"After branching out from recorder club I got really into making weird and wonderful sounds and writing songs."
Where did you start out in music?
After branching out from recorder club I got really into making weird and wonderful sounds and writing songs. I’ve made music with Peter, my brother, since we were kids, with guitars and drums and rock action. Then when I met (Swimming co-founder) Ben Hallett, we started mashing up guitar recordings and writing electronica and doing whatever we wanted and making fresh sounds and out of it formed Swimming. I also play with Amusement Parks on Fire, working with them in the studio and I played keys with them for a while.
Who plays what in the band?
Peter (my brother) plays the drums. He is probably better known for his achievements in vocal percussion as The Petebox. Andrew Wright of psychedelic kiddy-pop duo We Show Up On Radar plays all the nice waves and broken texturey noises from his sampler. Joff aka Jonathon Spittlehouse plays a guitar called a ‘universe’. He makes some mind-bending sounds with it. Alex Tabrizi also of YesMyNinjas? plays the bass and I make sounds and play guitar and sing. We now have a resident VJ, Becky Smith. She creates visuals of dreams for the live show.
What’s your favourite swimming baths in Nottingham?
Victoria Baths in Sneinton. It’s where it started. We’d swim on Saturday mornings and then make music in the afternoon. We used a photo of the main pool there as the cover of our first demo and it’s also our MySpace backdrop at the minute. It’s very photogenic.
How many swimming badges did you get when you were a kid?
I had the 5m badge, 10m badge, 50m badge, 100m badge, 500m badge, 1000m badge, bronze award, silver award. I’m still working towards my gold.
Could you get the brick from the bottom of the pool in your pyjamas?
Yes, I think this is important and I could take them off, tie a knot at the end of the trouser legs, blow them up and use them as a float. This is yet to be applied in real life.
Any other swimming related stuff you’d like to declare?
In summer (when it’s proper summer) go down to Colwick Park, there is a part of one of the lakes you can swim in. What are your favourite cities and venues to play? Liverpool, Matlock Bath, Bath and Niagara Falls.
What are your favourite hangouts in Nottingham?
Lee Rosy’s Tea Shop has great tea, great service, great music and great times. I also love The Mount, a field at the back of my house in Sneinton.
What was the last album that you bought?
Battles Mirrored. They are amazing live too. And an Early Music compilation.
What was the last book you read?
A brief history of Islam.
What was the last thing that made you laugh?
Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s Teaching Ravens To Fly Underwater sketch.
What was the last thing that made you cry?
A song a good friend wrote. Don’t tell him, I’ll be embarrassed, but it’s a very beautiful song.
What’s coming up for you over the next year?
We’re just finishing our first album at the moment, so then we will be getting it out and heard by as many folk as we can, playing loads of live shows in the autumn and writing some new songs. We are also going to be doing some more remixes of the album tracks in forests and other nice places with sonic artist Dallas Simpson.
Anything else you want to say to LeftLion readers?
Yes, but it’s all in song form.
Swimming play LeftLion Presents at The Orange Tree on Saturday 1 September 2007.
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