It is because of his love and passion for deep house music that Alvaro Hylander keeps on moving forward, every year that passes adding more experience and reach inside of the genre. Although currently based in Denmark, Alvaro’s early manifestations of his passion can be traced back to his years in Southern Spain where he started DJing at a very young age, with the sunshine and warmth of the culture providing a great background for experiencing music and what moves a crowd. As time passed and he started producing in 2005, Hylander was able to forge a stronger connection between his sound and his self as he found that perfect balance of deep, sexy, groovy, and organic that gives him is unmistakable sound.
Alvaro has been producing Deep House music for the past few years and with his unique deep organic style started to make a name for himself inside of the scene with release on labels such as Acryl, Behaviors, and I Records.
Although not musically trained his passion and ear for music has leant itself to some incredible deep house vibes. Having met the other half of DeepWit a couple of years ago, he shared his passion for the music with her. Between the two of them they envisioned a label dedicated to quality Deep House and have worked towards making that a reality.
Sierra: I had known since I met Alvaro he had wanted to run his own label for several years, but even in the digital world we now live in, to do it right takes a lot of work, especially when doing it by yourself. So after moving to Denmark last year, I approached him with the idea of starting a label, and after a few months of consideration and finding a name and logo (which was provided to us by the very talented Stelios Petros). We spent a lot of time making a business plan I guess you could say. We are both perfectionists, Alvaro in his approach to music and myself in my approach to how a business should be run. It was important to us that we approached having our label as a labor of love and out of real appreciation of the music we enjoy the most.
The two most important things to us are first the quality of the music and making the people we work with feel like family. We work at releasing only quality unique Deep House, for us its not about the “name” its about the music. Alvaro is predominately in charge of making the final choice on the tracks we release as his ear for music is much more fine tuned then mine. We also feel the music world has become so overcrowded, often artists and releases do not always get the exposure and appreciation they should. That is where I come in, I work as closely as possible with our artists and keep them involved from the beginning of the release and making sure they know how much we appreciate their music, hard work and friendship.
” The two most important things to us are first the quality of the music and making the people we work with feel like family”
Q&A with Alvaro Hylander and Sierra Maydell of DeepWit Recordings
Q. Why did you decide to open your own label?
A. We wanted there to be a place to showcase what we considered to be quality Deep House music that we would listen to, not just inside of clubs but music you can listen to on the radio and in your house and enjoy it. We also wanted to provide an experience to our artists and fans different then what is out there now. A place artists could have a chance to grow from, and it not be about having a “name” in the business. About having a family of like minded individuals that all have a love for Deep House.
Q. How do you describe your music to people?
A. Intelligent Quality Deep House. If the music does not make us feel, does not have that special touch that makes us really appreciate the music, its not something we are interested in releasing. We want to release music for people that know what the real value of music, love and cooperation are.
Seraphine-Costa Lounge EP (Preview) by DeepWit Recordings
DeepWit Autumn Sampler Preview by DeepWit Recordings
Q. Tell us a bit about yourselves, what brought you to the electronic world?
A. Alvaro is from southern Spain and was lucky enough to grow up in the sun surrounded by clubs and beautiful beaches. He started learning to DJ at a very young age, managing to get himself into a club to learn from a resident DJ at an age most kids are not even aware there is a club scene. From there he just continued with his love of music and has been involved in the electronic scene in some form or another for 15 years now. I am much more new to the EDM scene, although having experienced electronic music in clubs in southern germany when I was a teenager, after moving back to the US I lost all touch with the music. Being American, the exposure I had to electronic music was very limited. After meeting Alvaro, through his music, I quickly feel in love with the style that he has dedicated himself to, Deep House.
