Soulwax | |
|---|---|
 Performing as2manydjs in 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as |
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| Origin | Ghent,Belgium |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Labels | |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | soulwax |
Soulwax are a Belgianelectronic band and DJ/production collective fromGhent, who formed in 1995. Centred around brothersDavid andStephen Dewaele, other current members includeIgor and Laima Cavalera, and Stefaan Van Leuven. The group first rose to prominence following the release of their albumMuch Against Everyone's Advice, and have released five studio albums to date. Outside of Soulwax, the Dewaeles also perform DJ sets under the moniker2manydjs (first known as The Fucking Dewaele Brothers/The Flying Dewaele Brothers[1]).
The group are also known for their projectRadio Soulwax. Their 2002 compilation,As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2, was named the best popular music album of 2002 byThe New York Times.[2] The brothers have also hosted a show on Belgian television, titledAlter8.
The 2004 albumAny Minute Now spawned three singles in "E Talking", "NY Excuse" and the title track. The "E Talking"music video was controversial and restricted to post-watershed broadcast onmusic television channels. Filmed on location inLondon'sFabric nightclub, everyone in the video is depicted as being on a different drug, listed from A through Z (including popular drug nicknames).[3]
The group produced a number of official and unofficial remixes, including "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House" and "Get Innocuous!" byLCD Soundsystem, "Robot Rock" byDaft Punk and "Dare" byGorillaz. They are friends of artistsTiga, LCD Soundsystem andWhoMadeWho. The albumNite Versions (2005) is a collection of remixes of tracks from the albumAny Minute Now.
In January 2006, Soulwax released their second remix album. TitledThis Is Radio Soulwax, it wascovermounted into the February 2006 issue ofMixmag. Their third remix album,Part of NYE Never Dies, was also covermounted intoMixmag in late 2008.
In summer 2006, Soulwax completed a "Nite Version remix" ofGossip's "Standing in the Way of Control" as well as their "Ravelight Dub" and "Ravelight Vocal Mix" ofRobbie Williams' "Lovelight". The summer 2006 tour was filmed by directorSaam Farahmand, and resulted in the documentary "Part of the Weekend Never Dies".
In August 2006, Soulwax were working on tracks for the new album from Tiga. In late 2006, it was announced in Belgian magazineHUMO that David and Stephen Dewaele had formed a band with Shane Doran and his brother-in-law Fergadelic, calledDie Verboten.
In 2007, Soulwax produced remixes of "Gravity's Rainbow" byKlaxons and "Phantom Pt. II" byJustice.
Soulwax, under the guise of 2manydjs, headlined their own "Radio Soulwax" tent at theRock Ness Festival held on 9 June 2007. The following day at the festival, they played a Soulwax Nite Versions show in the "Clash Arena."[4] Later that month, they took part in theWild in the Country event atKnebworth Park on 30 June 2007.[5]In December 2007, they held Radio Soulwax-mas, a massive Christmas party in Flanders Expo, with guests such as Tiga, Erol Alkan,Boys Noize,Justice, Riton, Mixhell, Daniele Baldelli, Hong Kong Dong,Das Pop,Goose, and Milk Inc.[6]
Soulwax produced the debut album by fellow BelgiansDas Pop, fronted by Soulwax drummerBent Van Looy, scheduled for 2009 release in the UK.[7]
In December 2009, Soulwax produced the song "We Love Animals" forCrookers withMixhell. In addition, Soulwax produced the song "Talk to Me" byPeaches.[8]
In 2016, Soulwax returned with a new live show entitled "Soulwax Transient Program For Drums And Machinery". The new line up consisted of three drummers (Victoria Smith,Blake Davies andIgor Cavalera) as well as Igor's wife Laima Leyton, (also of Mixhell) on synths and backing vocals.[9] This live show was the basis for their albumFrom Deewee, released March 24.[10]
The only official compilationAs Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2, was released in 2002 and is composed of 45 tracks the Dewaele brothers were able to clear the rights from. They originally requested rights for 187 tracks and got clearances for 114 of them. 62 were refused and 11 remained untraceable.[11]
All the unofficial releases (As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 1 and 3 through 11) are in fact a compilation of theRadio Soulwax shows[12] 2manydjs did for various radio stations includingStudio Brussel (Belgium),Radio 1 (UK),KISS 100 (UK) andEins live (Germany).[13]
As part of the Vivid Live Festival in Sydney, David and Stephen Dewaele behind 2manydjs and electro-rock outfit Soulwax presented a one-off series of radio shows on 'Triple J' Australian national radio station. The series was broadcast nationally 6 PM nightly from 31 May 2011 to 3 June 2011.[14]
The 2001 track "Theme from Discothèque" is by David and Stephen Dewaele from Soulwax, under the nameSamantha Fu.[1] They produced this track for aGhent-based dancegroup called Kung Fu.
On February 2, 2009, Soulwax made a guest appearance onBBC Radio 1, playing 420 song introductions in a period of 60 minutes.[15]
David and Stephen produced Bolis Pupul's debut albumLetter to Yu, and recorded it at their studio, Deewee Studios, in Ghent.[16]
In 2004, Soulwax compiled the soundtrack for the Belgian movieSteve + Sky. Soulwax contributed three instrumental tracks on this compilation under the name "Kawazaki".
