SWIM TEAM
Swim Team has really hit the ground running. Having formed only recently, the band has already released a fantastic single, their debut EP, and were featured earlier this month by Alternative Press as one of eleven Canadian bands to keep an eye on. We caught up with members Marco Ferraris (MF, above far left ) and Will Lepine (WL, above second from right) to learn more about the band.
VITALS
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swimteam.music/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swimteam.band/
Web: https://swimteam613.bandcamp.com/
Latest Release: Swim Team (EP, May 2017)
Upcoming shows: Stay tuned!
SA: How did Swim Team first start playing music together? MF: Honestly I think Will, Nick and I joked about a band on twitter to the point that we all had a free night and actually jammed. Cam had talked about a band for a while and he has a lovely voice so he was a good fit from the get go. So basically we were born from a joke.
SA: I've seen clips of you performing covers of acts as diverse as LCD Soundsystem and Deafheaven at live shows. What bands or musicians would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound? MF: We all really enjoy LCD Soundsystem and “All My Friends” translated nicely to a cover. We started playing that from the start as our infamous 7 minute cover. Deafheaven was a hilarious one off but maybe we’ll bring that back (we will definitely bring that back). The National have been a big influence lately. They sing about the saddest stuff. WL: Bruce Springsteen is also probably a big one. We covered Born to Run once and dads moshed so that was cool.
SA: Thus far in your career, what has been the band’s biggest success? MF: Power dropping our EP within 5 minutes of arriving in Hamilton with literally no hype up was hilariously fun and oddly successful (oh my god thank you for this interview and asking us about it later)
SA: Conversely, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it? WL: I don’t really think we’ve faced any real challenges with this band. Aside from the usual peoples lives things getting in the way, Swim Team was formed to be a project we could all have fun with. Taking that approach has made it so that the band never gets too stressful for anyone which has been really cool. SA: How do you guys approach the song-writing process? MF: We normally whip up the music first and them Cameron and/or I bring in some lyrics. He’s normally got some story he’s written about a sad man trying to make it work in New Hampshire, or something. Always a safe bet! WL: Its a very jam oriented process, someone comes in with a riff or a chord progression and we just jam it out and feel it out until its something we like.
SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene? MF: I think there is a lot of talent here. Bands are taking a lot of tour leaps from Ottawa which is exciting, and smaller venues are starting to host some pretty sweet acts (like Black Squirrel Books). WL: Recently a few large-ish venues have shut down which has sucked but its forced people in the music scene to find interesting spots to host events and that has given the Ottawa music scene a very different twist. The venues Ottawa does have (House of Targ, LIVE on Elgin) are very cool spots but then there’s also stuff like Black Squirrel Books that Marco mentioned thats a really cool spot to have events. I’ve seen Marco’s band, The Stringers, play an olive oil bar so like, that’s Ottawa in a nutshell.
SA: You guys just finished off a run with Castlefield and Grass Dancers. Any highlights from this tour? MF: Playing that many shows back to back was a first for us, and let us tighten up live. Oshawa was a bit of an awkward start since the venue we were scheduled at decided to shut down the entire show because of a few underage kids in a band...but we ended up crashing an open mic night elsewhere. It was all pretty silly. Hamilton is a gorgeous city and was personally my favourite night of the tour as it was the one night we all hung out until the wee hours all getting to know one another. WL: It was definitely a good time, we got to see some friends and make new ones. A lot of the people we played to seemed really into it which is always nice to see. Definitely something we’d like to do again.
SA: Your EP was released in late May 2017. As a band, do you have a favourite track off the release, and why? MF: Snowbirds is my personal favourite...just the most fun to jam on and it sounds rather pleasant even though it’s kind of sad. That’s kind of Swim Team, though…
SA: If you had to choose, what three records would you cite as most impactful on your sound in this band? MF: Oh man I am horrible with album names. For me: that Bon Iver one...The National’s Alligator aaaaaaand The Alvvays record. WL: And any Bruce record. SA: What comes next for you guys in 2017? Good luck this coming year! MF: We are aiming to record 2 more tracks at Will’s up and coming studio. We’re getting a little more jolly sounding with the summer months. One of that has a nice beach spring to it and I think we’ll get a video going for that one. I’m sure we’ll think up another silly song title for it, too. WL: SHAMELESS SELF PROMOTION: hit me up on facebook for details, Scoreboard Studios, as we’re calling it is hoping to launch fully within the next few months. Very excited to pump out some new Swim Team tunes as well as some other local acts. Aside from that, I’m sure Swim Team we’ll be hitting the road again for a bit whenever we can find some time.