
by Monica Ng
Look out for continuous new releases!
The perfect storm…
I forget now if came across the song Quiet Storm while creating a reel on Instagram or if I discovered it through a Spotify shuffle. No matter, I’ll always check out the profile of the artist on socials and check out the rest of their music after I discover a song I love. Shierro (and his aliases) has such a big collection of beautiful songs to enjoy – whether you are just chilling or wanting to pump up your day with some positive vibes.
Contact
Instagram: @shierro_beats
Facebook: @shierrobeats
Music
Shierro’s self-described music genre: “Lofi Hip Hop, “Jazz Hop” and “Chill Beats” includes too many tracks to name. A few recent tracks include: No Worries (Shierro), When I Close My Eyes (Shierro x Yestalgia), Digital Sunshine (Shierro x Yestalgia), Changes (Eaup x Shierro), and Garden of Dreams (Yestalgia x Lawrence Walther x Shierro).
Check out the Spotify links below for quick access to his music:
Shierro
This is Shierro
Shierro Discography

About
Based in the Netherlands, Shierro is a beatmaker and producer. He’s constantly experimenting with new sounds and pumping out individually produced and collaborative tunes.
Interview
Me: Hey Shierro! It’s so cool to have this opportunity to interview a musician with millions of streams across music platforms. I was looking for good chill/lounge music for a long time, but I couldn’t find anything that I could listen to for hours until I came across your music. The nice thing too, is that you do a lot of collaboration work – so there’s always a fresh different sound. BTW – love your self-promo hoodie in the picture above! How did you get into producing your own music and what’s your favourite part about collaboration work?
Shierro: Hi there! Thank you for having me here. As for the first question, I started producing music in the late 90s, which was more dance-oriented, to be more specific – I was producing hardcore house, which was a huge musical genre in the Netherlands and even evolved into a unique subculture which I could best describe as the ‘gabber scene’, which I was part of, so making music in that style was an obvious choice back then. To take little step back, when hanging out with friends, someone introduced me to making music on the computer. I gave it a try and I was hooked right away. Unfortunately, the internet wasn’t that big at the time and there were no tutorials online about how to do things like we have nowadays, so I just dived in and learned along the way. Getting my music out there was also a bit of a struggle, as I had to burn CDs with my demo tracks and send those to labels, hoping I wrote down the right address and wondering if I would hear from them ever again. There was no social media, there were no streaming platforms or any other places to showcase your music like nowadays. It was a tiresome and uncertain process and after a few years I just lost interest making music – the producing part of making music mainly, as I picked up the guitar as a hobby. Then a few years back, my nephew Roelo (artist) asked me about the music program I used for making my music back in the day, and asked me if I could help him getting started making some beats. I booted up the program and the spark was ignited again and I haven’t looked back since.
About my favorite part working with other artists, well, for starters, I am really good at starting new musical projects, but I am terrible at finishing songs, so having someone working on the track with fresh ears and new vision is amazing. Blending styles and make something happening is just an awesome thing. I also learn a lot from the other artists as well in the process, and it is just cool to meet like-minded people and build a connection with them.
Me: It’s cool that Roelo is into beat making as well. I see that Momentum is a collab between you guys and you have other ones too. I recently discovered and just interviewed Canadian musician Nathaniel Sutton. When I listened to his instrumental music (produced under Defend the Rhino) I thought of you and how amazing it would be if you guys did a collab – hint, hint…
You produce music under different aliases such as Kid Kio and Moon Ghetto. Are you trying to achieve something in particular by doing so and what differentiates your projects?
Shierro: Releasing under different aliases gives me room to experiment with different styles and also more opportunities to release music. Shierro is my main alias and tracks released through that range from more poppy and jazzy upbeat lofi to more dark, ambient and experimental. These tracks are more produced and detailed. I think the Shierro tracks have a more distinct sound – at least that is what people tend to say. Kid Kio releases are your more traditional cozy and dreamy lofi hip hop, and as Moon Ghetto I release more soul influenced and jazz hop kind of beats.
