Erwin Bauwens – unusual mix of Latin, electronica and alt-pop…with a twist!
Multiple Akademia Award-Winner Erwin Bauwens, an artist and composer from Antwerpen, Belgium, who has suffered brain damage from an accident, has written many award winning songs for Justyna Stocka, Nathalie Collova and Claudia Van Linden. Bauwens who attended the Schilde/Zoersel Belguim Academy studying lyrics and music, has also been aired on radio stations across the globe.
His music has often been categorized in the Latin section, but Bauwens states that he has no genre, as he plays all kinds of music. More often than not his compositions are eclectic enough to actually defy genre. And that’s what happens on “Ready To Go”.
When you’re bored with what you’ve been listening to and want to hear something original or need something altogether different, this could be a go to song. Erwin Bauwens takes experimental portions of musical layering, and crafts a beat of ambient sounds to back the female vocal by Marian on “Ready To Go”.
It is a track that isn’t going to be for everyone and you shouldn’t feel bad if you can’t get into it the first time around. While we don’t always realize it, it’s oftentimes hard to set aside preconceived notions of where conventional music begins and experimental music ends.
The way the beat forms and the way the meter reads the difference between the vocal melody and the rhythm is odd, and odd denotes fear in untrained ears, and that foreign element of sound sitting outside of our comfort zone throws us off at first. Once you get the separation of the beats and the background, making out the melodies and the layers, everything will start to make sense.
When you spin through “Ready To Go” the second time, the song will capture you in its almost rhythmically haunting sound right away. It has such a strange ambiance to it, while Marian’s vocals are both floating and constricting at the same time, and you’ll find yourself drawn to that. The images it evokes become interesting and then some, to be sure.
If you’re new to Erwin Bauwens, perhaps this isn’t the first place you should step in at and begin exploring. These are musical waters to slip into slowly, submerging yourself into the sights and sounds they evoke a little at a time before delving into the calms and the chaos. It is remarkable though, a piece of music that will excite the epicenters of your waking mind when it finally tunes in.
Erwin Bauwens is right; he can’t be linked to just one genre. For me he can’t even be linked to any genre, because he is his own genre. The lack of a stereotyped bassline, tripped out synth noises, a crazy time signature and turnt female vocals, all go together to produce an unusual mix of Latin, electronica and alt-pop…with a twist.
Erwin Bauwens is a pioneer, exploring places so far away from the safe and snug bubble of all accepted musical knowledge that it can be scary. If you are the type of person who is tired of being patronized by boring traditional tunes, or just wants something different for a change, this track is for you.
What’s more Bauwens has just come away with yet another award-winning song – “Natalie”, which has won the “Best Ambient/ Instrumental Song.
