As a singer-songwriter-producer, HWIN has built immersive worlds with his music. His artistic vision was first realized through The SUB, a creative community based in San Francisco that HWIN co-founded in 2009. It was through this community that HWIN was introduced to Brodie Jenkins, leading to the formation of Cathedrals. As Cathedrals, HWIN and Jenkins crafted electronic music that reached over 60M streams, earned acclaim with tastemakers like VICE and SPIN, and found placement in shows like Amazon Prime’s Jack Ryan and Netflix’s Fistful of Vengeance. In 2023, HWIN released “Metropolis Heights,” his first single as a solo artist. He now follows up the release with his debut EP, Just Like a Flower, a four-track project that was fostered through HWIN’s 57 collective. We caught up with HWIN to learn more about the EP, the 57 community, his goals for 57 Records, and his hopes for how music is shared in the future.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and time.
Hey there! Thank you for taking the time out to chat, especially since this is an exciting time for you with the release of your debut EP, Just Like a Flower. How do you feel about it being out in the world?
It’s this beautiful mix of excitement and vulnerability. Just Like a Flower has been five years in the making—it started when I first moved to NYC and found this space in Brooklyn with a basement studio. What began as late-night jam sessions with my roommate Doug has evolved alongside the 57 community we’ve built. These songs have been shaped not just in isolation but through playing works-in-progress at our monthly Circadian Rhythms events, seeing how people respond, feeling what connects. So having it out in the world feels like sharing not just my music, but a piece of this whole ecosystem we’ve created. There’s something powerful about that journey—watching these intimate ideas bloom into something bigger than myself.
Each song has a different theme in terms of lyrics and musical style. Is there one that resonates with you the most?
They’re all pieces of the same story in many ways, but “Love Is All I Need” holds a special place for me. That track actually started from a melody that came to me in a dream—I woke up at 3:00 a.m. with this hook in my head that wouldn’t let me go back to sleep. I had to grab my phone and voice memo whatever I could catch. By sunrise, I was in the studio trying to hold onto that feeling. The way it blends the infectious energy of UK garage with more intimate songwriting feels like the perfect expression of what I’m trying to create—music that makes you move but also makes you feel. It captures that collision of contrasts that defines the whole EP—intimate yet anthemic, underground yet accessible.
This project is being released through 57 Records, which is a new label that you founded. How long has 57 Records been in the works?
57 Records has been a natural evolution of what we’ve been building with the community over the past five years. As 57 grew from a small gathering of friends into this thriving creative ecosystem, the idea of launching a label started to take shape. We’ve been hosting these monthly Circadian Rhythms events where DJs and producers from our community share their music, and it became clear that we had something special—not just talented artists, but a unique approach to how music could be developed in conversation with a community.
The formal planning for the label started about a year ago, but in many ways, we’ve been building toward this since the beginning. It wasn’t so much, ‘Let’s start a label,’ as it was recognizing that we’d already created the foundation for something different—a platform where music could grow organically from real human connections rather than being marketed from the top down.
If you had to describe the EP in three words, what would you say?
Beautiful contradictions blooming.
You are known for your work in Cathedrals. Is there a difference between how you make music for that versus how you made the songs for this EP?
With Cathedrals, we were exploring how to blend electronic elements with emotional songwriting. That DNA is definitely still there in this EP—the desire to make electronic music that has real heart to it. But what’s evolved is this understanding that music isn’t just about what happens in the studio. Through building 57, I’ve learned that the most powerful moments happen when you create spaces for people to connect through music.
The biggest difference in the process was how these songs were refined through our community. We’d work on tracks in the studio, then test them at our monthly events, seeing how they resonated in real time. You hear music differently when you’re with other people than when you’re alone. You can feel what they feel. Some tracks that were initially overlooked during studio sessions came alive when shared with the community. That feedback loop shaped everything about this EP in a way that wasn’t possible before.
You mentioned that the community’s feedback shaped Just Like a Flower. Can you tell us more about that?
The community’s fingerprints are all over this EP. So much of the new music was influenced by playing works in progress at our events, seeing what resonates, what moves people. You hear tracks differently in a room full of friends than you do alone in the studio. We’ve seen songs that were initially overlooked during our studio sessions come alive and become favorites because of how they connected with people. And others that we thought were finished got pulled back into development after seeing the response.
For example, “You’re Still On My Mind” completely transformed after we played an early version at one of our Circadian Rhythms nights. There was this moment where the vocal hook fragmented right before the drop, and you could feel this collective energy shift in the room. That became a central element in the final track—something we might never have discovered without that live feedback loop. It’s almost like our community becomes part of the recording and refining process, giving each track a life and a story of its own before it’s released.
I like that you want 57 Records to be more of a self-sustaining hub where music and artists influence one another, not just a record label. With social media having such a big impact on music these days, do you think it could hurt or help this goal in any way?
Social media creates this paradox—we’re more connected than ever, yet those connections often feel shallow and transactional. What we’re building is about depth over breadth. Real community happens when people gather in physical spaces and form genuine bonds. But digital platforms can amplify those connections when used intentionally.
We’re trying to harness the best of both worlds. Our physical gatherings create the foundation of authentic connection, and we use digital platforms to extend and maintain those relationships. The key is seeing technology as a tool to strengthen real-world community, not replace it.
When it comes to music, algorithmic promotion often rewards sameness—whatever fits neatly into existing patterns. But the most exciting music often exists at the edges, in the spaces between genres and scenes. By building a community that values creative exploration over easy categorization, we’re creating space for music that might get overlooked by purely digital discovery.
So, I think social media helps when it extends real relationships and hurts when it replaces them. Our approach is focused on using these tools to deepen connections that begin face-to-face, creating a digital presence that authentically reflects our physical community rather than existing separately from it.
What more do you have going on this year?
The EP release is just the beginning. Beyond that, we’re expanding our monthly event series and looking at signing our first artists beyond my own project.
And personally, I’m already working on new music. The response to the singles has been so energizing, and I’m excited to keep exploring this intersection of dance music and emotional songwriting. Some of these new tracks are already being tested at our events, and I’m looking forward to sharing them more widely as the year goes on.
Thank you again for your time. Do you have any final thoughts or additional comments?
I think what excites me most about this moment is seeing how music can be a catalyst for something bigger. When we started 57, it was just about creating a space where people could connect through creativity. Now it’s evolving into this model where art, community, and physical space all inform and strengthen each other.
In a world that can feel increasingly fragmented and isolated, there’s something powerful about gathering around music—not just as entertainment, but as a way to form real connections. That’s what Just Like a Flower represents to me—this idea that from small, intimate beginnings, something beautiful can bloom when nurtured by a community. I hope that comes through in the music, and I’m grateful for everyone who’s been part of that journey.
You can listen to Just Like a Flower here.
Join the 57 community here.
