Remis Rančys of The Schwings Band is my guest this episode!
Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, Remis is a musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and he likes taking pictures and is a nature lover and traveler.
You can find accompanying playlists links for this episode on Spotify and YouTube.
The Schwings band recently released a new album, recorded in the studio Remis was in when we spoke for DIJ. You can find the music of The Schwings Band on Bandcamp, on Spotify, and on Itunes. You can also find them on social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
The transcript for this podcast can be found by following this link to Buzzsprout.
You can learn a little more about the songs chosen by checking us out on Instagram.
To support the podcast check out our Patreon here :)
Please subscribe and leave a review if you're enjoying the show!
Desert Island Jams is hosted and produced by Sarah Spoon
Graphics designed by Sara Azmy
Original theme song by Jonathan Stout
Music license from PRS sponsored by Andria Helm of VoiceSculptor.com
Remis Rančys of The Schwings Band is my guest this episode!
Based in Vilnius, Lithuania, Remis is a musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and he likes taking pictures and is a nature lover and traveler.
You can find accompanying playlists links for this episode on Spotify and YouTube.
The Schwings band recently released a new album, recorded in the studio Remis was in when we spoke for DIJ. You can find the music of The Schwings Band on Bandcamp, on Spotify, and on Itunes. You can also find them on social media such as Facebook and Instagram.
The transcript for this podcast can be found by following this link to Buzzsprout.
You can learn a little more about the songs chosen by checking us out on Instagram.
To support the podcast check out our Patreon here :)
Please subscribe and leave a review if you're enjoying the show!
Desert Island Jams is hosted and produced by Sarah Spoon
Graphics designed by Sara Azmy
Original theme song by Jonathan Stout
Music license from PRS sponsored by Andria Helm of VoiceSculptor.com
Hello, my name is Remis Rancys. I'm from The Schwings Band and this is the Desert Island Jams with Sarah Spoon. I hope you're gonna enjoy the show.
Sarah Spoon :Hi, I'm Sarah spoon, and this is Desert Island Jams, a monthly podcast where I sit down with the DJs musicians and just general music nerds from the dance community and ask them what they would put on a tiny mp3 player that could hold 10 songs when they're stuck on a desert island. My guest this month is Remis Rancys of The Schwings Band. Remis is a musician, composer, multi instrumentalist. He's an arranger. He likes taking pictures. He's a nature lover. He's a traveler. And as I'm sure you will be able to tell from our conversation, massive music lover, now he is living in Vilnius in Lithuania. And that was where he was in his studio when we caught up at the end of May. So I just want to give you a little note on the sound that Remis has a very powerful microphone and he was also in a very big studio. So there's some atmospheric background noises that I wasn't able to squirrel away. You might hear some birds singing, passing traffic. And that is why! Welcome to the show.
Remis Rancys :Hey, Sarah.
Sarah Spoon :I'm really excited. We could make this happen.
Remis Rancys :Me too.
Sarah Spoon :Yeah. How long have the Schwings been together?
Remis Rancys :Oh, I'm very bad with this numbers. But I think it's soon gonna be around 10 years, maybe some eight or nine years now maybe nine years.
Sarah Spoon :How did the band get together?
Remis Rancys :I was always studying music and I was into music since, maybe five years old. So and then I went to study and when I went to study at the Conservatorium, I started in conservatory when I was 16 years old, and then you want to do something not just practicing in a studio. So I went to Vilnius. It's the city that I'm right now here, I build a band of three guys and we start to go to different restaurants. Imagine like 16 years old guys come into the restaurant and like I'm very the boss. They all the waiters are like the having fun because they see that we are kind of not like a business people, we want something else. And then I started to, you know, deal with them. Like we can make some nice music and you know, like, but it was very interesting that that I was I like to like going and talk with people not just like writing like emails, and then and then we were Here still doing music.
Sarah Spoon :How many instruments do you play?
