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Swears are a fuzzy alternative rock band originating from Middlesbrough, drawing influences from grunge, punk, doom and pop. Debut EP ‘Seersucker’ has just been released and here’s the lowdown on the band straight from the horse’s mouth. Curses in Greek also included.
What are the origins of the band, how long have you been playing together?
We got together in the summer of 2017. We’d known each other for years via various bands, admired each other’s work and decided to give it a go together. George and Stephanos come as a duo on account of the whole ‘blood bond’ thing and teamed up with Joel to write a few early demos. Tom joined the band around a year ago, replacing our original bassist Craig.
How did you feel performing your first gig? And how was it?!
Our first gig was in Middlesbrough supporting Allusinlove, at a gig that Joel was putting on. It was a lot of fun and felt natural as we’ve played/knew each other for a long time before the band was formed. At the time we were just excited to get out there and play these songs we’d been working on in front of a live audience.
What should people expect when they check the band out? How would you describe yourself?
Loud, high energy shit but quite melodic. When we started this band the idea was to do music a little more pop-orientated and accessible than in our previous bands, but as time has gone on and we’ve defined our sound, we’ve ended up becoming darker and heavier, both in terms of the music and in lyrical subject matter.
The new music scene is bursting at the seams with fresh talent, in what ways do you feel that a band has to stand out from the others trying to build a name?
That’s the million dollar question! Obviously the music comes first, and we try to create the best music we can. On top of that, the advent of the internet and social media and the accessibility of technology (cameras/recording equipment) has really changed the game. We try and apply our creativity to everything around us, be it from making our own music videos, creating promotional materials or just posting on instagram. Our music tends to be serious but as people we’re not really, so we like to do funny shit and just mess around really. We also be drippin in dat pretty boi swag yo.
What are you working on at the minute that people can check out?
We’ve just released our Debut EP ‘Seersucker’, which came out May 22. It contains four songs: ‘Warm to the Touch’ – a eulogy to a world seemingly bound for destruction (ironically written before the end-of-the-world began) with an old-school grunge vibe; ‘Say Nothing’ – an angry, fast-paced punk song aimed at the divisive voices within our society; ‘Catacombs’ – a sludgy gripe against toxic relationships; and ‘Brain Dead’ – a metal-infused mockery of religious and dogmatic ideals. We’ll be releasing music videos for each song on our YouTube channel (‘Say Nothing’ should be out late June).
What band out there at the minute do you feel that you would be best suited to open for?
I guess any riffy alternative rock bands such as Broken Hands, God Damn, Kid Kapichi, Big Spring, Beach Riot, cleopatrick, Baby Strange, Demob Happy, Sick Joy, Tigercub, Allusinlove. There are loads of bands really, as we feel that the alternative riffy rock scene is really starting to thrive, which we are happy about as it’s probably the closest style of music we can relate to.
What is your favourite (foreign or native) swear word or curse?!
George and Stephanos are half Greek Cypriot and were born over there, so any swear word in Greek will do – Γαμώτο, Σκατά, Αρχίδια and Μαλάκα are some of the classics. You’ll have to google translate them. But we like any swear word.
Who do you feel is the next band to break out of the UK
It’s hard to say due to the current state the music industry is because of the Covid situation. But hopefully a band with riffs, may be one that we have mentioned above, who knows.
What are your first musical memories? And what was the lightbulb moment that made you go “I want to do that”?
One particular moment doesn’t spring to mind, we all started learning an instrument in our teens (I’m assuming?) and when you listen to new stuff it can’t help but inspire you. Watching big bands live, playing games like Guitar Hero and then watching your mates play in bands and gig eventually built up and made us want to do it too.
What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
Probably Broken Hands in Manchester or God Damn in Leeds. We all miss going to gigs loads, hopefully they’ll be back before long.
With the exception of family, friends and gigs, what have you missed most during lockdown?
Loads of stuff! We had a bunch of cool shows planned March – July which have all been scuppered. We live for playing live so that’s been a big miss. We haven’t been able to get together to rehearse, make loads of noise, or just hang out, and we were wanting to film a number of music videos – an aspect of our releases we’ve really enjoyed in the past, which again we haven’t been able to do until now. We’ve had to postpone our weekly competitive meeting around the pool table in our local beer establishment, where insults are thrown with great abandon and things get rather heated. Also go karting.
The album that you have in your album collection/spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
I don’t know if it’s necessarily a surprise as we’ve always been quite forthcoming about our love of various genres, but we all have quite eclectic music tastes so there’s probably a lot in our playlists outside of the rock genre. For instance, Joel (vocalist) is into stuff like Bill Withers, James Brown, Marvin Gaye etc; George (guitarist) is into modern hip-hop so Kendrick Lamar, Tyler the Creator; Stephanos (drummer) loves ABBA; and Tom (bassist) would suggest Hall and Oates’ Private Eyes for a listen.
What are your plans for the remainder of 2020?
Right now we’re focusing on making music videos to accompany the songs on our EP, fortunately we had the music in the bank before lock down so it’s given us something to aim for. We’ve also been writing songs over the last few months so just to get together, re-write them as a group and head to the studio will be the next step. We’d like to get out on the road and back playing gigs at some point, so as soon as it’s safe to do so we’ll be booking shows.
How active are you on social media and where can people connect with you?
We are active on pretty much everything including tiktok, because we are young, super-hip and trendy.
Links:
Website: https://www.swearsband.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swearsbanduk
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swearsband
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SWEARSband
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2MMSvN8
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/swearsband
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SWEARS
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@swearsband
Photo credits – Claire-Jayne Photography
