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Biography
Swim Deep began with three teenagers from Birmingham in 2010. Austin Williams played guitar and sang, Tom 'Higgy' Higgins was the lead guitarist and Wolfgang J Harte played the bass guitar. Over two years they wrote songs, recorded demos and played live as much as they could, but they couldn’t keep a drummer for love nor money. The reality of the situation was creeping up on the nascent rock band and their desire to keep going was waning, so out of desperation they asked Zachary Robinson to drum for them. Robinson was a long shot since he already had a comfortable gig drumming for another Birmingham based band called Cajole Cajole but against all probability, he said yes after hearing the bands demos.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for Harte, who quit the band after a few months practising with Robinson. However, by that point in time there was a proper scene of indie rock bands coming up from Birmingham which Swim Deep were one of the most promising acts in. They were friendly with another band that had come to prominence as part of that scene, you might have heard of them, they’re called Peace. Cavan McCarthy ran their merchandise stall but was a skilled bassist in his own right, so by the end of 2011 McCarthy had replaced Hart as the bassist of Swim Deep, and they’d put demos of their tracks “Isla Vista” and “Santa Maria” onto their Soundcloud page.
Those demos netted the band a record deal with Chess Club Records, and their debut single “King City” made the band a surefire candidate for the next great British guitar band practically overnight. After shows with everyone from Two Door Cinema Club to Spector, and three further singles in the form of “Honey”, “The Sea” and “She Changes The Weather”, they released their debut album “Where The Heaven Are We” in August 2013. With a top twenty debut album to their name, a sold out show at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire and some of the greatest guitar pop singles of this decade, the sky’s the limit for Swim Deep. Highly recommended.
Live reviews
Birmingham outfit Swim Deep emerged from the Digbeth scene at around the same time as their pals Peace and Jaws and all three bands promise suitably raucous homecoming shows when they return to the second capital. Swim Deep's reputation has taken off in a big way on both sides of the Atlantic so they now take to stage with a visible confidence and bravado without straying into arrogance.
Beginning their set with a Prince track is a great way to say we have arrived and they bound onto stage and begin the huge frantic introduction of 'Francisco' one of their earliest tracks. The fans gathered tonight have been following Swim Deep for a while so know to sing back every single song at bellowing levels along with lead singer Austin Williams. Boasting as being the first gig to sell out at Birmingham's Oobleck, this was a night for true celebration so the debut 'Where the Heaven Are We' was played in near entirety with a suitable send off in the form of 'King City'.
sean-ward
