Salutations to my friend, Connor Duffy editor / creator of “Angry
Left Wing Mofo” for this interview (Whose own website on the
Links page to my website is well worth checking out although I
Am not sure if he would like me saying that).
When reading through what I think was the last issue Connor ran,
There was this interview by this young Girl led Indie / Punk Rock
Band called “The Swear”. I must admit by this point I hadn’t heard
Of them, but of interest I went on their website to check them out
(www.the-swear.co.uk) And was really impressed by their
Sound, which I guess in it’s own way reminded me of P.J. Harvey /
Early Throwing Muses and perhaps even Sleater-Kinney, all in all a
Nice all racket!
Interested of course, I contacted their lead singer Tycie Swear and
the resulting interview followed through quite quickly.
Thanks to Tycie for the interview and I wish you all the best for
future releases etc, etc.
For more details on the band – please contact them through
their website (www.the-swear.co.uk) or have a look on the
feature on them on “Angry Left Wing Mofo” also…
Love n light
Andy N xx
Setting Sun: What are you doing at the moment and
how are tricks?
Tycie:
We're getting better at our tricks as Andrew proved
by backwards rolling onstage whilst playing guitar at
Cargo! The Cargo gig on 21st Feb was the first of our
Filthy Little Angels tour which saw us play Nambucca
on Holloway Rd, Brighton, Nottingham and finishes
tonight at Infinity, Mayfair.
Setting Sun: Can you tell us a little bit about the
history of “The Swear?” Although I am sort off
familiar with yourselves through your pretty good
interview with Conor from “Angry Left Wing Mofo”,
as I always say clearly there are people who wouldn’t
have heard off you so can you give the story or who
fired the starting pistol as I always like to say.
Tycie:
It's quite a straightforward story really. We met at
Goldsmiths College in New Cross, South East
London.
Angus asked me to join his fey indie band
"The Northern Lites" of which Andrew was the
drummer. The music didn't say anything to us about our
lives so Andrew & I split with the band to form
something more influenced by Riot Grrrl and the
Dischord bands.
Angus missed us so much that he started turning up
at practice to play bass! Tim & I both did English and
spent our time drinking in the Union before going
to heavy-going Renaissance seminars.
We knew Tim drummed like a mad man so we
invited him to join the band. Angus left last year to
move to Brighton so we then invited Craig to
play bass.
Games for May, Craig's old band, were amazing so
we were really lucky that they split!
Setting Sun: What have proved your influences (music wise)
And what have you been listening to recently?
Tycie:
The only influence we all agree on is Pretty Girls Make Graves. One
time me and Andrew went to see them play at the Garage and we
saw Craig in the crowd. We used to see him around New Cross
and say "Who's that boy!" (This is before we knew who
Games for May were) When he joined our band we knew
it was destiny that we saw him that time. We didn't know
each other but it's like Pretty Girls gravitated each of us
together.
We also like Fugazi, Le Tigre, The Slits, Sleater-Kinney,
Sonic Youth...the list goes on.
This week I have mostly been listening to Bloc Party's album.
Setting Sun: Again for those who don't know you, can you tell
Us what stuff you have released so far and where people can get them?
Tycie:
We had a song "High Rise" on the New Cross by Angular Records
and also "Advert Boy" on their follow up compilation "Rip
off Your Labels".
The New Cross is sold out but you can get ROYL from
www.angularrecords.co.uk.
You can get our Filthy Little Angels pink 7" vinyl from our website
www.the-swear.co.uk.
Setting Sun: Probably my favourite song of yours (so far
anyhow) is the song, which is currently available on your split
single with The Violets “Japanese Pop Song”… Can you tell us
a little behind this track?
Tycie:
This is an Andrew Moran original. He wrote it about my
flatmate who broke his heart but it is relevant to all
the other girls that have broken his heart! I sing the
chorus "Can we just be friends? Nothing serious yet?"
this is a line which many young men have heard a few
times I'm sure!
Setting Sun: I also notice from your website that you
also play gigs pretty regularly – How did your gigs
compare to your studio recordings? Do you find there
is one you prefer over the other?
Tycie:
Our studio recordings have been very rushed so far. I
don't feel our old recordings represent us all that well.
This is because of money and time restraints i.e. we have
neither!
We love playing live and just seem to get asked to gig
all the time. If I wasn't playing a gig I'd just be at home
watching telly and doing other wasteful things!
Setting Sun: What has been your best / worst
experiences of been in a band? Been in a band
myself I've had some fun to tell certainly so
I could guess you are the same...
Tycie:
The worst is lugging drum kits and amps around. I have no
upper arm strength you see! Also, the boys stink after a
gig cos they sweat so much.
We have been nicknamed The Sweat in the past!
The best is getting a huge buzz from a new song going
down really well.
Setting Sun: What’s next for you ? Do you have any gigs
lined up or recordings planned (Perhaps another single
or maybe even a album)?
Tycie:
Our next gig after the FLA tour is on March 16th @ the
Rhythm Factory, London with Bidgie Reef & the Gas
and Ciccone. We're putting the finishing touches to
our new recording on mid March. We're really excited
about it cos it's being engineered by Keith Mahony
the guy who did "Formed a Band" by Art Brut
+ we're proud of this batch of songs. It should be
available from our website from April.
Setting Sun: Lastly, to finish off with (Borrowed from a pal's
Zine almost) "Imagine you were ship wrecked on a
desert Island and could have (clearly have second
sight here - lol) the choice of having 5 records or
Cds with you with a stereo of course - what would be
your desert Island Discs?
Tycie:
Mine would have to be
Dry by PJ Harvey,
Dig Me Out by Sleater-Kinney,
Unknown Pleasures by Joy Division,
the Argument by Fugazi,
and The Swear's Greatest Hits!
Hopefully by the time I'm shipwrecked they would've
invented a solar powered MP3 player with
numerous back catalogues on it!
