Squire launches Anims, recruiting Ibiza mainstay Oriol Calvo and remixes from Kevin di Serna and Valentin Huedo for its debut release. Anims is a multi-faceted entertainment platform founded by ex-Formula 1 racer Jaime Alguersuari, now international DJ/producer Squire. It encompasses an event brand for interactive conferences and talks (virtual and physical), musical events, and an imprint for genre-free electronic music.

We had a chat with Squire about his new project. Enjoy!

WWD: Welcome to When We Dip, Squire! Thank you for talking to us about your new label Anims. What’s the imprint’s goal?

Hi! Great to talk to you. So, Anims is a Catalan word that means “cheer up”. You use it when you see someone down, someone sad or depressed, maybe lacking some motivation and or energy for a certain goal. The label is just a platform that shares music that we like and support but the whole global concept of the brand is something much bigger… we definitely think though, that releasing and sharing music can influence in a very positive way a certain audience and our label supporters, we might bring them joy, life, and a reason to pursue a dream or a certain goal they might have… this is what I believe music can do.

WWD: Can you give us a brief overview of the brand?

We are all storytellers because we all have a story to tell. The way you communicate it is the keypoint to make the story worth a great one. The idea we had in mind was to create a platform inviting a guest into a friendly comfortable room so we can have a proper personal chat. We are looking on hearing “our guest” (coming from the world of sports, culture, art..) explaining his/hers life experience. The whole point of Anims is to underline the toughest and most critical moment of ” our guest life experience”, how did he/she make it? Why did that happen? …

We’re all very busy posting our best versions of ourselves on social networks, probably most of it is not even true..we continue doing that and we dont really face issues anymore..why not creating a platform where we give voice to people with a strong storytelling to explain us in detail those most difficult and dark times that people dont want to talk about and share?
We think there’s a lot to say and our audience is very interested in hearing and learning, there is a huge influence and human connection from hearing people’s struggles and how they made it through. This is a huge source of energy and motivation, it is a perfect tool of personal growth and this is why we call it ANIMS. We embrace people to listen to people.

WWD: It’s clear that Anims isn’t just a record label. What other areas do you cover and where did the idea for the project originate from?

After I wrote Reinventate, a Spanish book of motivation and personal growth, (just my life story since I started racing till I decided to retire and start making music). I started to tour around Spain and speak at different panels and conferences…I’ve realized that almost everyone knew who I was and what was my score in F1 and so…but everytime I started to talk about the day Red Bull fired me and my teammate then everyone in the room seemed even more curious, more connected to understand what I was about to explain and as soon as I told the audience about my last few years in racing and how embarrassed, unfair, and angry I felt with the world then everyone wanted to ask questions…

WWD: You used to be a Formula-1 driver, does this have an impact on the sports aspect to Anims?

Yes absolutely, however Anims involves everyone. We want to push people to get out of their comfort zone and look for a new goal to achieve…it might just be by learning English, or learning yoga, maybe try to play the piano and start taking lessons! To keep the focus on finishing your degree, or becoming a lawyer… Life is just full of opportunities to make you feel special and unique..but you have to look for them and push towards them!

WWD: You also plan on hosting conferences. What kind of topics do you wish to cover with these?

Any kind as long as we understand there’s a great motivational and resilience story behind.

WWD: It sounds like you are working on building a community, what do you think is the most rewarding part of creating one?

Helping people out to make them believe they’re worth.

WWD: The first release on the label is by Oriol Calvo, featuring remixes from Valentin Huedo and Kevin di Serna and is sounding great! How did you get around to working with Oriol and choosing the remixes?

Thank you! We’re also very happy with the first EP. I think we’ve got a great pack to start. We received the music from my friend Valentin a while ago and we really liked his remix. The original is really well produced too but I felt the elements were very nice and well organized, we approached Kevin for a remix and he definitely didn’t let us down :).

WWD: Is this the musical direction of Anims? Will we see any Squire EP’s on the imprint?

We wouldnt like to tag a specific sound for the label honestly. We love music and therefore we’ll try to release what we feel and connect with no matter the music genre and or styles. We’d like to break the bridge somehow. And yes I’ll be releasing music very soon which Im still working on after the album.

WWD: What else can we expect this year from Anims?

Not sure how many releases we will do but we would like to take it easy to start and take very very special care of everything we put out. It looks like music is being treated like hamburgers out there and after a while it becomes old and not trendy…it’s a bit sad and disappointing honestly..We’ll try to give as much love as we can to every single artist we sign and to make them feel special at our home.

Oriol Calvo ‘Love Loud’ drops on 25th February on Anims, featuring remixes from Kevin di Serna and Valentin Huedo