Remis Rancys :Oh, that's difficult question. I can show because I'm in my studio now. So you can see many instruments. I don't know. I play many small, funny instruments that is not really like, like some [plays something like a small penny whistle for 15 seconds] something like this. So if we count all these things, I think it's like 20 maybe or something. I don't play stringed instruments like violins, but I like to play double bass. If there is an instrument in the room. Some time ago, I used to work as a orchestra leader, arranging, conducting and also playing. So I had to know a lot about composing and which instrument can sound good and which instruments blends well with other like all these combinations, so it's it's always good to try something you know, just to get a feeling. I love instruments and like if I travel somewhere I always like to check some different cultures instruments like ethnic instruments, it's always interesting how they build some. If I would be very rich, I would love to have like five rooms like this or Museum,
Sarah Spoon :the desert island jams list, does this come from your general listening? Or is it because you've picked this explicitly because they make you feel like you're on a desert island?
Remis Rancys :I think it's maybe mix you know, if we talk about some classical pieces, so it can be the same, like the same score, but the way some different artists played. It makes me like, Oh, I really love this tune. And sometimes I listen to the same tune but some other people playing or some other orchestra. It doesn't move me so so so well. When you're when when you ask about this stuff. favorite songs? Because I'm I'm always surrounded with music. I'm like, I remember my grandpa, my grandfather who used to have like smaller radio like now we have this JBL speakers. And I'm always with this when I'm not in studio, and I'm always exploring I'm always discovering and checking for new recordings.
Sarah Spoon :Do you listen to The Schwings? Do you listen to your own music? Is that cool?
Remis Rancys :No, I mean, I just listen mostly as a you know, sometimes I check sometimes I listen to something and I think like, Oh, I need to compare some elements of my recording and their recording. So sometimes I do like this. And very sometimes if I listen to something very beautiful that I'd like I want to see like I want to compare how much way I have to go to reach to this you know, when it's recorded like we just fresh recorded mostly it's like judging You listen yourself and you judge every detail but when it when the time passes, you get more like like friendly and not that picky with like all the little details. You have to learn this I think this is important for every like a young musician, and not just to expect that you do first steps and you gonna be masterpiece you know, so let yourself, I mean do your best but literally let yourself you know like to... say one way to go. So it's more like analyzing but I never listened my music and have tears in my eyes
Sarah Spoon :[laughs] 'It's just so beautiful.'
Remis Rancys :Yeah...... uh, No, it's just like, analyzing
Sarah Spoon :how difficult Did you find it putting this list together? Were you like bosh, 'got it' or were you agonizing?
Remis Rancys :I was very excited because when you wrote me about this list, because I love so much talk and share music with someone and When you asked me this, I know that you're going to be difficult for me, but I just thought like, okay, at the moment what I have in my head, so and then I choose the songs. I'm very excited. I love talking about music sharing something that I just discovered. So for me this is like, oh, and just makes me very happy.
Sarah Spoon :Let's talk about the first track then, which is 'Alap' by Hariprasad Chaurasia. He is a musician that plays mainly the bamboo flute?
Remis Rancys :it's a it's a bansuri flute. I knew this musician, before I heard him in the live concert. I know him before. Because he, he made some recordings also with jazz musicians. But when I heard him like first recordings with jazz musicians, maybe didn't catch me so so well, like this one. I was studying in Netherlands in Amsterdam Conservatory. And I remember I had like a decision that I'm going home back to the center and Suddenly, I found that the Chaurasia is playing in Amsterdam concertgebouw in the in the main hall, and I went to his concert just like, then we go to France with his student because he used to tour here in Lithuania with my friends and it was really like, some circles that we connect. I mean, I never met him in person and he's very old now. His music makes me... it sounds like this that I can listen in any occasion or any mood that I have. I'm very like happy or very sad. Mostly maybe when I'm very unbalanced. I think if I listen this music, it gives me really like [exhales] back to the harmony and why it's my mind and so I think that's that's amazing that music have this tools in itself, that can be heal or help you feeling better. And there's so much noise everywhere around now in, in the world. So listening this, It makes me like oh now I'm in my desert, island
Sarah Spoon :So lovely
Remis Rancys :You see it's so simple it doesn't have to be like too many instruments or just, bamboo flute and tempura is the string instrument. And so huge.
