Meet SWEATR. Acclaimed producer Will Henderson has been living behind the scenes, brewing beats for the likes of Janine, Niko Walters, Chaii and Foley – now stepping into the spotlight with his debut artist project. While he’s been working in the industry for a decade, his independent project is the heavy hitting side of his work we haven’t heard before. High energy, huge hooks, electronic music you come back to again and again.
SWEATR’s production career started out under the guidance of Josh Fountain (BENEE, MAALA, LEISURE), and has led him working alongside some of Aotearoa’s pop greats. He now sits firmly as a staple producer in the scene, giving him freedom to move into his artist side.
SWEATR’s new sound comes first and foremost from a passion for synthesisers, earworm melodies, heavy bass and distorted beauty. Early influences included The Prodigy and Pendulum and now, more recently, Lauv, Louis The Child and Charli XCX.
KIA ORA! HOW HAS YOUR 2021 BEEN?
2021! It’s actually been a good year for the most part. But 3 months of lockdown gets your mind spinning. I didn’t like lockdown at all. I need people.
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FOR THOSE THAT DON’T KNOW, YOU HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN WORKING IN THE INDUSTRY FOR QUITE A LONG TIME. CAN YOU TELL PEOPLE A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF.
Yeah I started working in a cool production studio and would have writing sessions and helping artist finish their songs. To be honest back then I probably only knew a little more than them – enough to complete it more than they could haha. But it was a great place to start. Now, that’s what I do every day – help artist’s get their demo songs or ideas finished.
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SO YOU HAVE BEEN PRODUCING MUSIC AND PLAYING LIVE WITH ARTISTS FOR YEARS, WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE TO ACTUALLY CREATE MUSIC FOR YOURSELF?
It’s something every producer does in his or her downtime. I had plenty of ideas on my hard drive that I wanted to share with the world. This was a perfect opportunity to get a first song out there that was going to be released anyway – I just jumped on the release with teens and together we made it happen. I’m very excited about the songs to come too!
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DID LOCKDOWN HAVE MUCH OF AN INFLUENCE AND DID THAT AFFECT YOUR WORK THAT MUCH?
Initially it was a good thing. I had time to finish work on all the projects I had committed to throughout the year. It gave me time to focus on them and get them done – but after I had finished the work I went to do online sessions and found I was really dry. I was uninspired, flat and just unexcited about music all together. And that’s hard when it’s your job. But I just had to realise that it’s because I’m not drawing from anything inspiring at the moment; I’m stuck at home!
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HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT BALANCING PERSONAL PROJECTS AND THE OTHER COLLABORATIONS & WORK YOU DO? DO YOU HAVE MUCH OF A PLAN FOR YOUR RELEASES OR IS IT JUST AS YOU MAKE SOMETHING?
When I make music for myself it always feels different. It feels like I can just make whatever comes in my head. I can spend 30 minutes on one synth sound if I want haha.
I initially wanted to release an EP but after talking with some friends it seemed singles was a better way for me to go at the moment. And to be honest, it’s a lot less pressure thinking about one song at a time rather than a whole project.
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HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH YOUR ARTIST NAME?
I was about to go with ‘Dear Son’ haha but I’m really glad I didn’t because now it just sounds like a folk band’s name – and I’m definitely not folk. SWEATR just came to me one day and I really liked it for some reason. A lot of my favourite artists are just single aliases like Diplo, Lauv and BAYNK.
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HOW DID ‘EVERY TIME’ COME ABOUT AND WHAT IS THE COLLABORATION PROCESS LIKE FOR YOU?
Christina aka teens and I were in studio working on her project and we got really heavy with these dirty 808’s and the pitched down chanting vocals. It sounded grimy and like you couldn’t help but bob your head. And I thought, “If I had a project, this is what I’d want it to sound like”. That was when we were making ‘Every time’. It was a fun and very easy session. Everything was inspiring that day.
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THE SINGLE ARTWORK HAS QUITE THE 90’S VIBE. WAS THERE MUCH INVOLVED IN DECIDING TO HAVE THAT AS THE ARTWORK AND HOW IMPORTANT DO YOU FIND ARTWORK IN RELATION TO A SINGLE?
