Reggae artist Swiss has recently released his long-awaited EP, 'You', and will be performing at this year’s Pacific Sound concert as part of the Pacific Tides Festival alongside ‘The Voice’ semi-finalist and soul sensation, Fatai.
New Zealander by birth but Brisbanite by choice, the singer-songwriter has recently returned to the Land of the Long White Cloud to get back to work on self-producing his latest release. “I'm a Brisbane boy,” he says proudly.
“I spent my teenage years over there in Brisbane. Born and raised in New Zealand but I call Brisbane home; I spent all my teenage years there, moved over there when I was 12 or 13 and I’ve just moved back [to New Zealand] a couple of years ago just to do the music.”
'You' is Swiss' first EP since parting ways with New Zealand hip hop heavyweight label, Dawn Raid Entertainment. “This is my first EP independently; I was signed to Dawn Raid Entertainment, they’re one of the biggest hip hop labels in New Zealand; they’ve been running for a good 15 years now.
“I left them and just wanted to see where I could go on my own as an artist, I like to be a creative person in the studio, and I wanted to see where I took it and see how hard I could push myself.
“So it's taken me a little while but I'm happy with the work and hopefully it does well. It's different from all my other stuff; I use a mix, I like different kinds of genres. If you listen to it, overall it's another reggae piece, but then it's got its little gems of different styles in there: we got a little bit of smooth jazz thrown in there, some hip hop influence as well, so it's all different kinds of music that I love and we've just put it together and made the sound. I'm really looking forward to releasing this EP.”
By working independently, Swiss was able to write and produce his own music without interference in the creative process, which he says, sometimes, can be less than orthodox. “I'm one of those people who like to be in the studio by myself, I don't like too many people in there.
“It allows me to be myself completely and be able to be as creative as possible – and when I say creative, I mean being as weird as possible. I'm a pretty fun person; I don't like the serious side of things, that's why I like to keep things to myself so I can be free as I can and creative as I can with my music.”
August will be a homecoming of sorts for Swiss when he returns to Brisbane to play the Pacific Sounds concert at Redlands. “To be honest with you I just can’t wait to get back home,” he says.
“I rarely get to go back to Brisbane these days and any chance I get to go back and give back to the community I grew up in, I know it’s out at Redlands and I grew up on the northside of Brisbane, but for me just to come back to Brisbane and perform in front of my fans and the locals, the people who actually saw me start off.”
PACIFIC SOUND | AUG 8 | REDLANDS PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE
Posted by Swiss on Tuesday, 14 July 2015As a local musician who made his bones playing small festivals, Swiss sees it as an opportunity to pay tribute to the musical community that supported him as a fledgling performer and provide the same sort of chances for emerging artists. “These sort of festivals are the ones where I opened up for the big acts and for me to be able to headline this alongside artists like Fatai, she’s awesome and I’m a massive fan of hers.
“You know, to be alongside all these artists and then seeing all these young, local artists coming through as well, it’s good for me to go back and encourage them to be the best they can and show them it is possible to follow a dream and actually make it there and make a living off what you love doing.”
Swiss will join Fatai, Dubmarine, Mark Lowndes, CKNU and JSQZE at Pacific Sound at the Redland Performing Arts Centre 8 August. Swiss' new EP, 'You', is now available.