Sarah Spoon :The next track is played by Ayub Ogada and he plays the Nyatiti, which looks a bit like a lyre, isn't it? Am I right in saying that?
Remis Rancys :I was reading, it's they call it the father or mother of harp.
Sarah Spoon :Hmm.
Remis Rancys :It's like the way heart started. So it started from this Like primitive instruments, but it sounds really, also for me so not really, and, and rhythmically, and he, I think this song is gonna be fast song, but he also does like quiet songs. So it's like a guitar but I mean in a more like olden days,
Sarah Spoon :the notes you put in with this song, you've put that 'he's in time with time' and I wondered if you'd want to explain that a little bit more.
Remis Rancys :Yeah, like many of these traditional African musicians, the sense of time and the way they play rhythm. It's for me it's like, this is like a source you know of, you know, everything is in this time harmony. And when you listen this it just for me, it's like just the expression of this time, harmony around us... and they do it so naturally, it feels like. You want that you want to move your feet. It's impossible not moving at all.Yeah,
Sarah Spoon :this track is called 'Thum Nyatiti'
Remis Rancys :You should check his more music I mean... there are maybe you seen the movie Samsara? He his music is in some of these movies now and I don't want to mistake, But it works so well. I mean, he's just playing one string instrument and singing but through the singing and this this picture is that you see our planet is like being destroyed and that we know digging all the time. And you just feel the sorrow of all this things that happening and it works with this picture is like wow, you just gonna cry or I don't know, it touches your deeply
Sarah Spoon :but the next track you've got is something a little less serious. It definitely has that desert island vibe. So I can totally see why you picked it. How did you discover it?
Remis Rancys :You know, I discovered this this track while I was watching another artist interview that is in the in the list, Devendra Banhart. There is one video on YouTube, where he's at his home and they use this track for like a background music. And I am always with Shazam, you know, when I was like, wow, this track is so funny I have to find it. And then I realized that I knew this orchestra and this band leader, Djalma Ferreira, because we even play one song from his repertoire. It's called Ricardo Bossa Nova. But somehow I didn't know about this track that is funny, bassoon sound and really groovy, Brazilian like percussion and guitar grooves. I hate when I hear something beautiful. I need to find it and I love finding connections like, like who is the artist who recorded, where it was recorded, you know, like, [laughs]
Sarah Spoon :let's listen to this lovely slice of Brazilian joy. I Think out of all the songs that you've got on the list it's the one that I was like yeah, clearly tropical paradise happening right here.
Remis Rancys :Yeah I love all this like tropical music and Listening this because you know listen, it's very long winter, so we need music like this to survive the darkness.
Sarah Spoon :Speaking from the UK I completely sympathize and agree. The next track is the only bit of swing jazz. How did it make the cut?
Remis Rancys :Hoagy Carmichael is like for me, he's like, one of the biggest heroes from this jazz era. I think it's 2...3....3 musicians. It's a double bass. He himself plays the piano here. And the percussion player. Just the melody. I mean, just Stardust you know that it's like one of the most like recorded composition in history. And there are hundreds of versions and this is the original, the source, and this is really this is really jazz sound for me, the way they do it here
Sarah Spoon :If you're a big fan of this song, does it mean we're going to see a Schwings version of that?
Remis Rancys :Oh, we used to play the song many times, but I am not sure that we're gonna record it. But do you never know? Maybe I will not record, maybe if I find some right instrument to play with.
Sarah Spoon :Because the 30 you have in the studio aren't right apparently!!
