Most party people in the Swedish downtempo and organic house scenes would quickly recognise the name Regndans. A regular headliner in the south Sweden city of Malmö, Regndans, or more affectionately known as Felix to the HMWL family, is an exciting tribal house DJ & Producer who effortlessly marries deep-bass trippy electronic vibes with the forest sounds of ethnic drums, and the romantic strings of flamenco guitars.
What he delivers is as strong a promise as the name of his project: Regndans, translated from Swedish to Rain Dance. On the dance floor, it feels exactly like it – a jungle dance for the nourishing rains, a celebration of life’s bountiful harvests, and a declaration of unity for the human tribe.
2022 has been a pretty exciting year for a proper Regndans, since he released his new EP Djinn with Baikal Nomads in April. Our team at HMWL is also extremely delighted to feature Regndans’ Semba (Jerry Spoon remix) on our latest pride and joy, Organic House Vol. 2.
Felix produces music in his studio in Malmö during the day, and by night, he puts his expertise to work by becoming a sound and light engineer for local clubs such as Inkonst, and festivals like PLX. With a wealth of knowledge in Sweden’s club and festival scene, it would be a pity not to let him tell us more about where to go, play, and love.
So let’s go on a Regndans tour, shall we?
TO DANCE WITH REGNDANS
First of all, congratulations on your EP Djinn making it to the front page of Beatport Organic House / Downtempo genre. And we can’t stop stomping our feet to Semba (Jerry Spoon remix) released on HMWL. How does it feel to be in this spotlight?
There’s a lot of quality music being showcased in this genre right now, and so much exciting happening. I’m very happy to be able to contribute this little piece myself.
How do you like the Jerry Spoon remix of Semba? How do you personally feel about the differences from the original mix?
It takes a true artist to see what’s not already there, and Jerry really managed to create a unique and new track while still keeping the essence of the original. Great percussion work, lovely melodies and I’ve had great success playing it for the dancefloor!
Tell us a little bit about how you got started with electronic music.
Long story very short: I moved away from home, but couldn’t fit my guitar in my suitcase. However I found a MIDI-keyboard on sale in the supermarket. Then I was never able to stop.
Surely, we can all hear the influence of Regndans. How did you fall in love with these drums, jungle sounds, and shamanic vibes?
I’ve always been drawn to music from Latin America since I used to play a lot of Spanish guitar and flamenco growing up. And I always loved music where I can’t understand the lyrics. The percussion bit comes a lot from being charmed by tribal music when travelling other parts of the world.
If your music could transport listeners to any world you could imagine, what would this world be like?
Almost exactly like ours. Just a little, little bit more magical.
WELCOME TO MALMÖ – REGNDANS EDITION
What does Malmö mean to you? If someone were to consider visiting the city, what would you say to them?
Do it! It’s a small city trying to be big – and in some ways it definitely succeeds. There’s a strong DIY vibe in Malmö that I think a lot of other places lack, and there’s a certain personality that I think a city loses once it becomes too large.
Where is Malmö’s underground? What’s it like?
We have a strong open air culture in Malmö that’s been taking off recently. Instead of having big established crews creating forest raves with entrance fees as a business venture, we have small local collectives putting up decorations and turning the small woods around the city to magical dancefloors over the night.
When you first started partying, which local parties would you often go to? What would you recommend today to someone in the house and techno scene?
When I first started going to raves and clubs there was a big scene in Malmö of illegal clubs in industrial sites. Some were quite established and some were very shady. What they had in common though was that it was a space where you could be accepted and embraced, and most importantly you could dance until early morning.
Since the laws in Sweden do not permit clubs being open longer than three or four o’clock usually, it’s hard to find a replacement among the legit venues in town. However there are a couple I really enjoy; Black Box Disco Club at Inkonst, Smålands Nation in Lund and the club “X” before it got closed down. And of course Backyard Sessions’s events which showcase really amazing bookings everytime!
Many readers who don’t live in Malmö wouldn’t know that perhaps the most popular food here is the falafel roll. Which is your favourite falafel place?
Definitely Mr. Falafel at Nobelvägen.
What do you hope to see in Malmö’s nightlife in the upcoming years?
That clubs get a higher status in terms of cultural value (I can dream right), and that it will be possible for new fresh collectives to start their own clubs. Right now it’s almost impossible for a new actor to get a licence for a dance venue. This would bring more diversity and more focus on the cultural aspect; as it is now the financial side is always taking over control from the creative side when clubs in my opinion are legally stopped from creating a turnover.
WOULD IT RAIN TOMORROW? REGNDANS’ FUTURE
What’s in the pipeline? Festivals, releases, gigs. Give us something to be really excited about.
Last year I’ve created some new music that is currently being released or just got released – however, most of my production time I’ve spent on producing music that is strictly for my live-set which I will be premiering at Kosmos Festival this summer. So a lot of new material, and almost two hours of exclusive tracks made for the live experience.
Are there any artists whom you’d like to work with in the future? Who? And why?
I really enjoy the artists that are breaking some rules and creating music that is really spaced out! Especially thinking about Mula and Guy Maayan who are consistently putting out fun and powerful tracks.
If you could go back 10 years and give your younger self advice, what would it be?
I think that would be cheating wouldn’t it? 🙂
Support Regndans on Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/artist/regndans/864085
Add Regndans to your Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2A2VOzhFZndhheC5EissY6?si=ApGGBCllQ8Sd47FyW2l4dg
Soundcloud’s super important too: https://soundcloud.com/regndans
Or stalk him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regndansmusik
