Swimming’s new release breathes air into old work

Three piece Newfie midwest-emo outfit Swimming, are Liam Ryan, Nick Hunt, and Jacob Cherwick. Six months after releasing their last record, Old, they hit the road for a tour. After being on the move since July 3, they just had their last stop on September 6, playing in Edmonton for Purple City Music Festival. 

After meeting in college and playing in a few other bands, Ryan, Cherwick, and one of their friends got together to jam some songs Ryan had been writing. Down the road, their one member left the band, and Hunt joined. 

A song on the new record, “Reports” even predates the band as a whole, as it came from a project Ryan and Hunt were in before. 

Due to Ryan writing these in his early 20s, when he returned to them closer to 30, he felt they were too dramatic. “We went to record the vocals and I was like ‘I can’t sing this.’ This is cheesy. So [after re-writing], a lot of them took on new meanings. Some stuff felt like it was too personal to sing about,” he said. 

“It’s like a young person dealing with the stress of life perhaps,” Ryan says

Ryan rewrote the songs to be less dramatic. “I don’t really listen to music that is lyrically dramatic. And it’s not to hate on anything like that, I know that emo kind of has its hand in that pot in a big way. When I was younger, I think I had more time for that, lyrically speaking. But now, I’m like, almost 30. I’m 27 years old. I don’t really want to be singing about that kind of stuff,” Ryan explained.

Narratively, Ryan said “it’s a bit all over the place. But a lot of it is about my life. I wrote most of it when I was closer to my early 20s so it’s like a young person dealing with the stress of life perhaps.” 

On the Newfoundland and maritimes scene, Cherwick said “it’s crazy. Every band should come out there. There’s a lot more touring bands coming out now. And, everytime they come out there, they have a great time, sell a ton of merch, and every show is really well attended.” 

Hunt added that “they’re talked about so much after too.” 

In regards to the band’s next record, Cherwick said “there’s definitely songs for a new album. There’s demos. It’s just a matter of sitting down and getting them all done.”