Interview with Ben: Music Mind @ Sodwee.com
1. Give us the reasoning behind the name “Sodwee” and how it influences what you do.
SODWEE stands for “Sound Of Da Week”. It was penned around 2005/2006 when I was thinking of unheard, unknown 6 letter URLs that would fit the bill for a hypothetical website/blog at the time. Came up with this one as it was available and sounded rad to me. Not to mention no one on the internet was using it. And to this day, it remains this way. A simple Google search will give you an insight on the damage having a rather senseless nickname can do… It influences the way I deal with new music everyday. I am always on the lookout for new sounds, trawling the internet, other blogs and social networks for that special spark in a track. Regardless of the genre or country of origin. As I usually say, Sodwee.com has no door policy, nor dress code. If it sounds good to me, there’s a good chance it’ll be featured somehow. It is all about the Street-Credibility factor without being pretentious about it or anything. The goal is to offer a wide enough range of good music on a daily basis to an ever-growing readership. And that’s what makes me happy, day in, day out.
2. Your music blog Sodwee has been around since 2006, which for the internet is an eternity. How do you explain its immortality and has the focus changed over the years?
I know right, 7 years. Gosh. Even I don’t realize. It started when I was working for a chain of pubs in Paris. I was asked to come up with a “musical signature” for the different pubs/bars as they knew I loved putting playlists together. So they got me thinking about people (customers) and why they came to the pubs, how their relationship with the environment of the bar — including the music — was very important to them. And a chain being a chain they wanted to streamline the whole music across every establishment. So I did. That’s where I got the bug for music. I got to consume so many new tracks it was insane. I needed to stay on top of the latest buzz bands/artists. So I decided to put all of the work I produced into a simple form. And that’s how the website/blog was born. It turned into a travel blog while I relocated to Dubai to work for an international airline. Blogging about my travels and the aviation industry, I always added the music element to the post or the video I came up with. Therefore always staying up to date. Came back to Paris, and carried on with the blogging. To where it is now. So the focus has changed over the years, but I made sure I always had the music element in there somewhere.
3. Tell us about The White Stripes :)
Well, well, well. THE WHITE STRIPES. The mighty, delightful duo from Detroit. Those two hold a very special place in my music library and education. They are my all time favorite band/artist. I started listening to them as early as 2001, when I picked up White Blood Cells (urgh, missing the good ol’ days of polycarbonate discs) from a shelf at the FNAC in Les Halles here in Paris. I got drawn to the artwork if I can recall. And maybe the rather cheap “prix vert” (green price) of the album. I got hooked straightaway. That rawness, the simple approach of their music made it very appealing to me. The guitar work by Jack White, the childish drumming by Meg White… Everything about the band was just brilliant.
But it wasn’t before I saw the pair perform live for the first time that I knew I had to do something about my fandom. You haven’t seen The White Stripes until you have seen them play live in front of you. It’s a special moment you’ll forever remember. Really. Harder these days because they’ve split, but I encourage anyone to get to a Jack White / The Dead Weather or a Raconteurs show. You will not be disappointed.
So I had to come up with a way of building a French community around them. Whitestripes.fr (or RedCandyCane as it was once called) was born, one of the ugliest HTML home-coded website ever, ahah. There was none at the time and again, to this day I think we’re the only one in the French speaking world. We improved the website over time, added forum / message board capabilities and now can safely say we’re the second destination worldwide for all things White Stripes, Jack White, and Third Man Records related. Also feel the need to mention that a White Stripes fan is most certainly the calmest, measured and thoughtful individual you could ever meet, and that’s pretty much true across the board. From all the fans I meet year after year it’s become apparent that we hold similar character traits. We’re not your usual screaming Bieber-maniac. lol. We’re remain composed and soak up the moment at a live show. You won’t see us crowd surf nor will you see us wait in vain in front of the hotel… just wanted to make that point. That is also why I loved the whole fandom around the band and the people I met because of that.
To the point we get invited to secret gigs, private album listening parties and enrolled to give out free gig posters at La Cigale the last time Jack White played there. We built a rather impressive “carnet d’adresses” for amateur bloggers like us. We have contacts worldwide just because of the website, so we’re always on the edge with the latest gossip. I also need to credit the brilliant team behind the moderation and administration duties, the wonderful Sabby, Mr Cellophane, Whammy, Happy_Dad and the whole community behind what Whitestripes.fr has become. It’s like family now. Each member has his own field of predilection. Just recently, we got to sit down with Jack’s Drummer, Daru Jones for a chat which was wonderful…
4. You feature regular weekly mixes on Sundays which are appropriately called “Sundaze” and you are now up to #40. How did it start and where do you draw your inspiration from?
The whole “Sundaze” shabang started at the same time I started traveling as Cabin Crew, it was a convenient way for me to compile all the tracks into a playlist and listen to them while flying around the world. From a practical point of view it was the best way to enjoy the finds I gathered during the week. And having it available from anywhere made it appealing to my readers too. To the point where it has become the oldest most popular recurrent post I publish. Recently though it took a whole other scope with Paul Grelet designing the cover art for each edition. I like to showcase talent and his illustration skills are second to none in my opinion. So I’m happy to have him onboard and make things look even more attractive whilst you play the Sundaze on a mobile device such as an iPod.
I get the inspiration from what I listen during the week and the mood I’m in while putting together a Sundaze Playlist. I usually throw in what I truly appreciate. Something that is related to a moment I experienced or a state of mind I went through. So it can start with a sad/melancholic track -say Plaid Dragon - Dog Physics - and finish with a true dance-floor banger like Bangarang by Skrillex. I really don’t like to limit myself, I have no boundaries, again no dress code, no door policy. However, I like to keep things fresh and have some unknown, unsigned bands/artists in the mix, makes for an eclectic blend of music, and who knows, a big fish might download the playlist and think about signing one of those artists. Readers might not enjoy the first two tracks, but fall in dire love for the third. You never know what you’ll fall on. That’s what I like about Sundaze Playlists.
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