Q. What styles of Electronic Music are most popular in Denmark and what are the key venues, DJ’s and producers?
A. From what we can tell, if you live outside of the two largest cities in Denmark, Copenhagen and Aarhus, you have a choice between extremely commercial electronic and pop music, Indy music and Folk music. For our particular brand of music it can be a bit more difficult to find a niche for it, although there is a growing love for a variety of quality electronic music styles. If you come to Denmark for music, we would strongly recommend a trip to Copenhagen, as they have several clubs, the most known of them being Culture Box. We recently played there and had a wonderful time, we could not have asked for a more respectful and knowledgable group of people. There are also a lot of upcoming and quality DJ’s, producers and labels based here in Denmark from the likes of Chris Minus and Tim Anderson, and labels such as Desos and What Happens.
Q. What do you know about the electronic music scene in Israel? Any DJ’s or Venues you are familiar with?
A. To be honest until I met Shlomi B. I was not really even aware of any Israeli DJ’s, venues or labels (at least that I was aware they were from the area). Through Shlomi I was introduced to 2B Continued, which in turn introduced us to such a variety of electronic talents from that area of the world. It is great to be able to have an inside look into the musical heartbeat of the country through 2B Continued.
Q. What artists have you worked with and what artists do you plan to work with in the future? Why these producers?
A. We have been lucky enough to work with some extremely talented artists here at DeepWit, such as Pablo Fierro, Cadatta, Deep Spell, HouseRiders, The Messenger, Javier Varez, Tonkproject, Silt, Seraphine, Andre Detoxx and the list goes on. We plan on working with many of the artists repeatedly as they really help define the sound of DeepWit along with bringing in new artists. For us, if you make great music, it does not matter if you have a name or not in the Deep House world. We are looking forward to showcasing some of the talented but lesser known artists this year alongside bigger names for remixes and releases.
The one thing that we require outside of quality produced music is that the producers be down to earth and in it for the music. You can be sure that if an artist releases with us, let alone will they have something special about their music but that they are great people in general.
Q. What can we expect from DeepWit Recordings in the next year?
A. Our fans can look forward to our own monthly radioshow “DeepWit Podcast” featuring quality Deep House music as well has having featured mixes on a variety of well established radio shows and stations. Right now the show airs on WestRadio.gr, Tunnel FM and of course right here on 2BContinued. One of the things I am most excited about is the start of our CD Compilations we will be releasing, with some of our personal favorite artists. People are always talking about how CD’s are dead but what better way to enjoy a large selection of tracks that all so seamlessly mesh together then on CD? There is also the start of our sub-label “DeepWit Uncovered” with the first release slated to be out February 2012 with a full length Album from Ivan Garci.
We are also looking forward to going out and playing in different area’s across europe with our artists. Alongside all of this we plan on giving away more music and merchandise to our fans and followers in appreciation for their support. Without the people who love deep house and support us by purchasing our music and sharing us with their friends we would not be able to do what we do. To the fans reading this, thank you for everything and helping us get to where we are! We hope to bring you some great new music and events in 2012!
Visit Deepwit Recordings Website
Alvaro Hylander DeepWit Recordings – 2B Continued dedicated set
1.The Messenger – New Dawn (Original Mix) – Soul Industries
2.Deep Spelle – Everybody’s Smiling (Original Mix) – DeepWit Recordings
3.The Disclosure Project – Swerve (Original Mix) – Apollo
4.Mild Bang & Heidi Sabertooth – Gray Eyes (Rhadow Remix) – i Records
5.Ejeca – Bumbled (Alvaro Hylander Remix) – DeepWit Recordings
6.Soul Sway – Don’t Step Down (Jesus Pablo Remix) – Savoir Faire
7.Deep Active Sound – Oddity (Original Mix) – Disclosure Project Recordings
8.tONKPROJECT Feat. Marie K. – It’s Time To Introduce You (Disclosure Project Disco Mix) – Behaviors
9.Mr. Leaman – Love That Deep (Onur Ozman Remix) – Something Different Records
10.C2C – Dramamine (Ellroy & Steven Caceido Remix) – Ready Mix Records
11.Matams – Mellow Bridge (Original Mix) Apollo
12.Ribn – Some People (Original Mix) – Mild Pitch
13.Yonathan Dahan – Soulvation (Fabian Argomedo Mix) Avantgardia