Me: All of your music is great. For me, which song I listen to depends on my mood. I really like the artwork and animation clips for your music on your socials. I don’t see any credits for them, so wondering if you are the digital artist?
Shierro: Haha, no. Most animation clips are provided by the labels, so I just post them.
Me: Well that clarifies that! I’ve used so many of your tunes in my IG reels and stories. I love the organic feel and vibe of your music. What inspires your music?
Shierro: That’s a difficult question for me to answer, but mostly when starting a new musical project I have a particular mood in mind. Sometimes I want to make something upbeat and jazzy, and sometimes I just want to make something more complex, melancholic and nuanced. I want people to feel something when they listen to my music. That is something that really inspires me and keeps me going.
Me: You are definitely successful at creating moods. I don’t fully understand how music is produced. Do you start with a particular instrument sound in your mind and build on that? Can you briefly describe the process?
Shierro: Every artist has their own way of starting a new song, but what works for me most of the time, is to start with a chord progression, setting a stage and build everything around that. Then come the countermelodies, effects, arrangements, bass, percussion and so on. I approach making music like painting a picture, visualizing the progress and the story as I go. It is a bit hard to explain, but I hope this makes sense, haha.
Me: It makes total sense. What I love about life is that there’s always something new to learn. I’ve heard of chill and jazz music, but what exactly is lofi?
Shierro: ‘Lofi’ comes from the term “lo-fi”, which comes from “Low Fidelity”. When making Lofi Hip Hop, the quality of the sounds are lower than the usual contemporary standards, making it sound warmer, more vintage and more organic. And this is the aesthetic we want to create when making lofi beats. It just gives this more cozy, warm and chill feeling.
Me: Very cool. On September 11, 2021, you posted that Quiet Storm hit ten million streams on Spotify. Congratulations! It’s one my favourite songs so far. I listen to Disconnect, Weightless and Wintersun (Kid Kio/Majko) a lot and play your music at work in the background. Forget traditional elevator music! What thoughts go through your mind when your music is reaching so many ears?
Shierro: Thank you. Well, Quiet Storm surpassed 20 million streams, which are crazy, crazy numbers.
It is really hard to describe the feeling, knowing so many people listen to your music. It is just so surreal! To be honest, when I take a peek at my streaming numbers, I mostly just sit and stare at my screen thinking “This can’t be real.” It really excites me and motivates me even more to keep making music.
Me: Wow…20 million – that’s absolutely fantastic! You aren’t only a super-talented musician/producer, you’re really nice too. I was surprised to get a response back from you on my comment about buying your track When I Close My Eyes. You wrote “Really? I just could send you the track for free, haha. Although, I appreciate it very much!” I write about this a lot, but meeting genuine and positive people around this world makes me happy. It feels good to know that kindness still exists. On that note – fill in the blank: “If everyone _____________, the world would be a better place.”
Shierro: I wouldn’t say I am a super-talented musician/producer at all, haha. When I think of someone super-talented, I think of someone who does something with ease, without even trying. As for me, well, I still struggle sometimes working on my music and have so called ‘beat blocks’, but this also keeps me motivated to keep learning new things, think outside the box, see progression and move forward, but thank you for saying that.
For filling in the blank….”If everyone was less ignorant and more understanding, the world would be a better place.” It sounds a bit pretentious, but you never really know what is going on in someone’s life, and what personal battle they are fighting at the moment.
Me: …and modest too! So true that we don’t know what’s going on with people, yet people are quick to judge others.
Here in Canada, our local independent music doesn’t get much, if any, airtime on radio stations. I stopped listening to the radio a long time ago because they always play the same old songs. I’m so proud of musicians for the music they create for the world. Seriously, our world would be so quiet without music like yours. I feel that it’s my life mission to share amazing music. Do radio stations in the Netherlands support local independent music? Also, what are some of the challenges that you face when promoting your music?
