Interview: De Sluwe Vos in pure form with his first album on ASW, 'Now I Understand' — Awesome Soundwave

The next album on the label comes from revered Dutch artist, De Sluwe Vos. His ‘Now I Understand’ LP is an amazing body of work paying testament to the innovative producers refined ability and rising trajectory in recent years. He has built a reputation for 15 plus years around his meandering sets, renowned for taking his audience on transcending journeys, and he has replicated exactly that ethos in to the album. You will find a tasteful blend of driven techno, house elements and twisted breaks throughout the release, leaving no stone unturned.

To work with artists such as De Sluwe Vos is a pleasure for us here at Awesome Soundwave, and long may this relationship continue. We managed to catch up with him and discuss the release, and his 2024 movements, dive in for some artist to audience insight of "Now I Understand". Welcome to the family De Sluwe Vos!

Hi Robert, a big welcome to ASW. We can not wait to share your "Now I Understand" album with the world. How does it feel to have this body of work rounded off and almost out?

Hey! Thank you! Thanks for the invitation and it's great to be a part of this. I'm super happy that this album is finally going to be released. It's been a long process that I kept pretty close to myself, but I'm glad to finally be able to share it with people. Of course, it's always a bit exciting as well. I'm especially curious about how the album will be received in the current techno climate, where big drops and epic (viral) moments are the main focus. This album is much more subdued than that, and I'm curious to see how it will resonate with people.

Is there a concept behind the album, or a story you had in mind when making the tracks? Did you set out to make the album or did you gradually just build a collection of cohesive tracks and realise it could be a good one to do?

To me, the album came together very naturally. A few years ago, I was approached by Christopher from ASW, asking if I was open to making an album for the label. I didn't know Christopher or AWS very well, and it felt like a deep dive into something I wasn't entirely sure about. An album is a big commitment, and even though it’s Carl's label, it had to feel like something I could fully support. For a long period, I had serious doubts about whether it was the right step. In the meantime, I kept making tracks and sending demos, and the enthusiasm from Christopher and Carl eventually convinced me to take the plunge. What also helped a lot was the gig at Mysteryland, where I performed a live set on the AWS stage. There, I got to know the team better and had time to talk with Carl about the demos and the potential album.

A significant portion of the tracks was made during the pandemic, and the rest in various places in the period after. All the tracks essentially came about during moments when I took a break from the projects I was busy with at the time. Occasionally, I booked studio time at night so I could work freely on new material. Besides being busy with various projects, I also moved back to Deventer, where I grew up. Now I live closer to my family and friends, which has brought me closer to myself in a way. The music on the album is very personal, and all the tracks came from a very pure approach to making music. It’s also an album that came together through my suroundings, so in a way a hommage to the people around me.

Looking like you have a jam packed summer ahead with gigs all over your native country, the Netherlands. In a recent call you said you focus mainly on NL, what was the reasoning behind this? Is there just something special about playing on home soil. Is there anywhere in particular you really look forward to?

I think the main reason is that over time I've come to realize that in the Netherlands, I've built a kind of freedom around my name that allows me to release and play a very diverse range of records. I have both house and techno bookings and release a wide variety of music. Additionally, I have a Dutch artist name, and I enjoy collaborating with Dutch artists from other genres. I think my fan base appreciates this and follows me because of it.

In the past, I've had quite a few shows abroad, and there were definitely some amazing gigs among them, but I always felt like something was missing that I couldn't quite pinpoint. Over time, I had to cancel gigs in the Netherlands for those shows, and that didn't feel right. As a result, my schedule quickly filled up with Dutch gigs, and I think I missed some momentum abroad. I had to come to terms with that because, as a DJ, it's natural to dream of big international shows, and I always wondered why I didn't have that same dream as some of my collegues. I think I'm just a real "kaaskop" (cheesehead), and I'm happy that I now clearly know what I want and what I can bring as an artist.

You also mentioned in terms of production and studio gear this album has been one of your simpler releases in terms of the amount of sounds/elements. Can you tell our audience a bit about this, what did you use to make the album? Is there something you find fascinating about stretching as much variation as possible from just a few machines?

At the time, I was still in another studio that I shared with a good friend and producer, Wantigga. In that studio, we didn't have a fixed setup, and the gear I had ready was mostly used for finishing my other projects. If I wanted to jam, I had to put together a setup that I could play with and then take it apart again so a different setup could be made the next day. Because of this, I had no choice but to work very simplistically.

The core of the album revolves around my MC909, Octatrack, Blofeld, and JV2080. All the tracks are based around these three devices. There are some exceptions here and there, but this is basically it. The beauty of such a small setup is that it helps you reach a pure form of music-making.

When I look at my inspirations, they are always tracks that are quite simple but whose core resonates with me a lot. I think I tried to emulate that with this album. "Future History" by Joris Voorn has been a major inspiration, and when I sent Joris the album, he suggested tidying things up here and there. I took that advice and ended up removing VSTs and plugins from channels, haha. For most tracks, there's only an EQ, compression, and some reverb on my drum bus. All synths are also pretty much straight out of the boxes without too much processing. I really focused on 'the core,' and I think it turned out very well.

And playing live? How is your set up looking at the moment?

My live set actually consists of the same machines I used for the album: the MC909, Octatrack, which I use to sequence my Blofeld and trigger some samples, a small modular rig with a Bitbox for triggering loops, some effects, and everything goes into a Xone:96. For a while, I used a Midas Venice 160 as my mixer, but I recently noticed that everything works so much easier on a DJ mixer. The sound of the 96 is truly beautiful, and the DJ layout makes me feel more playful and confident when playing. Funny thing is that I don’t sync my MC909 in the Liveset. I just match the bpm with the master clock and hit play whenever I want to play with the 909. There’s this nudge and hold function so you can get it in sync quite well but never perfect. This also adds this ‘playful’ element to the set.

Are there any artists, and releases which are currently inspiring you and influencing your sound?

I've always drawn a lot of inspiration from everything that came out of the '90s, and that 'golden era' was once again my biggest source of inspiration for this album. Especially the old work of John Beltran in particular. But I also listen a lot to Nu Era, Vince Watson, Stacey Pullen, and Orlando Voorn. Additionally, 'Future History' by Joris Voorn played a significant role. But besides the old stuff I really like the work of Kettama, Fjaak, Mall Grab, Private Press, Skee Mask, and Fadi Mohem a lot!

What else do you have planned in terms of releases?

There is a lot on the shelf, haha. I've worked hard to finish this album. But there is an EP planned on my own label for later this year, and I am making a lot of edits that I might share. This year, I will also release more from other artists on Native Swamp. A very talented young guy from the Netherlands will kick things off with an EP later this year. Sam Waiting, remember that name ;) haha

Thanks Robert for your time, we’re excited to release your album soon!

▶ De Sluwe Vos - NOW I UNDERSTAND - will be released on July 7 on ASW.