Introducing #168 - Swallow Cave
Rising Bristol band Swallow Cave have just released their new track ‘Cold Moon’ via Sad Club Records. Having been championed by BBC Introducing and supporting the likes of Porridge Radio and Lazarus Kane - this bands ability to blend harmonies with jangly guitars is certainly something to keep an eye on! We had a chat with them about their music.
Hey there Swallow Cave - so how are you in this troubling time for the creative industry?
Florrie: We are all happy, smooth and thick like gravy thank you. I think it's clear that it’s been very difficult for everyone in the creative industry right now. With the shutdown of live music, local events and tours within the music industry, it’s definitely damaged artists and slowed things down. I guess like a lot of bands right now, we’re looking at it as a time where we can write, reflect and find alternate ways to connect to people. The advice I’d give for all the sad creatives out there is to keep creating even if it's pants, eat fruit, and make phone calls to friends-lots of them, it worked for me, kind of.
Your new track is called ‘Cold Moon’ - can you tell us what the track is about?
Polly: It’s about feeling really low and going to those darkest places in your mind but then also the flip side of that when you kind of come out of it the other end and just that contrast between the lightest and darkest sides of the mind. I went for a walk one morning after feeling really low the night before and just felt everything kind of intensified like the wind, the sun, the sounds etc. I went back home and wrote this song super quickly.
It was recorded with producer Ali Chant, who has worked with the likes of Soccer Mommy and PJ Harvey. How did that partnership come about and how was your experience working with Ali?
Polly: We had been asking around a bit to try and get an idea of who we could record with and a friend of ours who was also working with him at the time recommended Ali. I’m quite bad at getting imposter syndrome so just assumed he wouldn’t be interested but luckily our drummer Izzi is great at just going for things and sending those awkward first messages so she reached out, he came to a few of our shows and we went from there!
Florrie: Working with Ali was very natural and a nourishing atmosphere to be in, he’d feed our brains with some ideas and we’d run away with them. He just knew exactly what approach we needed, we recorded Cold Moon in a live take all together in the studio, and it captured the perfect balance of energy needed for the song, like both the calm after a storm and it’s peak. There were a lot of nice moments, like when we got to do some wholesome group singing, but one of my favourites was watching Ali play the piano and recording it on an old dictaphone.
You are based in Bristol, which before Covid-19 has a blooming music scene. Where did you go for your musical adventures? Favorite venue or record store?
Florrie: Too many places to even say which is my favourite, but one of them is The Old England, it's got a lot of sweet charm and has put on such great DIY alternative punk gigs and previously had a live improvisation night on which was open for anyone to join, whenever I’ve gone down to one those nights it’s been wild. I’ve always loved going into Radio/ON to get some records, they have alot of 70/80s avant garde, post-punk, indie noise bands, some great queer punk records, and they showcase alot of current local music too. They are always playing something interesting in the shop that stops you in your tracks. They also sell some really nice quilts and sound systems. Big big love for Michal who runs it.
Polly: Yeah Radio/ON is a really great, inclusive record shop and Michal has always been really supportive of us, we played in store on their grand opening back in 2018! I don’t think I have a specific favourite venue as there are so many great ones but my favourite promoter has to be ‘1% of one’ I can be fairly confident in knowing I will enjoy going to anything they put on whether I know the artists beforehand or not and they really make use of all the great venues.
As a band, who are your key musical influences?
Polly: Our musical influences are pretty broad but I would say that we are especially influenced by any female/non-binary artists of any genre really, as four women playing music it’s always inspiring to see other women or non-binary people up on stage and releasing so much great music, some of the big ones for us would be PJ Harvey, Patti Smith, The Breeders and Beach House. We are also all into a lot of older 50’s/60’s pop and french ye-ye style songs so definitely draw on that for inspiration.
When it comes to your music, you can sense a poetic style and also some film references. Where else do you draw on inspiration wise when it comes to your song writing as a band?
Polly: It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what inspires us but outside of music but we definitely all have a strong interest in film, art, books, poetry etc. Sarah and Izzi met whilst working at an independent cinema in Bristol so film has always been something we talk about, it’s quite normal for our band practices to break off into long conversations on things we’ve watched, read and seen recently. We are all big fans of David Lynch which I guess comes across in our live shows at least because we almost always get twin peaks comments after gigs, we have always said our dream gig would be in The Roadhouse during an episode of twin peaks!