WaSm. Photo by Jelmer Gremmen.

WaSm is an electronic music formation featuring Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek, Beequeen, Goem) and Jos Smolders (THU20, EarLabs Studios), and was founded in 2015. De Waard and Smolders are significant contributors to the Dutch experimental underground and have known each other for close to 30 years. They’ve collaborated in the critically acclaimed electroacoustic group THU20, as IMCA, Wieman and on many other occasions. Working as WaSm, Smolders performs with his modular synthesizer while De Waard’s instruments are cassettes, a walkman, sound effects, contact microphones, an iPad, a radio and, occasionally, a laptop. WaSm create dense atmospheric sound collages that draw on the world of musique concrete, electronic music and electroacoustic music. Frans de Waard has been producing music since 1984 as Kapotte Muziek, which has grown into a collaborative project with Roel Meelkop and Peter Duimelinks. Throughout the years he has performed and recorded in collectives such as Beequeen, Goem and Zebra, as well as solo projects including Freiband and Shifts. De Waard has been a constant in Dutch experimental music, working for the Staalplaat record store and label, giving workshops at independent artspace Extrapool and publishing the magazine Vital, which has developed into the online electronic music review Vital Weekly. fransdewaard.com A combination of instinct, talent, skill and patience is what makes Dutch producer and mastering engineer Jos Smolders the first choice for many in the field of experimental music, including Merzbow, Scanner and Machinefabriek. Getting into the headspace and understanding the perspective of the artist is essential for Smolders. Recent productions mastered at his Earlabs Studios include the Pierre Henry box set Choix d’Oeuvres 1950 à 1985 and a Jozef van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch duo album. Smolders is a founding member of THU20, a supergroup of the Dutch experimental underground that has been active since the 1980s. jossmolders.bandcamp.com