SoundCloud (as of right now), where he takes official acapellas and applies his own unique ideas and styles to create something entirely new. But I am sure this is just chapter. I of his producer journey.
You’re joining the movement all the way from New Zealand. How has the local scene there influenced your 'soul and groove' DNA, and what does it mean to you to now be dropping music under the Ninetofive label?
We grew up listening to a lot of great music here in New Zealand, the family around me was always playing hip-hop/reggae/soul tracks and that naturally influenced my sound to what it is today and it’s truly an honor to be apart of the Ninetofive crew, it’s always been one of my goals to be apart of something as solid as this
This release gave you total freedom with no ‘sound guidelines.’ For a producer who is used to working with existing vocals, how did it feel to create something from scratch where the only rule was to be authentic?
It gave me a lot of creative space to cook this piece. I normally make stuff with an idea already in mind but with this project I took a completely different approach, just let everything flow naturally and for me personally it turned out to be one of my best projects I’ve made this year.
You’ve already put out eight volumes of THE VAULT. For someone who is just discovering you today through Ninetofive, which specific track from your past work do you think best represents the ‘Swayze. sound’ they’re about to hear more of?
I think after dropping a variety of genres within the vault series, the song that represents my sound the most is my “TOO FAST” flip. It’s my perfect blend of something soothing to listen to and something that hits as well. i call it SLAP
He is leading the charge with the first single for our themed release, ‘High Street Vol. II’ will be rolling out over the coming weeks, exclusively under the Ninetofive. It features our in-house members alongside special appearances from producers we highly respect.
The first volume was received very positively. Without focusing on a specific ‘standard’ sound, we took the approach of letting every producer go all-out experimental - giving them the freedom to capture a jazzy, hazy vibe.
This is a personal project where no one is limited by a specific sound or guidelines. Every member has been selected for their authentic and unique style.