Soulwax's remix of the Rolling Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" is the credit song of, and featured in the movie21.[17]
Director Saam Farahmand has filmed Soulwax on their international dates (2005–2007), capturing all the excitement, chaos and humour of the world tour. Soulwax filmed 120 shows with one camera in Europe, Japan, U.S., Latin America and Australia. This resulted in two films entitled "Part of the Weekend Never Dies"; a live music film and a documentary which includes 2manydjs, Soulwax Nite Versions and features James Murphy,Nancy Whang, Erol Alkan, Tiga, Justice, Busy P, The Naked Guy, So-Me,Peaches, Kitsuné, Klaxons and many more in behind the scenes footage, interviews, etc.As of April 2008, Soulwax's clubbing film/documentaryRadio Soulwax is finished. They performed a sold-out gig at the London Royal Festival Hall, during which they did a première of the film.[18] It came out on DVD September 2008.
Soulwax composed the soundtrack for the 2016 filmBelgica byFelix Van Groeningen, crediting every song on the soundtrack to a different fictional band.[19]
In 2011, Soulwax established a website calledRadio Soulwax, in which a continuous mix played all day, featuring 24 hour-long mixes with visuals similar to those used in the 2manydjs live sets, and included music from many different decades.[20] These "RSWX hours" have since been made available onVimeo.[21]
Soulwax - Machine was conceived and directed bySaam Farahmand, who was inspired to create an interpretation of the ethos behind the project. The result is a film featuring model Marilyn Rose that encapsulates the audio-visual obsession of Radio Soulwax, according to Soulwax themselves.[22] The film was previsualised, edited, and post-produced by Andrew Daffy's The House of Curves in London.[23]
Soulwax contributed to the soundtrack ofGrand Theft Auto V. They hosted and supplied the playlist to the in-game radio station "Soulwax FM".[24]
| Year | Awards | Work | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Zamu Music Awards[25] | Much Against Everyone's Advice | Album cover | Won |
| 1999 | Zamu Music Awards[26] | Soulwax | Live-act | Won |
| TMF Awards[27] | Soulwax | Best Belgian Rock | Won | |
| 2 Many DJ's | Best Belgian Video | Won | ||
| 2000 | TMF Awards[28] | Soulwax | Best Belgian Rock | Won |
| Much Against Everyone's Advice | Best Belgian Video | Won | ||
| 2002 | Zamu Music Awards[29] | 2 Many DJ's | Dance | Won |
| TMF Awards | 2 Many DJ's | Best Belgian DJ | Won | |
| 2004 | Joseph Plateau Awards[30] | Steve + Sky | Best Belgian Composer | Won |
| TMF Awards[31] | 2 Many DJ's | Best Belgian DJ | Won | |
| 2005 | MTV Europe Music Awards[32] | Soulwax | Best Belgian Act | Nominated |
| MVPA Awards[33] | "E Talking" | Best International Video | Nominated | |
| 2007 | Rober Awards Music Poll[34] | Most of the Remixes | Best Various Artists Compilation | Won |
| PLUG Awards[35] | Nite Versions | DJ Album of the Year | Nominated | |
| DJ Awards[36] | 2 Many DJ's | Breakthrough | Nominated | |
| 2009 | International Dance Music Awards[37] | Soulwax | Best Dance Artist (Group) | Nominated |
| 2011 | BT Digital Music Awards[38] | Radio Soulwax iOS | Best Music App | Nominated |
| Radio Soulwax | Best Radio Show or Podcast | Nominated | ||
| DJ Awards[39] | 2ManyDJ's | Best Eclectic House DJ | Won | |
| 2012 | UK Music Video Awards[40] | Radio Soulwax - "Machine" | Best Music AD | Nominated |
| 2017 | Best Art Vinyl[41] | From Deewee | Best Art Vinyl | Nominated |
| Music Industry Awards[42] | Best Album | Won | ||
| Best Artwork | Nominated | |||
| Soulwax | Best Live Act | Nominated | ||
| Best Dance Act | Nominated | |||
| 2018 | UK Music Video Awards[43] | "Is It Always Binary" | Best Live Video | Nominated |
| 2020 | Grammy Awards[44] | Marie Davidson - "Work It" (Soulwax Remix) | Best Remixed Recording | Nominated |
Adapted from Discogs.[45]
An album with remixes that were not included inMost of the Remixes.
| Year | Song | UK Singles Chart[46] | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | "2nd Handsome Blues" (10" vinyl EP) | — | - |
| 1996 | "Kill Your Darlings" | — | Leave the Story Untold |
| "Great Continental Suicide Note" | — | ||
| "Caramel" | — | ||
| 1998 | "My Cruel Joke..." | — | Much Against Everyone's Advice |
| "Conversation Intercom" | 65 | ||
| "Much Against Everyone's Advice" | 56 | ||
| 1999 | "Too Many DJ's" | 40 | |
| "When Logics Die" | 56 | ||
| "Saturday" | - | ||
| 2001 | "Conversation Intercom" (re-mix) | 50 | |
| 2004 | "Any Minute Now" | 34 | Any Minute Now |
| 2005 | "E Talking" | 27 | |
| "NY Excuse" | 35 | ||
| 2016 | "Transient Program For Drums And Machinery" | — | From Deewee |
| 2017 | "Do You Want To Get Into Trouble?" | — |
These unofficial compilations are bootleg recordings of radio shows that 2manydjs did forStudio Brussel.
A bootleg recording of theirEssential Mix forBBC Radio 1 in 2005 was released under the title50,000,000 Soulwax Fans Can't Be Wrong.[47]
As sons of radio and TV host Zaki, the Dewaele Brothers grew up among vinyl records and started collecting them themselves.[48][49][50] On 26 March 2014, students of the PXL university digitalized 5.000 of the more than 40.000 vinyl records owned by the Dewaele Brothers. As a gift back, the brothers played a set at a student afterparty.[51][52]
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| National | |
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