Me in my studio: Jarreau Vandal

Hailing from a musical family, it seemed that Amsterdam-based musician/producer Jarreau Vandal's destiny was to be jazz musician, but he's ended up as the 'Dutch Ambassador' of LA-based collective Soulection.

Marrying influences from '90s hip-hop and RnB to his jazz stylings, Vandal has concocted a sound that's all his own and can be heard on his latest EP Suburb Superhero.

We asked Jarreau to snap and chat about his Amsterdam studio and the gear contained within it. You can hear what he's been up to on his SoundCloud profile.

“I always used to work at home at my parents' place. Ever since I moved out I always had trouble with my neighbours because the houses in Amsterdam are very old and not isolated very well. This kind of killed my productivity for a while because I could only work on headphones, which is not always as convenient. I started looking for a studio place and found a little container which I rent in the old port of Amsterdam. Within four weeks I had built my own little holy sanctuary.

“I work in Logic Pro and use external synths and instruments (such as a real piano and guitar) as an addition to the VSTs and plugins I've got on my laptop.”

“This is my go to synth for nice bass sounds and brass synths. The original M1 piano sound never gets old either!”

“An amazing edgy-sounding synth from the '90s that is easily programmable. It's also my go-to synth for nice pads and dirty pluck sounds.”

“This organ from Korg was a gift from my grandad. It has a sound that comes close to the Hammond. It also needs a Leslie [speaker] but I've got no space for that.”

“Low-budget condenser mic that's very good quality. I even use it to record piano sometimes.”