Issue Twenty-Two: Swim Deep

Swim Deep are back. The Birmingham (“b-town”?) rockers have returned from the wilderness with a brand new lineup, album and live set that’s as trim and potent as it’s ever been. Having being dropped by their label RCA, the album represents a turning point for the band. Losing two founding members and the financial security of big-industry money might have been the death-knell of a lesser band, but for Swim Deep it was a chance to make the record they’d always wanted to. We caught up with Ozzy, Cav, James and new members Robbie and Tommy to find out what they’ve been up to.

Hello Swim Deep. You’re back! Why now?

Cavan McCarthy: Why now? Why not.

Ozzy Williams: There was a massive turning point about two years ago when Higgy and Zac decided they wanted to leave the band, in the space of the same month. Even though we knew one of them was coming, the other was a complete surprise. Me, James and Cav just sat there in the pub and decided it was all or nothing really.

That must have been pretty tricky to pick yourself up from...

O: Well, we were finally surrounded by a band who actually wanted to do something instead of just pottering along. So that happened and everything started to come into shape and we met Dave (McCracken, producer) and he just kicked us up the arse a thousand times, and he knew that we wanted it so bad, so we just worked really hard.

So, it’s been a while since ‘Mothers’, what have you been up to since then?

James Balmont: We finished ‘Mothers’ and then went to write almost straight away for about three months and it was just really grim. It was three months at the Fortress…

O: It’s gone now but it was just this really horrible studio complex in East London. Nothing came out of that except for meeting Dave, who helped us see the bigger picture. And then after that we just all kind of got back to reality in a way. Everyone had to pick up part time jobs, and DJ sets every week and that also shaped the record. You know, it gave us this drive to be back being a full time band.

So what can you tell us about this new record, what can people expect?

O: We always said that we were writing a hits album, but I feel like that cheapens it a bit. It was just that every song had a big statement and meaning without shoving anything down people’s throats. It’s just a very joyful record, but also a very melancholic record… it’s quite grim at points but the music is very uplifting all the way through.

C: It’s just a pop album really...

O: (laughs) There you go, it’s just a pop album...

This album’s coming out on your own label right?

C: Yeah it’s coming out on our label Pop Committee

O: aka Pop Com

Why did you decide to go independent?

O: I mean no-one wanted to release our record. That’s the nitty gritty of it really. When we came back there were a few people interested in the band, but we didn’t want to go back onto a major record label. Cooking Vinyl are the people releasing it, and they said they’d be up for letting us release it on our own label so it was the perfect thing. You know, you feel a bit rejected and then someone comes along and believes in you...

I feel like a lot of bands would have just said “fuck it” at that point. You guys were signed to RCA, had big money deals and all this hype.

J: I think even if we had the chance to do that big label thing again we wouldn’t do it.

O: It would be fucking hard, saying no to a lot of money, but we have it in our hands now. We were lucky to have had that kind of experience, and it would be hard to turn it down but I think just do it yourself if you can. We didn’t have to have side jobs and stuff with the first albums, but I think now we do, we appreciate it a lot more .

What do you think of this new crop of bands coming through, are you fans of that post-punk thing?

O: It happens doesn’t it, it comes back at certain points you need to find your own lane and not change your lane. More than ever this year I’ve noticed a lot of interesting bands coming out like Squid, even the ones I don’t like they’re at least interesting, they’re not just trying to be a band that was big last year.

Words by Rob Knaggs, illustration by Leanne Rule