Scandinavia is dancing to a brand new beat. Skwee is the new genre that’s heating up dancefloors in Sweden and Finland, and now it’s starting to spread.
An electronic groove spearheaded by the Flogsta Danshall label, run by the mysterious Pavan, his dedication to the Skwee cause has got other enthusiasts starting up Skwee labels left, right and centre. DJmag.com caught up with Pavan to find out more…
So first of all, what exactly is Skwee?
"It comes out of the electronic music scene in Finland and Sweden and it’s a mixture between r&b and electro. That’s a way to explain how it started. It’s basically r&b made by the electronica crowd. It came out of my label (Flogsta Danshall). But even without that there would still be some scene. It would be happening still but not in the same direction. It’s a bunch of friends, who came into this at the same time. You can hear the same sounds from other parts of Europe, but our thing is more concentrated and focused. Somehow we started working together and that’s probably the difference."
How big is the scene – are there many artists making it?
"There are some other small labels, there’s a new one called Temporarily Moron. There are some other brand new ones that haven’t released anything yet but are about to. But basically Flogsta Danshall is the main one at the moment."
Why do you think that it came about in Finland and Sweden?
"Though I’m from Sweden, it’s easier for me to talk about the Finnish part of it. The electronic scene has always been quite strong in Finland and they’ve been working independently from the music industry for a long time. So when my label started to sell some records in Finland, the whole thing started to become something bigger than just an alternative form of electronic music. And then the Finnish label Harmoenia started."
What music have you got out there at the moment?
"I guess the Scandinavian Skwee compilation on Harmoenia, they have two volumes of it out now on 12" vinyl. And volume three is coming out soon. And maybe my first two 7" on Flogsta Danshall, they founded the direction of the music."
Do you think it’s something that could catch on abroad?
"I think if you browse the MySpace profiles of what people are doing now, you can find people working in the same area. Some British artists like Rustie are not so far away, they are mixing in other influences not so different to what we’re doing here. There’s a scene in Spain, but mainly it’s Scandinavia, the UK and a few German producers."
What’s next for Flogsta Danshall?
"I have two 7"s, and a new compilation with 18 different producers. Mostly from Scandinavia, but one French producer, and one from the UK."
http://www.djmag.com/index.php?op=story&story_op=display&story_id=1290&status=Live&word=&page=
Feb 12, 2008
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