It just doesn’t let up does it? German deep house producer and ‘performer’ Henrik Schwarz is seriously in demand; even right now during our phone interview. Schwarz is on board a plane about to take-off, engines rumbling distractedly in the background, and with what sounds like a stewardess barking at him to turn his mobile off. There’s just never a moment’s peace or quiet. But then that’s the name of the clubland fame game our boy is currently playing.
And playing it exceptionally well. Schwarz has been making music since 1992 but it’s only in the last three or four years that things have really exploded. Is the heat of the blast ever too much? “It’s a crazy time right now but a really good one too. I’m getting so many offers of work at the moment – work with classic orchestras, with film, with remixes; I think it’s going to take another couple of years to get things totally under control but I’m loving life. My music career has suddenly gotten serious, in the best possible sense.”
Henrik Schwarz
For many years, Schwarz’s music-making was “a hobby.” In 1999 he completed graphic design studies in his South German homeland and, subsequently, moved to Berlin to pursue design as a career. Music was firmly on the side; he barely had time to found his own label Sunday Music. But then came debut EP ‘Supravision’ and massive support from DJs around the world; prominent among them was BBC Radio 1’s Gilles Peterson. “It got to a point where I had to drop the day job” he reflects, “but it wasn’t a stressful decision.”
Today, Schwarz is well-known for soulful, atmospheric house remixes of everyone from Danny Tenaglia (his epic ‘Code 718’ remix features on Strictly Rhythm’s new 20 Years anniversary comp) to Stevie Wonder; not forgetting a sweep of cult studio productions including ‘Chicago’, ‘Marvin’ and tech-jazz jam ‘Leave My Head Alone Brain’. A debut solo album has long been mooted but finally, now, it seems progress is being made.
“I’m about half-way through,” he laughs. “But I don’t want to rush something out that is built only around sounds; I’ve really focused on the writing too. A lot of talented musicians are involved and it takes time to get them together, but I’d say getting the writing right has taken longer. I think it’s shaping up nicely.”
Talking of musicians, one of Schwarz’s other main projects is a live concert partnership with Norwegian jazz pianist Bugge Wesseltoft – the latter on keys, the former on music-making computer software Ableton Live. And then there’s his ongoing work with Innervisions kingpins Ame and Dixon; in fact Schwarz is catching his plane fresh from a gig with the boys (under the moniker A Critical Mass) involving classic silent horror film, ‘The Cabinet Of Dr Caligar’i.
A Critical Mass
“I’m constantly looking to expand my horizons,” he explains. “’The Cabinet’ was first released in 1920 and is widely described as the first horror movie; it’s a fantastically dark, atmospheric film to work with musically. As for the stuff with Bugge; we just have this close vibe that works so well. The sound here is much lighter, jazzier; I’ve got albums planned with both projects. They’re great opportunities to experiment and push the house sound.”
In the shorter-term, however, Schwarz is keeping April free so that he can complete a number of pressing remix projects: “I haven’t really remixed anything for a year, so I’m glad to be in the studio doing that. It’s a fun, discipline re-interpreting great music by other people.”
He’s also soaking up glowing reviews having devised an innovative software ‘plug-in’ for Ableton that helps budding producers with no classical music-training find the right chord and note progressions for their tracks. It’s called ‘The Schwarzonator’ and is well and truly shaking up electronic dance music manufacture.
Henrik talks about 'The Schwarzonator' Ableton plug-in
“The whole point was to make electronic music production easier” he explains. “I know from experience, how hard it can be to get your head around music production when you’re starting out. It’s not like our scene has loads of classically trained artists anyway; already, I’m blown away by how people are using the device – it’s encouraging melody and harmony, something that has been sorely lacking in electronic music for some years now.”
Of course, someone as technologically aware as Schwarz was always likely to take flack from clubland’s purists: “Not all of them, but some. I try not to dwell on it but some of the evil comments that come through anonymously over the internet – it has changed my whole perception of the web’s role in the music. Don’t get me wrong, I will always embrace technology – it has done so much for music already, but there are a lot of idiots out there.”
Henrik is definitely not one of them...
Words: Ben Lovett
