A Musical Maverick: The Sounds of Sven Van Hees Will Take You On An Aural Trip
Listen to an exclusive Sinning in LA mix by Sven Van Hees here:
For a lot of music lovers I know, there’s really nothing better than test driving a new album on a long ride. In Los Angeles, we don’t exactly have the open road but we do have the Pacific Coast Highway and once you head towards Malibu and out of the City of Angels, you’ll find that ride you’ve been seeking. But the next time you do, I can’t stress enough that the soundtrack to said journey should be Sven Van Hees’s new album, Maverick. He creates the sort of sounds that are simply custom made for the ocean, an Island or a sunset drive to Santa Barbara.
I came into Sven’s music by chance one day, as one of his songs came up on my iPod shuffle and on further inspection I came to find out that I had acquired literally dozens of his tracks through various compilations I’d collected over the years. The song in question was called, “Tsunami (Inside My Soul),” and as the sound of waves crashing ushered in smooth, shuffling beats amidst lush atmospheric layering, I was hooked on this sexy sound in a big way.
“I was in Miami for the music conference (WMC) and I put on this radio station called Smooth FM, which was really smooth jazz and borderline cheese but you’re walking around and it’s sunshine, you’re seeing palm trees, so I had this atmosphere and I grew up with all that kind of music,” Sven explained as we sat poolside at the Grafton Hotel, where he was staying while on a brief Stateside tour. “They had that little bit of cheesiness to them, but it had been ten years since I’d heard those kinds of records, so I felt like I wanted to combine the electronic sound with the good things of the smooth jazz together and I just felt the timing was right. It was a time when The Prodigy were huge and the Chemical Brothers and the biggest of the electronic world were all over the place.”
His album Gemini was released in 1999, at the height of the electronica boom but the Belgian-based producer and some like-minded peers from Europe, had other ideas in mind for the electronic scene.
“It was funny actually because in Germany the guys from Jazzanova, Kruder & Dorfmeister and like five or six other people - we all felt the time was right for something different,” Sven explained.
I thought, you know, I’m just going to sit in my studio, sample my old records and try to take smooth jazz into the 21st century and that’s how I came up with Gemini.
That album proved to be a massive success and Sven soon saw his tracks being licensed on hundreds of compilations, which would only enhance his profile among the tastemakers and downtempo aficionados alike.
“I’ll be really honest, this album is for me, the best album I’ve made but I have to recognize that my Dark Side of the Moon will always be Gemini, because that was a different era,” Sven noted. “Sometimes it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy with certain people because that album meant so much in their life that regardless if you do something better afterwards they always go, ‘But yeah, Gemini.’’” You know, because that was a period that defined their life and the soundtrack to their life.”
On the aptly titled Maverick, Sven has stayed true to the sound that has defined him but he also breaks new ground as well. This is particularly apparent on the vocal-lead, deep house tracks, “Come Together” and one of my standout selections, “Second in Line,” where Sven unleashes his new vocal chanteuse, Femke, whom he met through fellow Sinning in LA favorite, Andy Caldwell.
“Andy was like, I know this girl Femke, I’ll introduce you to her,” Sven recalled. “She came to the studio in America and I played her a couple of tunes and she was really into it.”
She also lends her smoky, Sade-like vocals over Maverick’s sexiest song, the slow-burning, “You’ve Got A Hold On Me.” Interestingly enough, it was this song that Femke gravitated towards the most, but she had no idea that it was an excerpt from a high-end adult film that had commissioned Sven to compose the soundtrack.
“I made a soundtrack for a porno movie (The terrifically titled: Hell is Where The Party Is), it’s actually a Belgium guy that made the movie. He didn’t want to insult me, so he was like, ‘I wanna make a classy porn, like a Michael Mann kind of porn.’ So he contacted me and was like, ‘This is my first movie, I have a small budget...’ I told him, look listen, I’ve always wanted to do this, I’ve always wanted to make music specifically for a movie, so I said I’d do it for free. I get to sing as well on this 50-minute piece. I really made the soundtrack to the scene. The girls really get into it, the music picks up and then slows back down, much like a true sexual experience.”
Sven’s beats have become synonymous with sex and on “You’ve Got A Hold On Me,” he’s crafted perhaps his sexiest song to date, with Femke’s vocals providing that missing piece to the puzzle.
“I had totally forgotten that I’d put it in the porn track for her to choose from and she was like, “I wanna do this track. This is something on another level.” The vocals, I put it on top and was like, ‘Man, this is a match made in heaven.” She elevated that song from a very nice, instrumental porn track into a real song. That particular scene was dark, and she kept it dark but still sexy.” He then added, “She’s still not aware - I never told her that the track was actually in a porno, but that’s the reason that it’s my favorite track because there’s such a huge story behind it.”
I told Sven how amazed I was to learn that he produces his music in Belgium, which is a far cry from the Island-flavored stylings of his music. He explained that his albums are the direct results of his travels and act as “Travelogues” for his albums. When I press him to see if his current trip to the City of Angels will provide material for his next album, he says he could envision some sinful sounds coming out of his time spent with us.
“For sure, that’s gonna happen now,” Sven said. “I’ve been here, I had a great time and there’s so much creativity. My girlfriend and I were sitting at breakfast today and I said, ‘If someone offers me a green-card, I’m so here.’ Because every time I come here, I feel at home.”
Sven and I putting our collective heads together and have already talked about a new track, the perfectly titled, “Sinning in LA.”
“You know what I’ll do, I’ll make that track for you,” Sven promised. “And you will only be able to get it on your site. That’s a good idea.”
I asked Sven if he could keep it on the sexy side as his sound is one that truly satisfies on so many levels. It’s a sound that also has incredible longevity and his records will continue to endure for decades to come.
“It’s a huge compliment, thanks for that but that’s the way,” Sven told me. “I always think to myself, the world does not need another 12”, there’s enough of the young guys doing that already, that’s their market and that’s cool. I used to do that when I started off in the 90’s, I made tribal and techno and all that. But after awhile I was thinking, you know, my name’s on there and it’s gonna last for the rest of my life - it’s gonna be on the shelves or somewhere on a compilation or online. So I wanted to create something that lasts longer than just the hype of the moment type of thing, which is also one of the reasons I didn’t jump on the electro-wagon.”
We’re certainly glad Sven’s stuck to his guns because he provides a type of music that no one else can duplicate, despite numerous of producers giving it their best shot.
“I’m actually glad that I still have the confidence in myself to put these albums out because everyone’s into electro, so you would be killing yourself not to do something like that,” Sven confessed.
But when everybody goes to the left, I go to the right. Not because I want to be different, but it’s always like that.
We here at Sinning In LA can certainly relate to you on that front, Sven. Here’s to always keeping them on their toes.