Shierro: Well, I guess it is the same over here. Music is mostly looked at as a business, rather than art and the big radio stations ‘force feed’ the music you have to listen too, which is mostly pop music and the same old songs on rotation.
Promoting music as an independent artist is really hard. Things to ask yourself (especially when just starting out) are: Where do I even begin? What should I expect? What should I pay for promotion and what services can and should I use? Should I even pay for promotion? How do I get on big playlists? What labels could be interested in my music and what labels are best to be avoided? And the list goes on. It can be a very humbling, intimidating, uncertain, exhausting, soul crushing and sometimes expensive experience to even get your music out there and build some good momentum. I am very, very, very lucky that I’ve found some solid music labels that are willing to release my music, so they take care of the promotion for me, and I can just focus on making music. But yeah, before that happened, promoting my music was a big struggle and challenge. Knowing a lot of amazing indie artists who are still in this phase of getting their music out there and struggling, makes me feel a bit bad. If you’re an artist going through this, my major tip would be building a solid network of like-minded artists can really help you create more opportunities for your music to get exposure. Don’t think you have to do it alone. I wouldn’t be where I am now if it wasn’t for all the amazing people I’ve met along the way.
Me: That’s a great tip for other artists. I love discovering new musicians through my get-to-know-you question – if you had to pick only three, who are your favourite musicians or greatest musical influences?
Shierro: Kurt Cobain, as listening to Nirvana songs made me pick up the guitar, which helped me learn music theory. There are a lot of 90s hip hop artists I love, but picking just one, in this case hip hop group, I will go for Wu-Tang Clan, as I really love those dusty and grimy 90s boom bap hip hop beats. You can hear their influence in a lot of my music. Last, but not least, my nephew Roelo, because he is the reason I fell in love with producing music again. Maybe not the answer you were looking for, but in some way this makes him one of my favorite artists…and of course he is my nephew, so hey….
I have a lot of favorite artists and that list is growing as time passes by, and my musical taste is all over the place, but for the sake of only picking 3, I will go with these.
Me: Fan Uncle…That’s awesome! In your interview with Music Authentic, you said “I think my music is better enjoyed when being alone and in your own comfort zone, not in a setting where there is a lot of energy and other things going on.” With this seemingly endless pandemic, what do you do to de-stress and find your peace?
Shierro: Sitting in the studio and making music is one of my favorite things to do. It helps me close off from the rest of the world and create my own little bubble. This is very de-stressing. Also, I love gaming. I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore gamer, but when I find a cool game, I can be lost in playing it for hours on end. Hearing myself say that out loud, makes me realize I need to go outside a bit more and touch some grass, haha.
Me: Too funny…yes, a world exists outside of gaming. It’s fantastic that you’re constantly releasing new songs. I especially love it when you release a new tune on Fridays – it’s such a great way to end the week on a positive vibe! What projects are in the works?
Shierro: There are a lot of projects in the works as we speak. I am working on solo material for all my aliases, but also have some cool collaborations going on with artists like: Azido 88, Ale Fillman, Yestalgia, eaup, Loraina Kenyon, Majko, Roelo, Monocloud, Lawrence Walther, Bequem, 7&Nine, KO WIN, Elijah the Alchemist, Jam’addict, Fred Paci, to name a few.
Me: Exciting! Lots to look forward to. This has been fun and it’s been great getting to know you. I know you’ve been super-busy producing music so I really appreciate your time and enthusiasm for this interview. Everyone, you know the drill: check out Shierro’s music – stream, buy, whatever…and don’t forget to give him a follow on socials. Our world needs music.
Shierro, is there anything that you would like to share?
Shierro: Thank you for having me here. I want to say, I am really thankful for everyone who is listening to and supporting my music. I really, really, really appreciate that. So thank you all for your support and positive vibes!
–End—