YOUR GUIDE TO THIS WEEK IN CULTURE
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Caro Meets Music Interview
Like Swimming: Revealing ‘Structures’
By Caro Moses | Published on Monday 8 September 2014
Swedish three piece Like Swimming – Claes Carlstrom on vocals and guitar, Ida Hedene on vocals and keys and Petter Wesslander on drums – release their debut album ‘Structures’ on 8 Sep, and will celebrate that occasion with a live (and free!) performance at The Social tonight.
The band recently allied with US label DigSin, and have been making good progress building a fanbase in America; now they have the UK in their sights. I sent some questions over to the trio ahead of their London gig.
CM: How do you three know each other, and when and how did the band come together?
LS: We’ve played together in a previous band for over seven years, so we know each other quite well. This project started from the ashes of our previous band about two years ago.
CM: One journalist called your track ‘Go Buffalo’ “the most upbeat morbid song”. How do you describe your sound? Do you associate with any specific genres or scenes?
LS: Yes, it is a both upbeat and morbid song, and that contrast is something that we think is very important when creating our music. We thrive on that tension between loving comforting warmth and the cold stark reality. One can describe our sound in different contrasts intertwined; the folksy and the electronica, the forest and the city, the personal and the structural…
CM: Do you have any particular musical influences?
LS: For Claes, Beach Boys is the foundation, but we’re clearly influenced by current artists like Local Natives, Naked & Famous and Feist.
CM: You’ve been working with DigSin in the US. How did that tie-up come about?
LS: Our management, Music Help, brought them to one of our shows with the previous band and since then we stayed in touch. When we started this project we immediately thought of them. So we sent them three songs as a demo and they jumped right on it.
CM: It’s not a conventional record label is it? How do they differ, and what are they like to work with?
LS: You’re right, they work very hard on the digital side of the music business, but most of all they’re absolutely wonderful to us as human beings and artists. They’re very listening and engaged in a way we don’t usually get from the music business as a small up and coming band.
CM: Tell us about the album. When was it recorded? Does it explore any specific themes?
LS: The album is called ‘STRUCTURES’ and that is the theme we’re exploring. Each song is trying to exemplify, reason with, relate, understand or just criticise different structures in our society that we’re all a part of and affected by.
CM: You’ve enjoyed quite a bit of acclaim for your output in the US. Is it important for you to have success in America?
LS: Since Sweden is a small country with a lot of music it’s natural to look outwards, and it’s even more natural for us since our label is American. Success in itself is not important but it would be nice to be able to keep doing this without our day jobs.
CM: You are about to play your first UK show in London. Have you visited the city before? Are you looking forward to it?
LS: Claes and Ida have only been to London twice, first as kids watching musicals and then at the Olympics playing music. Petter, on the other hand, has been to London several times. But London seems like a place in which one can never really get that “been there”-feeling, there’s so much culture and history breathing through the entire city. So we look forward to this immensely! Especially since this is the first time as Like Swimming.
CM: As in the US, is it important to you to build a following in the UK?
LS: It would of course be wonderful, even more actually since it’s both closer to home and because of Eddie Izzard.
CM: What happens from here? Have you got much promo or touring planned to coincide with the album?
LS: We have two music videos coming up and some shows in Europe during September. Then we’re going back to US in October for a longer tour. And then we hope to come back to the UK again soon.
‘Like Swimming’ perform as part of a DigSin showcase at The Social on 8 Sep from 8pm. The show is free, but you will need to get yourself on the list – email heatherfinlay@saintedpr.com.
LINKS: likeswimmingmusic.com | www.thesocial.com | twitter.com/WeLikeSwimming
