Darker Than Wax and Swell share their perspectives on ways of staying true to their founding intentions and preserving authenticity — just as how Ermenegildo Zegna’s compelling (RESET) WHAT MAKES A MAN for Fall/Winter 2021 aims at changing the status quo.
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Swell, Design Studio
Swell has been frequently credited on the back of exhibition collaterals and books in Singapore, but for the design studio, enjoying their work and being honest has brought them success.
How was Swell formed and what has the collective (re-engineered) since then?
To be totally candid, Swell’s early portrait looks rather different from what it is now. We started with romantic intentions, conceived in a basement studio while setting up for an exhibition. Conversations led to grand ideas and these grand ideas took shape in the form of a collective (which was kind of trendy at that time). These grand ideas have slowly distilled into who we are today. We say romantic and grand because — in hindsight — these ideas were centred around the “designer” with design being the pivotal force of society. However, when all considered, Design is but a medium. A few concepts have stayed true regardless — doing work we liked, being honest in and with design and most importantly, we are friends before business partners.
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What were the challenges Swell faced during its founding years?
The infant years of Swell were not a rosy picture and one might say we were naive to strike out on our own at a relatively young age — which comes with its challenges. We “winged” our way through despite being clueless about running a practice. The daily grind often led to self-doubt but that is only natural and perhaps even necessary in our growth. Commercially, we described ourselves as a studio but back then it felt more like freelancers coming together to collaborate on a project.
We come to realise that the idea of “running a business in the creative industry” is not the same as “running a business creatively in the industry”. We sometimes struggled with juggling the emphasis on business building against creative ownership. In those early days, challenges came in the timeframe of days and weeks, not months and years. It was all about the hustle.
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How has the design community attributed to the success of Swell so far?
The idea and measure of success is subjective to various degrees, and it is not something we tend to think about. We find fulfilment on a day-to-day basis — a project that materialises still pushes us to continue to do what we do. Perhaps still being able to work with people/artists we vibe with or look up to is a reason to be happy about. We regard all of them (apart from designers) as part of this community too.
Being in operation after 10 years is a commendable feat for six ill-prepared guys and is a success in itself. This would not have been possible without the friends and camaraderie the community has gifted us. This huge circle that we are a part of has been instrumental in enabling us to carve out a little space for ourselves. Being able to observe the contrast and diversity of design work around us allowed us to be confident in our own voice, while at the same time striving for more.
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How else can a designer better their practice?
The designer’s voice (or graphic/creative/artistic authorship) inevitably leaks into design outputs that serve society through any project. Ultimately, we need to evaluate how a designer can work towards the betterment of their intended audience alongside the clients’ interests. This may sound contrived coming from a studio made up of six guys but we think in this industry, diversity is represented through the work — apart from the people. In this respect, we hope to see more designers place heavier emphasis on environmental responsibility and awareness, in efforts to work towards a more sustainable future for the world and industry.
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From left to right: Swell members Felix, Marvin, Benson, Dhiya, Darrick, Sid
(On Felix) UTE cashmere jacquard kimono coat, cashmere and silk knit sweater, leather combat boots
(On Marvin) Cashmere and wool felt knit polo sweater, wool felt pants
(On Benson) Cashmere turtleneck sweater, wool pants
(On Dhiya) Cashmere overshirt, wool pants
(On Darrick) Wool kimono jacket, wool felt vest, wool pants
(On Sid) Wool felt blouson jacket, wool felt pants
All clothing Ermenegildo Zegna XXX
*UTE stands for #UseTheExisting
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Darker Than Wax, Music Label
From hosting communal parties at Chye Seng Huat to extending its reach to cities like Tokyo and New York, Darker Than Wax is a force to reckon with and for good reasons. Despite shifts in music tastes over the years, Soul, Jazz and Blues have always been the reason to continue their work.
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How was Darker Than Wax formed and what has the collective (re-engineered) since then?
We (Kaye and Dean) used to run this primitive website called “Dance And Soul”. It was mainly known for hosting a rather wide selection of radio shows from all over the world and was arguably quite ahead of its time. So to a certain degree, we have always stayed in touch and maintained relationships with DJs, selectors and artists globally, and have always had this global mentality from the get-go.
It was also a means of getting our own music out by ourselves. We had been passing our demos to visiting DJs in the early days and most times, we would be on support duties doing the warm-up sets. We got a lot of positive feedback and hit it off with most of them during their short stay in Singapore but for some reason, the moment they left Changi Airport, we got ghosted. So it was also born out of frustration to a certain extent. One thing that has never changed over these years is the vibe of music that pricks our ears. It must have that element of Soul, Jazz or Blues.
Another fundamental value is our insistence on deep knowledge of the roots of music. You can only be a better DJ, producer or musician if you understood the evolutions of different genres of music.
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How has the music community helped the growth of the label over the years?
We’ve helped to raise the profile of the DJs and producers who have come and gone through our doors because of our rather strong brand identity. By taking all these people in, our presence also expands into their respective communities. So we share a relationship with the Techno, House, HipHop, Funk & Soul and even Drum & Bass communities, and not just one or two sub-genres of dance music. As a result, we’ve been able to play at a multitude of events with different musical directions, so it seems like we’re everywhere!
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How else would you like to see the conversation on diversity improve within the music industry?
There’s all this talk about “inclusiveness” these days, but usually it’s just PR talk while old biases still remain, shrouded in this veil of political correctness. It’s getting harder to have open honest conversations about real issues without the fear of getting cancelled by self-righteous, myopic keyboard warriors. So, less bitchiness and insecurity, and more collaborative-minded approaches, and for real.
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What infrastructure would be most helpful to young producers?
Firstly, they need to have a space to gather, either physically or online — being able to interact with other producers of different styles as well as the more seasoned producers. Actually, a physical space is still the most ideal because it’s faster to inspire people that way. When you’re online, you’re mostly limited to what you want to look for, but if you place random people (and perhaps production gear) in a physical space, more interesting inspirations can emerge from chaotic interactions — kind of like browsing in a bookstore or record store, you could stumble upon something you never thought of.
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From left to right: Darker Than Wax members William J, Dean, Kaye, Ashley, Daryl
(On William J) Wool gabardine moulinè effect blouson jacket, wool gabardine moulinè effect pants
(On Dean) Wool felt blouson jacket, wool felt pants
(On Kaye) Wool jacquard jacket, cashmere knit sweater, wool jacquard pants
(On Ashley) Wool and stella alpina-blend overshirt, wool and stella alpina-blend pants
(On Daryl) Wool felt vest, cashmere and silk knit sweater
All clothing Ermenegildo Zegna XXX
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Photography Cher Him
Art Direction Izwan Abdullah
Styling Manfred Lu
Photography Assistant Zhan Hong
Grooming & Hair Priscelia Wong using Shiseido and DunGüd
Grooming Assistant Moni Tan
Styling Assistant Carin
This story about Darker Than Wax and Swell on re-setting the status quo first appeared in our September 2021 issue.
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