[Dynagroove] Raoul Belmans 04.12.02

Wed Apr 2 11:47:21 PST 2003

Info on Raoul Belmans of "SWIRL PEOPLE"

RAOUL BELMANS aka SWIRL PEOPLE 

BIOGRAPHY 

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As a young teenager Raoul was exceptionally interested in electric boogie music, breakdancing, hip-hop culture and black music in general. He started to deejay house music in 1991 a local radio station in his hometown and some years later he broadcasted with some friends a radioshow live from the University City of Leuven, the capital of the Flemish speaking part of Belgium, the town where they make the famous Stella Artois lager and also the city where Raoul lives now. The show had so much listeners that his first bookings (in cozy pubs and small parties) started to come in very frequently. 1996 was the year that Raoul's DJ career stepped into the next level when he was offered a residency at "Food", nowadays Belgium's premium (deep) house night with a weekly spot at the Lounge Club in Brussels called "Food BXL Saturdays" and also doing parties all over the country and abroad. Numberous star DJ's coming from all over the world joined Raoul and the other residents Geoffroy a!
nd Regis to play at a Food night and amongst these Derrick Carter, Kenny Hawkes and DJ Sneak count in Food as one of their favorite clubs worldwide (See below: Food credits). DJ Sneak also spotted Raoul playing with him at Food and offered him to join his booking agency "All World Entertainment" to take care of all his bookings in North America.

Raoul nowadays extensively deejays all over in European cities and promotors everytime love to see this friendly bloke coming back to their clubs and parties. Some of the venues he already played are in London (Space @ Bar Rhumba/ Special Needs @ Turnmills), Glasgow (Subculture @ Sub Club), Edinburgh (Ultragroove @ La Belle Angele), Ireland (Discotonic @ The Kitchen), Amsterdam (Chemistry), Frankfurt (Wild Pitch Club, Robert-Johnson Club), Paris (Queen, Rex Club, La Fabrique, Openhouse) and also in Miami (Club Blue during WMC 2001), Cape Town (Smirnoff Experience) and Kuala Lumpur (Club Ohm) amongst many other clubs, festival and parties. 

Besides being a very skilled and widely appreciated DJ, Raoul is also very busy producing and remixing tracks for more than 6 years now. Over the years releases of him and his partner Dimitri Dewever could or can be found on recordlabels such as Global Cuts (R & S) (B), Wally's Groove World (B), Push & Pull (Nl.), Tronicsole / Solemusic (U.K.), Panhandle (U.S.), Seasons (U.S.), Music For Freaks (U.K.), Fast Forward (Fr.), Lowdown Music (U.S) under different monikers like Swirl People, Cozy Creatures, Different Noodles, Tiger Sprouts … and on the remix level he reworked tunes from Street Corner Symphony, Rozzo, Derrick Carter, Spank Da Monkey, Wam Kidz, Soulsearcher, Wizards of Ooze, Jori Hulkkonen, Fred Everything, Alexander East, JT Donaldson, Jonene and many more. (See below: Complete discography and Remixes). 

The debut album of his main project Swirl People called "Hi mom, let's dance" is just released on the Glasgowegian label Solemusic that host artists like DJ Spinna, Phil Asher, Basement Jaxx, Milton Jackson, a.o. and is already highly praised by the U.K. press. (See below: Swirl People credits).

Raoul's started his own label in 1998 called Aroma in conjunction with Belgium's biggest dance music distribution and record company N.E.W.S.. Its roster contains releases by Cricco Castelli, Swirl People, Sasha Kruger, Da Cuban Heelz, DJD, Lance De Sardi, Zap Mama, DJ Jonene, JT Donaldson, Alexander East, Olivier Desmet (Oh Dee), Deviate, Blasta La Vista, East Coast Boogiemen and remixes from Miguel Migs, Drop Music's Inland Knights, Guiro, Mazi, Wally Callerio, Volga Select (Ivan Smagghe), Freaks and Rob Mello. 

In the future there are also album projects planned by Lance De Sardi, Alexander East and of course Swirl People.

