VI.BE

To Belgian DJ/producer Rutger, guising under Xanto, it’s the universality in music that resonates with him. It’s the connection it brings that fuels his fire and drives the urge to create sounds of his own that do so. Through the Xanto sound - deep, melodic and tech, swirling in bits of tribal, afro and latin, he loves to take everyone on a musical journey in which time, place and genre don’t matter. Xanto’s parents always said he was born with a pair of headphones.

Nothing else moved him as much as music. At 11 years old, he crafted his own disco bar, using a flashlight as a microphone. Around that age, he learned the ropes of DJ’ing and took his first steps into music production. At 14, he secured his own radio show on local radio, rocked house parties of classmates and became a headliner at various Belgian festivals.

He loves himself some afro, with organic and tribal influences, but the scene in Belgium is relatively small - which means he often needed to compromise. That didn’t stop him though – if anything, it motivated him to go all-in on trying to get even the toughest crowds going. As a result, with plenty of experience playing a melting pot of styles, no Xanto set is ever the same. And neither are his productions.

After taking a long break from music, no less than 20 years, the global pandemic made Xanto realise that working a 9-to-5 IT-job sure may pay the bills, but it wasn’t the thing that sparked his creativity. His mind full of ideas, he decided that time is now to change that, and get back into the music game. The music scene and production techniques may have revolutionized, but that didn’t stop him from diving back in.

Ever inspired by his beloved afro and tribal, he brought his first tracks in 2022, with new releases scheduled for 2023. With a unique style that takes a crowd into a journey of deep and organic melodies, inspired by music and sounds from around the globe, he believes that music connects people across all borders.