Remis Rancys :You just mean you get the feeling of Ah, now I can with this sound, I can record that song. We used to play a lot like live, but now we now play more like original songs by ourselves.
Sarah Spoon :I think that's one of the things I like about Schwings. I mean, your sound is really specific to you as a group, but also the originals you're putting out, in a community which values being faithful to the original arrangements. I found it really refreshing that you could do something that's completely your own. But it still feels like it fits in, there's a place somewhere.
Remis Rancys :That's why our band is called Schwings, you know, we can play swing like Americans did, or like, we can do something but in our way, and we never want to be like saying that all I can do I can play this the Stardust the way they did, or so, you just appreciate we just really like, adore all this. What they did, and we try- because they play maybe songs that they were listening When they were teenagers, so sometimes I do arrangement of song that I was listening to when I was teenager... that song that I was grown with no, I think is just the same principle. But but not the, not trying to imitate and copy them just like you know. So maybe that's the idea. And now when I grow older I want to, I have more and more like ideas that I want to make like a song I have some message maybe, or maybe this is the reason that I want to compose more original songs, but with this style, because I think this, this style has like huge opportunities, and there are still a lot of fields that you can stay, like very interesting, original, because for me, it's important that music moves you. And this style really moves me it's like so natural joy. And in these days, there are so much of this kind of, fake joy that you know, like it doesn't touch me at all.
Sarah Spoon :Have you seen Wayne's World?
Remis Rancys :No... is a new movie or what?
Sarah Spoon :No, it's an older movie, Mike Myers before he did Austin Powers and what they do, there's a section in there when they're talking about attractive women.... And what they do is they say 'schwing' as a salute to how attractive they are!
Remis Rancys :Ahhhh! Okay, okay. I was reading something about this movie and about this term , because if we talk about our band's name, it's ....I got some messages from US, like, especially from Seattle, and they say, like, oh guys, your music, it's really nice, but your band's name is a bit too radical for our communities. I was I was like, What do you mean by that? And then they explain that it just means erection in in Seattle.
Sarah Spoon :[laughs]
Remis Rancys :schwing!
Sarah Spoon :The next track, 'Old Friends' by Paul Desmond.
Remis Rancys :Oh, yeah.
Sarah Spoon :It's kind of magical.
Remis Rancys :Yeah.
Sarah Spoon :If you're on the desert island, it's a film and this is part of this soundtrack of the film what is happening as we're hearing this song?
Remis Rancys :I think it could be like the moment when you like suddenly see the horizon, the good friend is coming, you know, to your island
Sarah Spoon :right let's give it a listen Next up we have Violin Concerto in C, and the note you gave me for this says, 'if you want to know about heaven, listen to this.'
Remis Rancys :Yeah for me this is like as a musician first thing is like, how you can get this kind of people in one place. And how can you record so smoothly, without any I dunno, when you do things like this sometimes always something happened, you never can make perfect you know, things like music or, but this is so close for me to perfect, like... there is so much emotion and so much professionalism and the composition itself and the way they performed, and the way they recorded, and maybe the way they felt this morning before they came to the recording. I don't know we can just imagine that Hundreds of details but so balanced so... pure....
Sarah Spoon :you look really calm and happy, just....
Remis Rancys :Oh yes, I am And the way they do this piano like, it's like, It feels so relaxed the way the play is still and so like harmony in the temple. I love this communication when people are like this, you know, like there's no tension there is no rush. It's just like [exhales], the moment you know. And the, the like hundred percent in the moment. The sound
Sarah Spoon :Yeah. The next track is by an artist who's been described as the George Gershwin of Brazil. Do you agree?
