Chapter 1: I Didn’t Funk Enough
I Didn’t Funk Enough might be the best expression to depict Sweely’s motivation to explore deeper and further the origins of the groove. To understand how in a few years William Montana has become one of the highly regarded French Micro / House producers one has to go back to Sweely’s roots.
Originary from Nice, William has been nestled as a teenager by the skate culture and cradled by Black Music with Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Funk influences. This taste for music has been expressed also by his motivation to learn, in addition to the piano, the drums. During High-School he slowly began to learn musical composition on Ableton. However, the spark has been triggered once a friend introduced him to machines such as Roland’s samplers or AKAI’s controllers. This initiation opened to William new perspectives on how to produce a track but above all new feelings while working on it.
“I know I like the track when I slowly begin to dance in a really reactive, instinctive way alone in my studio. I love grooves, all of them, jazz, soul, techno, and even the cheesy ones. This is the nectar I crave for which feeds my desire to make music.”
Mixmag - Le secret de Sweely, le groove
Back to the 2010s, Nice’s club life was not as vibrant as Paris' and with a lot of diversity. This has been a frustration for William for whom dancing on grooves is a bit like an addiction. No place surrounding him to get this feeling when one has been caught by a sound’s hook. No place except his bedroom where while playing with his machines he can feel this energy boiling inside him which leads one to dance endlessly. This pleasure taken during his jamming session has led him to post hundreds of tracks on Sweely’s SoundCloud page.
Chapter 2: Sweely’s ascension
Sweely is a raw talent of the French Micro / House scene. His ability to compose and post a consequent number of tracks while keeping originality has caught the eye of Concrete’s famous artistic director - Brice Coudert. Music Is Something Special on Habemus Paname, Pont-Neuf Records’ Various Artists EP, published in 2015 has been the starting point of Sweely’s ascension. The track oscillates between jazz influences with its soulful vocals and an infectious deep bassline that moves you.
This first blow has given to Sweely more visibility and one year later NTM has been dropped on Chalutier du Havre the first Various Artist EP of Facebook Group Chineur de House. The track keeps this deep bassline which defines Sweely’s first production on record labels in opposition to his raw tracks more experimental from his SoundCloud page.
However, 2017 remains the turning point of Sweely’s take over triggered by NTM. In fact, Brice Coudert decided to offer to Sweely more exposure with a position of quasi-headliner of the first edition of Concrete’s Winter Weather Festival right before Laurent Garnier’s set and a title of resident on the most famous parisian barge. Then, Sweely has been approched by Asquith, one curator to follow, the boss of London based label Lobster Theremin who has released several EPs on his sub-label dedicated to House music - Distant Hawaï.
Chapter 3: Music Is Something Special
House Music is William’s predilection genre as it enables him to play with the whole spectrum of his musical influences coming from Black Music without losing his public.
“Musically speaking House is a genre which has a lot of influences. According to me, it is the best way to introduce any kind of style from acoustic to electronic ones because of its rythmic”
Traxmag - Sweely, l'électron libre de la nouvelle génération House de France
House Music is a kind of bridge which rythmics enable Sweely to easily move from an acid hue to a more soulful vibe while keeping the same mesmerizing groove. This perception of music helps him to drive soulful and energic live sets.
While playing his music on his machines and vibing on the resulting groove Sweely tries to build an uniting athmosphere within the club.
“I really like the vibe when you feel the dancefloor is one. Not because of my presence but because of the music which connects the people. Whatever the place, the level of sweatness or the way people are dancing there is a need to reset the vibe as soon as the act begins. No different athmospheres but only one which drives to a communion within the public.”
This conception of clublife might be the one William as been always looking while he was in Nice preparing between the walls of his bedroom this experience he was dreaming of.