Yea we both are 90’s kids and do enjoy that scrapbook look. It was also lockdown when the artwork was being make so we had to work with individual pictures, because we didn’t have a photo together at that point. And then we ended up liking it and rolling with the scrapbook cut out look haha.
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THE LYRIC VIDEO YOU RELEASED FOR THE SONG, IS THAT YOUR WRITING? ALSO WHERE DID THE IDEA COME FROM TO FILM YOURSELVES FOR THE LYRIC VIDEO AND NOT DO A MUSIC VIDEO?
Yeah, that was my writing haha. I just used a white board and filmed it with my phone. I got the idea straight from the Chainsmokers song, ‘Closer’. After some Youtubing and experimenting I figured out how to make it work.
And in my head a lyric video is so much less pressure than a music video. We were time pressured as well because we wanted to get the song out this year, 2021. So the whole video came together in literally 3 days, including me learning how to edit and getting it done. And thanks to friends who were generous with their time and talents with a camera.
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DO YOU SEE YOUR MUSIC BEING PLAYED LIVE OR HAVE PLANS FOR THAT? OR IS IT MORE A MUSIC FOCUS TO BUILD A CATALOGUE AT THE MOMENT?
To be honest I haven’t thought a great deal about the live aspect of the music. I knew I just wanted to have my own music outlet. But if I was going to do a live set I’d want to make it a mix of DJing and playing keys live.
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WHAT IS COMING UP FOR SWEATR? (AS MUCH AS WE CAN PLAN)
I have some songs to finish off and then get ready for their releases. I’m hoping to have 3-5 singles out next year. And it’ll be along the electronic side of music.
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SOME FUN QUESTIONS:
Fave snack?
Oh man, depends on the mood. I’ll almost always feel like Koh-Kae BBQ coated peanuts haha
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Overused phrase?
“Just jokes” – haha I can be sarcastic but I’ll always immediately follow it up with “Just Jokes”
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If you could start a rumour about yourself, what would it be and why?
“I’m part Korean” haha because I kinda wish I was. I love the people and culture so much.
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As 2021 comes to a close teens and SWEATR are ramping up
“My goal over the upcoming year is to perform as often as I can, and to develop in my intimate writing, which has doubled as therapy for me during lockdown”, says Christina Rose.
SWEATR is “so excited to share more of what (he’s) been working on, and over the next 12 months things are gonna get pretty crazy”.
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New Single, ‘Every Time’ is the latest collaboration between rising independent artist and songwriter, teens, and acclaimed producer (and now artist) Will Henderson, going under the moniker, SWEATR.
’Every Time’ isn’t your usual break up tune, as the inspiration came from the breaking point of a platonic relationship in which teens explores how exhausting manipulative friendships (or relationships) can be. The frustration is reflected in the production as we immediately hear deep bass, effected vocal chants and distorted synths. The song has a tribal, energetic yet dark vibe with massive 808s that will have you bobbing your head.
RnB, Alt-Pop, Electronic and Singer-Songwriter could all be words to describe her music, but Christina Rose, aka teens doesn’t want to be boxed by a genre and prefers to let each song go where it wants to, to best tell it’s story.
“When writing, the melody and the words usually come together as a package without much warning” says Auckland based independent artist. “I need to quickly capture as much of that initial purge as I can. It may mean pulling the car over, or dashing out of the shower to get my phone and start recording. The number of demos I have with the car indicator on in the background is pretty funny. The inspiration comes quick” she says, “however, the structure and full development of a song can take years.”
Over the last couple of years teens has taken a collaborative approach to some of her projects. On her 2020 EP, One Step, a few of the songs were commenced in studio which was a lot of fun. “It’s been awesome working with the likes of Will, where we build something up from the ground together. It’s a fun way to explore melodies and concepts as a lot of the time you are writing to composition that is already laid down.”
This isn’t the first time SWEATR (producer Will Henderson) and teens have worked together, but it is the first time SWEATR has put his name to the music, feeling a sense of conviction based on personal experience.