Remis Rancys :Yeah, yes, actually, through him like all the Brazil music yeah maybe, maybe it was also like before him some Brazilian sounds and even in American jazz influence, but maybe he was the ambassador of Brazilian music. So when I was very, very young, like when I was living with my parents, I listened to what they listen mostly. But when I got like some maybe 12 years old or like something, I realized through radio because these days, I think we had the maybe more like commercial music on TV and but on the radio, we had some programs like jazz music, and I also strongly remember there was no program of like, just world music. But in general, it could be like Bossa Nova. Could be some French music, but really, maybe there were some really good DJ who was not playing this mainstream music. I was obsessed with this speakers, actually I arranged old few speakers from my father's car. And I made like, in my room I made like small cables around everywhere and I had many speakers and I love to lay down on the floor and put this radio program, I listened this music and I feel like I'm traveling around the world and then I listened many times and then I start to also wrote in my notebook, like some facts about who was the artist or where is this from? And I don't know, I have to find all these books. So when I started to study music, I knew a lot already a lot just from all these. And then internet slowly start to- but before the internet also, when I arrived here to Vilinus, there was one shop that they could sell CDs. So when I got money for food and everything, I was obsessed, I was buying, like, I had hundreds of CDs. And I remember find a moment when I came first time because I knew that in this basement, there's really good jazz record shop. And they came and they said 'so you want Louis Armstrong?' And I said, 'No, no', I know this, because I was maybe 15 years old. And then they say, like I said, 'I want Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, and you know, something like that.' And they were like, 'Oh, so young guy. And you know, these names', I was like, 'Yeah, I mean, this is my favorite double bass player.' And so we got friends with them, and they, they knew what what music I like and every week, I got the list and and they like, 'Oh, look, you're gonna love this'. And instead of buying like two or three, I sometimes buy like seven or eight CDs. So yeah, that's how it started. And then internet, you know, and...
Sarah Spoon :so this track by Antonio Carlos Jobim, 'Aguas De Marco', why this track?
Remis Rancys :I remember first time I heard this. It was summer day and I almost cried when I heard this I understood like how much happiness is in this I don't know I was very young and it was like.... it may be it looks funny sometimes I want YouTube but i can i can get so sentimental just listening music. So but that's how it is so you know... it's it's music about I don't know, about things about life and how happy it can be.
Sarah Spoon :Next up we are coming back to the stringed instruments a 12 string instrument called core hora being played by Ablaye Cissoko, who is a Senegalese musician. The note you put with this song with a song you can sit and miss someone outside the island. I thought was really lovely and totally backs up what you just said about being sentimental. How did you find it?
Remis Rancys :Wow, maybe just checking the recordings like because that is not of African traditional music African like ethnic roots music, and actually I used to play with some Senegalese musician. Yeah, maybe maybe sometimes they saved me some keywords and then I try to do research on on internet. And maybe that's how I also I was he was performing once in Vilnius here in Vilnius, in a beautiful church. And I couldn't come to his concert but I wanted so much but I had some concert myself. So I was I catched him in the airport just to shake his hand and, and and say like that I really appreciate him just to wish him all the best and yeah, I really like that he was so quiet person. I was thinking maybe to go someday there and as him like, give giving like some lessons or just in general about music and just spend some time.
Sarah Spoon :is a very relaxing playlist you've put together
Remis Rancys :maybe because I love when I relax maybe I love musica also
Sarah Spoon :the penultimate track is by Devendra Banhart and the song is called never seen such good things.
Remis Rancys :I don't know how I discovered him but he's just personality and so This is a real artist and he has style and creativity and also I love his South American influence in his music. I also heard some recordings that he sang are some traditional, maybe Peruvian or Argentinian songs. I really like the way he is something between like American, West Coast rock and some South American folk, but also has some European I don't know, it's just really global, very stylish and I was in his concert in Berlin one year or two years ago, and many times I'm afraid going to live concerts. Because when you go to the live concert, sometimes it destroys all your thoughts that you think and you listen so much of this music, but it was good concert that may be the one was a bit like there was too much smoke in the air. So I realized that he could make this quiet storm with with I mean he did he didn't try to impress and to make some energetic you know like moving crowd and and it still moved me a lot and I think the crowd also was felt this so I really like his like performance. Yeah, he's a great artist. For me his his music is like when I travel sometimes I travel not as a musician just like a tourist. So I love his music as a soundtrack. It makes me like really relaxed wherever I go.
