MUSICAL CAREER & INTEREST
Nils O’Swald was born in Bremen Germany in 1997 into a family of musicians. At the age of 7 his musical career started with classical piano, drums & percussion. 2007 and 2009 he won the first prize at the competition “Jugend Musiziert” for solo-drums and drum enselmble. Afterwards, trying different instruments such as Cello and Marimbaphone, he joint youth-orchestras such as the symphonic wind orchestra “Arte Mosso” and the “Jugendsinfonieorchester Bremen“. As percussionist and timpanist, he was part of their concert tours 2013 in France and Spain and 2017 in Rumania. Later he decided to take lessons for jazz piano and drums to explore jazz and pop music. From 2018 until 2023 Nils studied jazz piano and drums at Hochschule für Künste Bremen. There he also followed up on composition and arranging, as well as directing. Coming from the musical surrounding of jam sessions, he created and took part in different jazz, fusion, and pop projects among which he performs as pianist or drummer.
His work now covers concerts, recording, composing, directing, teaching and music production for video and performing art. It is characterized by influences of jazz, classical, or electronic music, like the recent project with the ensemble “CharivariCollective”, that deals with the exploration of borders between classical music and jazz and its combination in composed and improvised ways.
To achieve new creative concepts in contemporary productions, Nils O’Swald likes to merge music of contrasting genres, cooperating with many artists of varying fields, looking for work as a musician, music producer and composer for both cooperative, and his own projects.
WORK EXPERIENCE
DRUMMER:
- “Auf Sendung” Jazz band, live at Fusion Festival Berlin 2022, 2023
- Paloma & The Matches band from 2018 until 2023. Germany tour 2019.
10 single releases between 2018 and 2021. Debut Album in 2021. - Finn Lynden at Jazz Open Festival Stuttgart 2018.
- Minor Principles jazz trio 2017-2018.
- Part of other band Projects and formations as well as part of percussion sections in some orchestras.
PIANIST:
- “CharivariCollective” Bremen based Ensemble, Studio Session June 2023
- Producer “Orbit” Livestream concert 2020 Hannover. 2021 Cologne. EP-Release concert 2023 at “Planetarium Berlin” 2023
- Swing band “Fred Freddys Hop” concerts 2018 until 2019.
- “Neo.Fashion.Orchestra”cooperation project at Berlin Fashion Week 2020.
SOUND DESIGN & LIVE PERFORMANCE:
- “On Display” – Residency at Lake Studios Berlin 2022.
- “DREAM” by choreographer Alexandra Llorens, Live-Set. Theater Bremen 2021.
- “C U T E” portrait of/by dancer Jordan Gigout. Stadtstheater Kassel 2021.
- “DIANA 0752” film by Luisa Eugeni. Theater Bremen 2021.
- “Ballet Saal”, “Fahrstuhl” videoclips by Alexandra Llorens 2021.
MUSIC PRODUCTIONS:
- Debut Album “Fictional Memories” 2022.
- “Faster Pussycat Kill Kill!” Track of the month April for Theater Bremen 2020.
- “INITIAL EP” with “morimo” and “ARKE 925” 2021.
- “Breathing” 2021.
- “Wicked Game Cover” feat. Astrid Canales 2021.
- “La Flaka Remixed” feat. Elena Salguero and Astrid Canales 2021.
PIANO TEACHING:
- freelance since 2017.
- at the inter cultural social association “Ein Haus für unsere Freundschaft e.V.” Bremen 2016-1017.