"Swim Deep"
"Swim Deep"
From humble beginnings come great things. For Swim Deep, their roots lie in chance meetings through part time jobs and in the clubs of their hometown of Birmingham. Fed up of stacking shelves in Morrisons , Austin Williams and Tom Higgins decided to stop chatting about music in the aisles of the supermarket and start making their own. Joined by their friend Wolfgang J Harte they made their way through a succession of “weirdo” drummers before eventually poaching Austin’s best friend Zach Robinson from local band Cajole Cajole.
“We played a gig with Cajole Cajole,” recalls Austin. “We thought it was a long shot but we’d just lost another drummer so we asked Zach if he wanted to join our band and he said yeah. That was one of the best things that happened, to be honest.”
A few months down the line, with more gigs under their collective belt and interest starting to grow, Wolfgang announced he was quitting the band. After continuing as a three piece for a while and experimenting with their live setup, Austin assumed the vacant position of frontman whilst they recruited Cavan McCarthy on bass.
“We met Cavan on the dancefloor,” exalains Austin. “We were out one night and I didn’t like the look of him and he didn’t like the look of me. But after a few drinks and a couple of hours of being together, we got on. I knew he couldn’t play bass and he’s never played any instrument but we asked him to join the band because he loves music so much.”
With their new line up and the release of their debut single ‘King City’, Swim Deep cemented their place amongst bands like Splashh and fellow Brummies Peace as one of the UK’s most exciting new bands. Following exhilarating appearances at festivals such as The Great Escape, Tramlines and Beacons over the summer, they upped their stock further, announcing a deal with Chess Club/Sony RCA.
“I can’t believe the amount of times I used to lie in bed as a kid thinking “imagine if you were in a signed band.” But signing is such a small part of it,” Austin says cautiously. “If you get signed and you’ve got shit tunes, you’re fucked. It’s all about the songwriting for us and having as much fun as we can whilst we’re doing it. We want this as a lifelong thing - I want to do it until I’m old. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop writing music.”
Invited to join besuited indie giants Spector on their extensive UK tour, Swim Deep don’t look likely to be stopping any time soon. Once their stint on the road is complete, they head off to Brussels to record their debut album. Working with Charlie Hugall, the producer who lent his magic touch to second single ‘Honey’, the band are looking forward to the experience.
“It’s gonna be a real bonding thing for us, all being together,” says Austin. “Since we’ve been signed we’ve met all these new people and we all end up at different parties. I’m really looking forward to making the album. It’s the first album, it can only be made once”.
Having moved away from the raw, punkier sound of early demos like ‘Santa Maria’ and ‘Isla Vista’, the band are now moving in a more pop-orientated vein but with their edge still firmly in tact. “I’ve got a massive idea but I would never be able to explain it,” explains their leader. “We just want to write good songs really. ‘Honey’ is a great example of how I want it to sound though. Really bright and sunny, feelgood, funky and just real cool.”
Looking further into the future, Swim Deep’s ambitions are grand but - with their talents and confidence - attainable. “I want to be something original,” says the singer. “There’s bands like One Direction who shut down cities when they go there and they’re putting out fun songs but it’s not groundbreaking at all. I can’t see anything that compares to us.”
“I want to have a massive influence on pop music. Not to be the biggest band necessarily - that can come too if it’s the right time and place - but I want to be the most influential. I want to be a band that someone wants to jam with, that someone looks up to.”
With all the tools in place to achieve those goals, now it’s up to Swim Deep to live up to their early promise. Whatever happens, 2013 looks set to be a lot brighter with these boys around.