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DISCOGRAPHY 

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1. Swirl People - Keep running - Aroma (BE) (2002)
2. Swirl Peepz - Clear choice EP - Lowdown Music (US) (2002)
3. Swirl People - Hi mom, let's dance (Album) - Solemusic (UK) (2002)
4. Swirl People - Future signs (w/ Inland Knights remix) - Tronicsole (UK) (2001)
5. Tiger Sprouts - Steak out - Music For Freaks (UK) (2001)
6. Different Noodles - Dish #2 - Wally's Groove World (BE) (2001)
7. Swirl Peepz - Hang on - Fast Forward (FR) (2001)
8. Swirl People - We are - Seasons recordings (US) (2001)
9. Swirl People - Remixed bits (w/ Inland Knights + Shady Agents remixes) - Aroma (2001)
10. Cozy Creatures - How about some music? (w/Jori Hulkkonen remix) - Push & Pull (NL) (2001)
11. Cozy Creatures - Wanna sing - Push & Pull (2000)
12. Swirl People - Reflex success EP - Panhandle (US) (2000)
13. Swirl People - EP 2 - Tronicsole (2000)
14. Cozy Creatures - Lonely nights (w/ Undercover Agency + Jori Hulkkonen remixes) - Push & Pull (2000)
15. Different Noodles - Dish #1 - Wally's Groove World (2000)
16. Swirl People - EP 1 Between cities - Tronicsole (2000)
17. Swirl People - Save the people - Aroma (1999)
18. Cozy Creatures - Latin pussy / Lonely nights - Push & Pull (1999)
19. Swirl People - Watcha gonna do? - Aroma (1999)
20. Cozy Creatures - Espionage (w/ JT Donaldson + Jori Hulkkonen remixes) - Push & Pull (1999)
21. Swirl People - Nutz EP - Wally's Groove World (1999)
22. Swirl People - Eating all night - Aroma (1999)
23. Cozy Creatures - Stargazer (Album) - Push & Pull (1998)
24. Cozy Creatures - Flirting around - Push & Pull (1998)
25. Toothpick - Wonderful nourishment - Global Cuts (BE) (1998)
26. Swirl People - Snack break EP - Wally's Groove World (1998)
27. Toothpick - Frisky business EP - Global Cuts (1997)
28. Chilly Deep - Jelly beans - Marguerite (BE) (1997)
29. Toothpick - Eat your greens - Global Cuts (1997)
30. Swirl People - Noodles in space - Wally's Groove World (1997)
31. Fortune Cookies - Green lemon EP - Marguerite (1997)
32. Toothpick - Catch the pigeon - Generations (1996)
33. Kitchen Crew - Passion EP - Marguerite (1996)
34. Fortune Cookies - Funky biscuits EP- Marguerite (1996)
35. Fortune Cookies - Wise up EP- Marguerite (1996)

Upcoming releases

-Swirl People - Say Ooh! (w/ Harris Grooves remix) - Tronicsole (UK) (2002)
-Swirl People - Remixed bits 2 (w/ Mazi + DJ Sneak remixes) - Aroma (2002)
-Swirl People - Fears (w/ Jonene & Touchdown remix) - Tronicsole (UK) (May 2002)
-Cozy Creatures - Wanna sing Remixes (w/ Derrick Carter remix) - Push & Pull (2002)
-Swirl Peepz - Chicken Tandoori EP - Amentimusic (US) (April 2002)

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REMIXES 

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01. Yann Fontaine - ? (Swirl Peepz remix) - Squareroom recordings (US) (2002)
02. Alexander East - Tears (Swirl Peepz remix) - Simple Soul (US) (2002)
03. Jonene & Touchdown - Are u sure? (Swirl People R sure dub) - Aroma (BE) (2002)
04. Fred Everything presents Afro Love Project - One love (Swirl People remix) - Tronicsole (UK) (2000)
05. New York Thunder - My definition (Food mixture) - Aroma (2000)
06. Wizards of Ooze - Hi Fi Remixed (Swirl People Stereo mix + Mono dub) - Wha? Roots (BE) (2000)
07. Arsenal - Release (Swirl People tension dub) - Cafe del Mar (SP) (2000)
08. Wam Kidz - CB's groove (Cozy Creatures rework) - Shaboom! (UK) (2000)
09. Skulturisme - Charlie's (Swirl People mix) - Kroquis Disques (BE) (2000)
10. Arsenal - Release (Swirl People tension dub) - Wally's Groove World (BE) (1999)
11. Koenie & Frederik Vs. Spanner - No romance (Swirl People remix) - Wally's Groove World (1999)
12. J.A.W.S. (Jori Hulkkonen) - Polar pimp (Kempele) - Push & Pull (Nl) (1999)
13. Wam Kidz - CB's groove (Cozy Creatures rework) - After Midnight (Nl) (1999)
14. TDN (Tom De Neef) - Feel the groove (Cozy Creatures recreation) - Nightfever (NL) (1999)
15. Soulsearcher - Can't get enough (Swirl People rub-a-dubco mix) - Legato (BE) (1999)
16. Wally's Combo - Grand bazaar (Cozy Creatures remix) - Wally's Groove World (1999)
17. Street Corner Symphony - Symphonic tonic (Swirl People remix) - Tribeca (SP) (1999)
18. Superjock - Post modern sounds (Cozy Creatures mix) - Push & Pull (1998)
19. Spank Da Monkey (Orin Walters) - Who's groove (Swirl People remix) - Wally's Groove World (1998)
20. Rozzo - Sexy dancer (Swirl People remix) - Legato (1998)
21. Street Corner Symphony - Symphonic tonic (Swirl People remix) - Hot Wheels + Universal (BE)/ (1998)
22. Neon Judgement - Out of my mind (Swirl People dub) - KK records (BE) (1998) 

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LINKS 

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Raoul Belmans  
Swirl People 
Interview 
Aroma records 

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House music all night long...
http://www.housemusic.com