composer
Belgian composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Jeroen Swinnen has carved out a reputation for fusing brooding string scores with electro-synthpop, post-rock and indie sounds. Aside from years of touring with some of Belpop’s finest alternative acts, he more recently branched out into television soundtracks, including the acclaimed score for “Hotel Beau Séjour” and “The Twelve” on Netflix.
The TV world certainly had him hooked, and soon enough Swinnen was writing and producing epic soundtracks for TV. Sure highlights include the award-winning dark Netflix series “Hotel Beau Séjour” and the mind-blowing drama “The Twelve”, of which was aired on Channel 4 in the UK and championed by Ricky Gervais nonetheless! Weeks turned to months, and before he even realised Swinnen had created soundscapes for countless shows – “Chaussée d’Amour”, “GR5”, “Beau Séjour 2”, “Red Light”, “Before We Die” (UK remake) and his most recent work “Transport”.
For the creation of scores, Swinnen’s first task is normally working out the ‘core’ sound of the series. Forget ‘sound-libraries’, this is real-deal bespoke - Vintage synthesizers, pedals, tapes, (prepared) piano’s, guitars, rare percussion,.... whatever it takes to perfectly fit the image. Partner in crime and old friend Wietse Meys usually helps with diving into string arrangements, and Jeroen’s vast experience playing in bands over the years means he has access to almost ‘any’ musician or soundworld needed for a project. If Swinnen can’t play it himself (which he usually can), then help is always just around the corner. It’s certainly a surefire way to turn projects around when deadlines are tight, but it’s way more than that - this is ‘art’ on a deadline. Art that’s fined-tuned to the very milli-second. Art that’s authentic and really draws you into the story. And of course, there are still so many more stories and images for Jeroen to bring to life…
recent work┐
2023
1985
één-RTBF
:: Client - Eyeworks
:: co-composed with David Martijn
1985 follows friends Marc and Franky, and his sister Vicky, in the turbulent 1980s. Marc and Franky move to Brussels for a career with the Gendarmerie.
Soon the three young people are sucked into a spiral of crimes that are attributed to the so-called "Bende van Nijvel" gang.
The soundtrack is also available on vinyl. Get it here →
2022
geldwolven
streamz
:: Client - Caviar (BE)
When fraud expert Frank De Jong realizes that the world is not as honest as he thought, he decides to break the rules for the first time in his life. Together with his counterpart, he embarks on increasingly larger scams.
2022
Transport
YLE (Fi) | STREAMZ(BE)
:: Client - Tekele Productions & JohnnyDePony Productions
Transporting goods, money, horses, and meat across Europe form the central theme of this exciting story. A young journalist in Helsinki discovers that a microchip, once belonging to a Belgian pony, is found in baby food. It marks the beginning of numerous intrigues.
2021
before we die
channel 4
:: Client - Eagle Eye (UK) & Caviar (BE)
When Detective Inspector Hannah Laing kisses her married lover Sean Hardacre goodbye one morning, she little imagines it will be the last time she will see her fellow detective alive.
Before We Die is a breathless crime thriller, full of heart-stopping jeopardy and unpredictable twists. It is adapted from the hit Swedish series of the same name and stars Lesley Sharp as Hannah, Patrick Gibson as her son Christian, Vince Regan as Billy and Croatian actor, Tony Gojanovic, as Davor, the boss of the Mimica crime family.
2021
beau séjour 2
één
:: Client - De Mensen
The last thing Maurice can remember is seeing his own body hanging from the mast of his sailing boat, the Beau Séjour. When he wakes up on the beach, hours later, nobody can see or hear him. He’s dead, apparently a suicide.
What's going on? His family is glad to be rid of him, that much is painfully clear from their reactions to his death. So Maurice starts to investigate. Then he discovers a couple of ‘seers’, people who can still see him, and with whom he can talk… But why these specific people?' Series 2 of Beau Séjour continues the story, with different characters and settings.
2020
red light
streams | vtm | npo1
:: Client - Eyeworks Film & TV Drama
:: co-composed with David Martijn
Three women get caught up in the world of human trafficking and prostitution when Esther’s husband suddenly disappears.
From completely different backgrounds the lives of these women intertwine and they find out they need each other to get out of the difficult situations they’re trapped in.
2020
gr5
één
:: Client - Zodiak Belgium
GR5 revolves around four people in their mid-twenties who embark on the Grote Route Pad 5, to commemorate their friend Lisa who went missing on the path five years before.
The journey will change them forever: the heavy physical effort and mutual tensions lead to a confrontation, and a search to uncover the truth behind Lisa’s mysterious disappearance. Did she start a new life? Was there an accident? Or was she harmed?
2019
the twelve
netflix | één
:: Client - Eyeworks Film & TV Drama
:: co-composed with David Martijn
‘The Twelve’ is a character-driven crime mystery which revolves around a jury of the people in a murder trial. Twelve citizens are called up for jury duty on a controversial murder case.
They do not have an easy task ahead of them. They will decide on the guilt or innocence of the respected headmistress Frie Palmers (46), who stands accused of two murders. The trial is not only decisive for Frie’s fate. The lives of the jury members also take new turns because of the sensational murder case. As time goes by, the murder trial becomes a trial not only for the accused but for the jury members themselves.
2016
Chaussée d’amour
vier | telenet
:: Client - De Mensen
Sylvia, a suburban mother of two adolescent teens escapes from her failing marriage and finds herself left with no alternative but to run a brothel. Ludo, a police officer with an urge to prove himself reopens an old murder case he failed to solve twenty years ago.
The two cross paths at the infamous Highway of Love, where a group of hookers, pimps and other extravagant characters spend their days trying to either fix their lives or screw them up.
2016
beau séjour
netflix | één
:: Client - De Mensen
Kato, covered in blood, wakes up without any recollection of what happened the night before. Moreover, nobody seems to see or hear her. Slowly it sinks in: she's dead. Who did this to her? And how come a handful of people can still see her, as if she's among the living? Why them specifically?
In her search to uncover the truth, Kato will discover that a lot of secrets lie beneath the surface of her supposedly peaceful village community.
2011
Stil levend
canvas
:: Client - Visjes Films
How do you live after suicide? Through a series of poetic still lifes, documentary filmmaker Nathalie Basteyns paints a moving portrait of families struggling with this question. One lost a son, Freek, 10 years ago; another a daughter, Eva, barely a year before filming.
Stefaan, a former Olympic swimmer who survived his attempt, completes the triptych. Life goes on for those left behind but, in many respects, life has also stopped. But as Stefaan looks towards the future, so too do the families of Eva and Freek. What started out as a film about loss and grief gradually develops into a life-affirming story of courage and survival.
2009
jes
vtm
:: Client - Eyeworks
Gert and Jes have been a couple for a very long time. One day Gert is offered the job of a lifetime: to go and work in Shanghai. Jes decides not to accompany him but to choose for herself for once. She decides to live the single’s life in Brussels. In her new life she gets the company of her sister Michelle, the macho gay friend John, the cynical legal aid counsel Luc and her new best friend, artist and blabber Sofia.
Her choice will affect everybody. Each character is at a turning-point in his or her life. They are all looking for happiness.