SWIMS is the merging of drumming improvisations with functional club music. Every song was created in the studio as a template for further de/reconstructions on stage, where they get deployed as samples to be manipulated, explored and remixed live using a trigger-modified kit. Arthur Hnatek (pronounced Na-tek), drummer, composer, electronica artist, is a Swiss musician. These days, he is mostly seen drumming with (Nonesuch and ECM artist) Tigran Hamasyan, Erik Truffaz, Arthur Hnatek Trio or his solo SWIMS project.
If you’ve ever wondered what a proficient jazz drummer would do within the parameters of contemporary electronica, the new “SWIMS” EP might be what you’ve been waiting for. The titled track invites us into a deep, dark and emotional trance melody. The club-friendly “Euclid Heat” suggests a space between your introspective dance floor memories. “SH101 Breeze” is a jagged, bright, stuttering and complex up-tempo jam. The EP closes with the guest appearance of Andrina Bollinger for a beautiful odd to the spiraling nature of our world. As a reminder to the process of composition, the Vinyl EP and Bandcamp digital features exclusive, short, edgy and improvised interludes revealing the raw nature of live music thus balancing the clean-cut angles of the studio outputs.
On the side of his work as a leader, with Melismetiq, SWIMS or his trio (with which he won the ZKB Jazzpreis 2019 at Moods in Zürich), Arthur is an active sideman performing in a variety of styles. He has been seen performing with Tigran Hamasyan Trio or Quintet, Erik Truffaz Quartet, Shai Maestro Trio, Gilad Hekselman, Dhafer Youssef, Donny McCaslin, Linda Oh, Vincent Peirani, Camila Meza, Gregoire Maret, Sophie Hunger, Florian Favre Trio, Franky Rousseau Big Band, Nate Wood Band just to name a few.
As an electronica artist, he has produced remixes for Manu Delago (Bjork),Tigran (Road Song EP), Eclecta, Matthieu Llodra Trio and Erik Truffaz among others. His project SWIMS debuts with a first EP in October 2017 on Susan Records. He has performed SWIMS at La Cigale (Paris), Label Suisse Festival or Montreux Jazz Festival to name just a few.
