Indie-pop heroes Swim Deep are back with a UK run and they’ve been kind enough to make a pit-stop at our place on the 6th June, so we got to know ’em!
Hey Swim Deep we’re buzzing to welcome you back to The Bodega, how are you feeling ahead of the show?
Thank you, we love it there, we’ve had many good shows. I promise one day we’ll get big enough to graduate playing there, but until then we’re honoured to be back in our beloved Bodega. I think it’s the first place I ever crowdsurfed, that or The Leadmill in Sheff.
The new singles are sounding brilliant in the run up to the new album, they’ve been in the works for quite a while. What can you tell us about how these tracks have been stitched together over that time?
They came together over the last two years, lots of trips to the wirral to see Bill Ryder-Jones, and lots of time on those trains to listen to all my rambling voice notes and make sense of what songs they could be. We are fortunate to have a great label (Sub Cat), who gave us the money to go and record it properly in our favourite studio in the world ICP in Brussels, this meant these songs that we thought were genuinely some of our best work, could be recorded to a standard that reflected that. Y
Do you find that, for you, a song can change meaning over time as you continue to work on it?
Absolutely. Great question. I’ve looked back on songs like King City and finally understood the meaning of some of the more imbedded lyrics only after a decade. You can be in the eye of a storm and not realise what is happening to you, and only on reflection can you see why you were expressing yourself in certain ways. It’s kind of like having a diary, except the whole world can read every embarrassing and intimate line.
We recently had Bill Ryder Jones play in Nottingham, what has it been like working alongside him?
It’s been the most valuable and productive partnership I’ve had in music. I’ve learnt so much from him, we all have, as individual musicians, and as band. I was pretty anxious going into the session to be frank, theres five ego’s, and it’s often hard being on the same page about what ‘this’ album should be before you actually record it, and Bill handled us so well, with such patience and sensitivity. A job i don’t envy. Bill helped reassure me about my songs and lyrics and brought out so much more that was hidden under a rug inside me
‘There’s A Big Star Outside’ comes out the day after you hit the stage here in Notts, will we get to hear many new tracks before release day?
I think we’ll drop a surprise one before the album comes out, it’s one of the songs i’m most proud of so i’m glad we’re giving it a bit of limelight. It shows the sensitive and stripped back element to the record.
What goes into tour preparation for you guys, especially with a new body of work on the horizon?
Lots of rehearsal, we strive to be one of the greatest live bands you can watch. And also I’ve just bought myself some leather trousers, something i always said I’d do on album four.
Lastly if there was one song you wish you could have written and stuck on the new record what would it be?
The Drugs Don’t Work by The Verve.
Catch Swim Deep live at The Bodega on the 6th June, tickets on sale now.
