Swim. is known for breaking boundaries between genres and creating songs with a bright energy.
"Paranoia" is no exception as the new single hits you with a heavy pop hook within seconds and before you know what happened you're stuck on the song.
The track breathes a crazy atmosphere with that raw, youthful energy and powerful emotional driven style.
The chorus is the hook and damn does this radio ready melody get stuck in your head. It's a get up and dance, get up and sing along, get up and jump type of track and the colorful aesthetic is completely infectious.
The track hits like whiplash and is come and gone so quickly you have to snap out of it and hit replay. And you will.
It's pop rock that literally anyone can get down to with it's fun, polished, and very alive feeling vibe.
There is so much outstanding original material from Swim. that it's almost intimating but it's such a good time to listen that you must do it.
With such a great new single and so much more being released all the time, we wanted to have a sit down with Swim. to talk shop.
RAG: Okay let's start with "Paranoia" This track has a cross between Indie-Rock. alternative, and an edgy pop feel. Where did this song come from?
Swim. - The song came from my own bouts with fear, anxiety and paranoia around expressing my talents and sharing them with the world. I wrote the song like I usually do - by myself, at my house, to a type beat on YouTube. But it expanded into something far more than I originally thought when I shared the song with my producer/guitarist Lorenzo Sarti and Iacopo Pinna and they began to take the originally more subtle sounding instrumental and give it more energy. After that we recorded a demo with my lyrics and melody and their production, and on my birthday about two years ago we performed the track at a Birthday party show I threw in LA. There was a vocal producer/engineer in the crowd by the name of Reda Haddioui. He loved the song so much he offered to re-record it in the famous WAX LTD recording studio in LA. I said yes and the rest was history.
RAG: You have some great sounds on this track. Who are some of your biggest influences?
Swim. - My biggest influences in music are Drake, Kid Cudi, The Weeknd, The Dangerous Summer, The Wonder Years and all of the post-hardcore bands that Jonny Craig was the lead vocalist for at one point lol. Especially Emarosa.
RAG: How did all of this start for you?
Swim. - I started honestly making music when I was around five or so. My father was a “Gangster Christian Rap Artist and Producer” and my mother has always had a deep love for music too. And so I started making music when I was young just trying to be involved in the hip hop cyphers and studio sessions my dad would go to and host sometimes at our house. But I didn’t start taking music seriously again until about three years ago.
RAG: What kind of things inspire you to write songs?
Swim. - Everything inspires me to be honest. I’m probably an overly passionate person in that way. I can be talking to someone and they can say something completely random and it’ll make a song start ringing in my head that I want to write. When it comes down to songwriting I really do take almost anything and everything that makes me feel something, anything at all, as inspiration. Everything that happens and/or could happen in the world is my muse.
RAG: Did you used to perform live? Will you be focusing on live shows again when the time comes?
Swim. - Yes, before COVID I performed live. We were actually in the process of planning a West Coast tour with me and at least two other artist in the city before everything got shot down. I can’t wait to be performing again because I feel like that’s when the music really comes to life.
RAG: What's actually next for you?
Swim. - I’m working on finishing up three very different projects. I’m not sure which one I want to release first yet but I have two demo albums recorded already and a mixtape I’m working on with my crew Acrylic Matter.
RAG: What are you listening to right now?
Swim. - I’m listening to a lot of Playboi Carti, Lil Uzi Vert and Puma Blue. I also spend a lot of time listening to local, independent and underground artist that I’ve met on this music journey. So I’ve been listening to an artists named glorychile, jeleel! and Rakeem Miles a lot too.
RAG: What are you doing when you're NOT working on music?
Swim. - When I’m not working on music, I am working on getting my PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. I’m in my third-year in the program - almost finished.
RAG: How do you write your songs really? Is it lyrics first or melodies maybe? How does it work for you?
Swim. - When I write my songs the lyrics and the melody are usually cocreated at the same time. It’s like I almost won’t know what to say if I don’t how I’m going to say it. But I always start with writing to a type beat on YouTube and then taking it to the studio to create/produce a beat that more perfectly fits my sound.
RAG: What kind of advice would you give to other up and coming bands and artists out there?
Swim. - I would say: find a team and be your own driver. You can’t do this alone but you have to operate as if you are alone until people start to come around to help. I’ve been doing this for a while but I feel like I’m just starting to really produce the quality and style of music I’ve always wanted to make quite simply because I didn’t have the team around me to do it. But if you want this badly enough, keep creating and the team will come and that usually really helps push the dream.
RAG: Before we go, what would you like to say to fans of the music?
Swim. - Follow me on Instagram at @iamswim_ and Welcome to the W E I R D O ☠️ M A F I A.
Comments