Belgium is probably more known for it’s beer exports than music, however, labels like R&S and artists like Raoul Belmans (Swirl People) have helped put the tiny European country on the map.

As a young teenager Raoul Belmans was exceptionally interested in electro, break dancing, hip-hop culture and black music. He started to DJ house music in 1991 at a local radio station and before long was regularly DJing at local pubs and small parties. Raoul continued his broadcasting career at a university radio show station in the capital of the Flemish speaking part of Belgium, Leuven, where they make the famous Stella Artois lager and also the city where Raoul now lives. Raoul was so well received, that by ‘96 he was offered a residency at Food, Belgium’s premium house night where Raoul was able to play alongside well-respected international producers such as Derrick Carter, Kenny Hawkes and DJ Sneak.

In the past eight years Belmans has moved into production, releasing a prolific string of 12 inches, remixes and two long players under the Swirl People/Swirl Peepz moniker (with Dimitri Dewever), along with the curiously titled Cosy Creatures, Different Noodles, Tiger Sprouts, Dandruff Truckers and Different Noodles pseudonyms, appearing on labels like Panhandle, Seasons, MFF, Lowdown, Odds & Ends and his own label Aroma Records, and remixing for Derrick Carter, Jori Hulkkonen, Fred Everything and JT Donaldson.

Now signed to Toronto based booking agency APT Entertainment Raoul is one of the most frequently booked DJs on their roster alongside DJ Heather and Mark Farina. Belmans has already played in most parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand, South America, South Africa, Asia, Russia, the UK, all over Europe, and almost every major city in the USA. He took a few minutes to chat with ITM about his upcoming appearances in Australia over the festive season.

Tell us about your previous Australian tour?

“This was last year in November/December. After travelling already a few times to New Zealand I finally made it on OZ soil for some gigs and my debut was in Brisbane (Family Nightclub) followed by Sydney (Chinese Laundry) and Melbourne (F4 & 161). It surely tasted like more!”

Your Swirl sidekick Dimitri doesn’t tour with you, and mainly does production work. Is the sort of music you produce indicative of what sorts of stuff will you be DJing, or will you be hitting a bit harder because many of the shows are festival dates?

“All our stuff has to be useful in my sets at some point, it’s really important for me that I can play it out because that means other people will play it out too. Simple as that.”

Do you play much original material or is it more people you admire or are
inspired by? Please tell us some of the tracks your spinning in your DJ sets at the moment?

“I play stuff I like that I buy from other people as well as stuff of my label Aroma as our own stuff. I think there are many fresh new producers popping up lately and amongst these people I can count The Littlemen, DJ Homewrecker, Lawnchair Generals, The Sound Republic, and many many more. That’s the fun part of this style of dance music, it’s constantly evolving.”

You’re playing a few festival spots down here, do you prefer club spots or festivals – do you find festival spots have to be more accessible?

“I like clubs and festivals. I couldn’t do one of them the whole year though. It’s cool to be able to play a festival in the summer; it’s a challenge that keeps my edge! I like it, it gives me a kick for sure but I am hooked on clubs too. I guess I just love them both, I love to make people dance.”

Your music has a sense of real instrumentation, is it all coming out of samplers or have you actually got session musicians in to create a more jazzy organic feel – (something I read you’re hoping to bring to Swirl People live sets in the future)? Is this something you were hoping to achieve?

“We have a nice balance of live musicians and our own creativity with samples or just our own little stomp fingers playing the keyboard. Five years ago we did some big festivals in Europe with Swirl People but since my DJ schedule got a little busier, we weren’t able to pick this up again. The ambition is still there to do it so let’s hope we can find the time to realise it soon.”

Notice you’re spending some time in NZ on this tour – similar artists like Magik Johnson and Ian Pooley spend a fair bit of time there – will you be catching up with them while you’re there?

“I don’t know any of these guys personally but I do respect their works and achievements. I heard that Magik moved over there and that Pooley bought a little beach house in Piha. Clever guys I must say because it’s a beautiful country. I am surely catching up with other friends I’ve made in the last few visits in NZ and I am going to celebrate my 31st birthday there too.”

You’ll be spending Xmas and New Years away from home, what will it be like being away from family over the festive season? Is this usual for you? Are you having some holiday time when you’re here as well, and if so what will you get up to?

“This is my third year in a row that I am not in Belgium for the holiday; I don’t like being in the Belgian cold and dark holiday season. I do miss my family but I usually catch up afterwards big time! As for the time off over there, you can be 100% sure that I will catch some sun and a nice cocktail. I would be nuts not doing that, it’s summer any-ways!”

You have a fairly prolific run of releases – what keeps you invigorated and passionate, and are you happy with what you’ve done to date?

“It’s hard to explain, but I am having this constant drive to re-invent our music and get further with it. It’s not easy but it’s a fun thing to do and when you play out your own tunes in front of a crowd and it goes down well, you have an amazing feeling. Lately we’ve been trying to finish off our next Swirl People album and I am really happy with the result thus far. I can’t wait until it hits the record shops.”
 
You produce under a number of different monikers, some of the funniest
being Dandruff Truckers, Tiger Sprouts and Different Noodles, why all the different and kooky names?

”(Hehe), I like to keep it funny and light. We make too many tracks to put them all out under our main moniker Swirl People so we have to come up with different names. It’s funny to see that some people don’t even know it’s us.”

Some of my favourite acts to date to see have been Collabs Live featuring Chris Leibing & Speedy J and DJ Sneak, because of the way they built the crowd and energy in the room, what has rocked your world lately and what do you hope to bring to your DJ sets in Australia?

“Unfortunately I rarely have the time to go out and listen other DJs, I am trying to keep up with some of their sets on-line but it’s not really the same. In my sets in Australia you’ll find the DJ behind Swirl People that has been doing this already for the last 15 years with a lot of passion and devotion. But don’t believe the hype, come and listen for yourselves and you’ll know what I am talking about!!”

Will you be hooking up any stuff for you label Aroma while in Australia?

“I hope I run into interesting people with demos but then again you never know this upfront. I am definitely always on the outlook for new music for Aroma and my new 2005 spin off AJ.”

Anything else before you go?

“I love you guys!! I really do and I am looking forward to spend a few summery weeks with y’all.”

Raoul Belmans of Swirl People plays at the following dates:

Sat Dec 31st – Adelaide at Electric Circus
Sunday January 1st – Sydney at Field Day (SOLD OUT)
Sunday January 1st – Melbourne at Sunshine People (BUY TICKETS)
Sunday January 8th – Perth at Summadayze