Sweater Beats Sheds Light on New Projects and Pre-Show Routines

Sweater Beats first popped on my radar through a collaborative EP with Morri$ (now known as P. Morris), and since then he's put out a slew of content including an EP on Symbols Recordings, a phenomenal Boiler Room mix, and one of the shining stars of the first wave of R&B remixes, a flip of Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body." I met up with him in downtown Austin this year after the HW&W x WRC MGMT SXSW showcase and was lucky enough to have some words with him about his upcoming projects.

THUMP: You've been touring a lot lately: which cities have really stood out to you?
Sweater Beats: Man, shouts out to Fortune Sound and Vancouver, I love that city. LA is always a good time too. I just played Sound in Hollywood for the Symbols showcase and it was great… Man, I can't pick just one though, haha.

Of course, how could you, speaking of Symbols, have you worked with Kastle ever?
Just for Symbols stuff, but we've never had a collaboration before.

Do you have any other collaborations that you can talk about?
I have one with Allie, she's a new Canadian signee to HW&W and she'll be on the EP.

Does the EP have a name yet?
I don't have a title yet…

Any potentials?
"The Loneliest Monk" I was thinking about these recently actually. "Forever A Foreigner" was another one, but I really have to finish the EP before I settle on something. I really like "The Loneliest Monk" though.

Do you know how many tracks it will be yet?
Four tracks. They're all about 80 percent done, so it's almost there.

How are you liking Austin so far?
Oh man, it's my second time at SXSW and it's still as crazy as it was before, but now I'm here playing with cool folks and I'm really enjoying myself.

And you just played the HW&W x WRC MGMT showcase, right?
Yup, it was dope vibes and the whole roster is up in there, it's good.

Who on HW&W do you think is best at Fifa?
Oh man, I don't know. Maybe Bahwee. Not Fifa though, but definitely NBA 2K.

What's your favourite place to go in New York before a gig?
There's this burger shop called Pop's and every time I play in Brooklyn I always go there—it's kind of a ritual for me. I just get a burger to tide myself over until after the show. Pop's is probably my favourite for pre-show food.

Are there any producers on your radar right now?
There's this artist—well, two dudes—called Vindata and they're on Symbols.

I heard their EP: it was phenomenal.
I know, right? I just made a track with them while I was out in LA. Out soon, maybe, haha. It's definitely done though, and it'll be out sometime, somewhere… I played it tonight at the HW&W showcase actually.

Did people like it?
I think so. I mean, I have this thing about looking at the crowd while I'm playing. I focus on the music so I look at my computer while I'm playing. Anyway, Vindata is amazing.

What are some of your influences in music? How'd you even start?
I started making music when I was 13 and I was playing in a bunch of bands. I was listening to a lot of rock music, but my transition from that to what I make now is probably attributed to a combination of RATATAT and Timbaland.

Great influences… have you seen RATATAT live?
Yeah, like three times. They're amazing live acts. Every time is crazy, especially when they drop Cherry or 17 Years. That's the one that got me.

It's just two guys rocking out.
Exactly, it's got the rock accessibility, but it's also got hip-hop beats and shit and it really brought me over to electronic music.