Sarah Spoon :Yeah, he's got a really interesting catalogue. And now we're at the final song!
Remis Rancys :Oh yes! [laughs]
Sarah Spoon :Before we play it ... why this one?
Remis Rancys :I think this composition itself for me is like one of the strongest. So far I heard in my, all this music that I was listening in my life, you know, like, for me, it's just a feeling like in the nature like suddenly it's sunny and suddenly it's dark, or like it's windy, or it's hot or it's cold. And I think it's the same in your life that sometimes you like, you suddenly realize, Oh, I just was like a teenager now I'm, like, older and I think are gonna have the same thoughts when I'm gonna be very old. And it feels like everything is so much connected and that you can jump from today to to your very early days. And in this music for me, it feels like he just put like so much in it. And I mean, maybe it was not very easy life. I don't know. But it's for me. It feels like This tune you can just listen one tune and you can get a feeling of one life or one person. And erm for me you know that's maybe why I'm musician I mean sometimes difficult just to talk, when I listen I feel like I have much more understanding than I can express it by just verbal so, so This is something really widened and big and deep and if you really check this few minutes, you can realize that one life or one person,
Sarah Spoon :would you now like to introduce it?
Remis Rancys :Symphony number five is by Gustav Mahler and his Adagietto part, Sehr Langsam I feel sometimes very sad when I see people listening music that is not really beautiful or how to say, doesn't have really much to say. And there are so many of good music in the world and why wasting time like, you know the same like with movies or, or with the food you know you can eat some garbage food, but you can eat something good. And it doesn't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to be like, fancy, you know. So it's the same with music. And in these days, especially, and when people does like podcasts or like radio programs like like this, talking about good music, and I think this is this is important topic to talk and toshare with others.
Sarah Spoon :People do like to stick to what they know, because there's comfort in that.
Remis Rancys :Yes, yeah.
Sarah Spoon :I really enjoyed collating this playlist and listening to it. The majority is so far from what I'm used to listening to, but I'm really excited to have new avenues to go down. That's great for me. Yeah, that was really lovely. Thank you for sharing these.
Remis Rancys :Thanks for asking me to do this ten song list. Now I'm thinking if I have to remove one of these. [laughs]
Sarah Spoon :Oh, no, no, no, no, we're not going back. You've given me the 10. Now we've done the recording. There's no there's no changing it.
Remis Rancys :[laughs] ah, ok, ok
Sarah Spoon :And that was our episode thank you so much for listening. Please do share the episode if you've enjoyed it, click subscribe, and also leaving reviews- that's totally a thing and that is also much appreciated. You can find the Schwings on Bandcamp so the link there is theschwingsband.bandcamp.com You can also find them on Spotify and iTunes and Facebook and Instagram. You will notice that there is no midpoint advert break in this podcast. So if you'd like to continue for that to be a thing then please go to patreon.com/desertislandjams. You can find us on Instagram, guess what the username is? Yeah, that's correct. It's Desert Island Jams. Desert Island Jams is produced by me, Sarah Spoon, the music license is kindly sponsored by voicesculptor.com. Sara Azmy also known as @sazmy_design on Instagram is the magician who whipped up the graphics. Jonathan Stout produced this original music for our soundtrack, please go to Bandcamp and buy all of his things immediately. Remember, you can find listen along playlists on Spotify and YouTube you just need to type Desert Island Jams into the search bar. If you would like a transcript for this episode, FYI, all of the episodes have transcripts. Then you just need to follow the link that is in the show notes. Again, thank you for listening and Desert Island Jams will return next month!