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Arts & Entertainment

Meet Henrik Schwarz: German House With Soul

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Photo Courtesy Henrik Schwarz / used with permission
Henrik Schwarz is an artist often cited as a favorite by his peers.

The prolific German dance music producer is responsible for both successful club hits and deep cuts. His smartly textured electronic music can be uptempo or downtempo. Sometimes it's jazzy, other times more soulful, and other times stripped down.

He's a rare talent who can do all of that while maintaining a Henrik Schwarz sound.

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On Sunday, Schwarz will bring his house sounds to a pool party at the Custom Hotel. Also playing will this Culprit Sessions party will be Droog and Bas.

LAist: What do your DJ sets sound like these days?

Henrik Schwarz: For the past few years, I’ve only play live, and don't do DJ sets anymore. I have all my own productions, remixes and own tracks in thousands of little pieces on my laptop and recombine them in real-time into something new.

Whats an old favorite that regularly ends up in your live sets?

Moondog “Jazzbook #2” (Henrik Schwarz Version) 

What's your relationship with Los Angeles' electronic dance music community?

As I’m playing LA for the first time, there is no real relationship yet. But I am very much looking forward to playing there finally!

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What’s your favorite American city in which to gig?

I love New York. I love San Francisco. Maybe, also, LA will be top of the list soon ...

As a German, what's the allure to play Hollywood?

It is always very interesting and enjoyable to come to a city for the first time. It is possible to read many things out of a club crowd and how they dance and interact.

Of course, Hollywood is a very special place in the world, so I am excited to see how it has an effect on the people on the dancefloor and how the reactions to what I do will be.

Would you remix actor/singer David Hasselhoff?

Sure. I believe nearly anything can be remixed and turned into something really good. I was a huge fan of Knight Rider so it would be a pleasure to do it.

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