Swim Deep Swim Deep are back. The Birmingham (“b-town”?) rockers
O: Well, we were finally surrounded by a band who actually
have returned from the wilderness with a brand new line-
wanted to do something instead of just pottering along. So
up, album and live set that’s as trim and potent as it’s ever
that happened and everything started to come into shape and
been. Having being dropped by their label RCA, the album
we met Dave (McCracken, producer) and he just kicked us
represents a turning point for the band. Losing two founding
up the arse a thousand times, and he knew that we wanted it
members and the financial security of big-industry money
so bad, so we just worked really hard.
might have been the death-knell of a lesser band, but for Swim Deep it was a chance to make the record they’d
So, it’s been a while since ‘Mothers’, what have you been
always wanted to. We caught up with Ozzy, Cav, James and
up to since then?
new members Robbie and Tommy to find out what they’ve James Balmont: We finished ‘Mothers’ and then went to
been up to.
write almost straight away for about three months and it was Hello Swim Deep. You’re back! Why now?
just really grim. It was three months at the Fortress…
Cavan McCarthy: Why now? Why not.
O: It’s gone now but it was just this really horrible studio complex in East London. Nothing came out of that except
Ozzy Williams: There was a massive turning point about
for meeting Dave, who helped us see the bigger picture.
two years ago when Higgy and Zac decided they wanted to
And then after that we just all kind of got back to reality in
leave the band, in the space of the same month. Even though
a way. Everyone had to pick up part time jobs, and DJ sets
we knew one of them was coming, the other was a complete
every week and that also shaped the record. You know, it
surprise. Me, James and Cav just sat there in the pub and
gave us this drive to be back being a full time band.
decided it was all or nothing really. That must have been pretty tricky to pick yourself up from...
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Words by Rob Knaggs, illustration by Leanne Rule
