What's in a name?

It's roots of course lay in Indonesia. To my none Indonesian speakers Jiwa Jiwa basically means souls or spirits. In Indonesian if a word is written two times, it will be the plural of that word. Jiwa refers to the music the label wants to portray, soulful music. Music that is the spirit of not the rebellion but the music that is uplifting and enriches the soul.The urban dictionary thinks otherwise about my definition for Jiwa by the way...

Jiwa [jee-wah]
1.
Stud, balla, gangsta.
2.
Derived from the streets. Usually a crystal meth distributor.
"Go find Jiwa, i need some crack!"

The idea for the label name first started with Smoor, or Semur in Indonesian. It's my favorite dish from my grandmother. A beef stew that is simmered for hours on end. You need all these hard to find herbs and spices to make it just the way she does it, and take it of the heat at just the right time. But in a way it resembled my search for doing my own thing in music and finding just that right thing that gave me so much energy to fully believe in it, and pursue it.

But, the name smoor didn't really stick for me. Keep it close to the roots and the core in it's most simple form is something I always strive to do in anything in life. The soul that is what it's all about. Not only the musical genre, but also the whole trip to Indonesia was and always will be one of the most significant things I have ever done in my life. In a way it made my soul whole, I could finally understand why I did things a certain way, or acted a certain way. It was different than how people are usually here in The Netherlands. Jiwa was the way to go!

But I knew I wouldn't be doing this by myself even though I am running this platform and label myself. I needed help of people I didn't know yet, and who I know now will be friends for life. So it wasn't going to be just one Jiwa, it was and is gonna be Jiwa Jiwa!