Swallow This

Author’s Note: Normally, I meet in person with the artists to conduct interviews. But due to scheduling conflicts, it was decided that I’d message them some questions and they’d choose which ones to answer. As a result, this blog post was written almost entirely by the members of Swallow. It took a long time to edit and resulted in a much longer blog post, but the stories are nonetheless worth reading.

        To start things off, how long have you been a band? How did you meet?

QUINN: “I started learning the guitar in July 2008. That year I was living away from everyone I knew, so there wasn’t much to do. I spent a lot of time learning songs from guitar tabs and teaching myself to play. After four months, I bought my first electric guitar. After I moved back, my brother Conor bought his first drum kit off the side of the road in January 2009. We were kind of a proto-band while we waited for a friend of ours to get out of the Navy. I spent 2009 writing as much music as I could. Songwriting is really hard when you’re first starting out.  I know a lot of songs got scrapped, but that’s how songwriting goes; you write 100 songs, and only 10 will be any good. As a band, we didn’t have a name until July 2011.”

CONOR: “Well, I met Quinn through a mutual acquaintance:  our mother. Before officially becoming a band, we would just jam out in our garage to learn our instruments. Our mutual friend who was in the Navy was going to be our first bassist, but things didn’t work out. We decided to look for another bassist, and so began the Swallow graveyard of bass players. We’ve gone through like 12 bass players last I counted. Some left on their own accord and some we had to let go. This leads us to our current bass player Max. After Swallow was going to do battle of the bands against Ricin House –at the time Max was their bass player- but the band dropped out of the battle and we took Maxwell as a trophy. Well, not really, but that’s the way we like to think of it.”

       Was there a defining moment or experience in your life that led you to become a musician? Who is your music idol?

QUINN: "Growing up, music was always in my life in some small way, I just didn’t realize it for the longest time. My first musical idol was the composer for the Final Fantasy games, Nobuo Uematsu. I used to play keyboard and write classical or soundtrack-style songs, which isn’t really related to the music I do now. The defining moment that lead to me to learn guitar happened when I was playing Guitar Hero, though I hate to admit it. It was sometime in 2005 or  2006. Conor was always better than me at Guitar Hero, and I could never get past the medium level. I knew it would take a lot of time and practice to get good, but I realized if I was going to do that, I might as well spend that time and effort learning to play the real thing. Also, I was thinking about, when the next generation comes along, I wanted to be that family member who could play guitar, like my uncle. As for my celebrity muse that all guitarists have, my style is and was heavily influenced by Kurt Cobain. During the year I lived in Tallahassee, Nirvana was virtually the only thing I listened to.  I remember wanting to be able to sing sometime after seeing ‘March of The Penguins’. I had learned that when the females are returning from going to get food, they find their mates based on their song. They can pick out that one penguin call among thousands. That really made me notice that a lot of animals sing to attract mates. I figured if a penguin can sing, a human should be able to, and if I as a human couldn’t sing, I wasn’t living up to my full potential. At first it was hard since I’ve always been kind of an introvert.  It took me much longer to get good at singing than it did to learn guitar.”

CONOR: “Before Quinn and I ever picked up an instrument we played Rock Band and Karaoke Revolution.  After getting really good at it, I remember playing the rock band drums at my uncle’s place. He said that I had a natural knack for the drums and should try doing them in the future. ‘Every fuck and his dad can play guitar,’ my uncle said, ‘but drummers are hard to find.’ So I decided to play the drums more and see if it was something that I would like to do. I got good at it kind of fast. I still never actually  touched a read drum kit, but I remember listening to songs and hearing the snare, bass pedal, and the tom and being able to put it all together and be able to play a simplified version of the song. I knew that I got really good at Nirvana’s  song ‘Drain You’ on rock band when I was able to play it on the expert level without looking at the screen. Instead I’d stare down the poor sap who made eye contact with me. I’d make a Tim Curry grin until it freaked them out. Soon I realized that  Rock Band drums and real drums aren’t that different, so I decided that I wanted a real drum kit. About a year later on Obama’s first inauguration, I get a call from my uncle. He told me that a Tama drum kit was on sale on the side of the road, so I grabbed my money, and I headed down with Quinn. We walked up to the door and asked if the drums were still for sale. The man said yes, and asked us if we had any weed. No, we didn’t, but we would pay in cash for the drums. He agreed and helped us load the kit into our car. After being thankful for still having our lives, we drove to our uncle’s house to show off the fruit of our spoils. As for music idols, I tend to stick with Dave Grohl and Tenacious D for my music ability…and Jack Black for my songwriting, because I’ve never written a song.”

MAX: “ When TRL switched to playing 10 second clips of music videos so that ‘stars’ could talk over their screaming fans, all I could think was that I wanted to look like Carson Daly. But it irritated me that the music was cut short for the ego.”

 What's your songwriting method? Do you have any rituals or techniques you'd like to share?

QUINN: “I spent so much time trying to figure out how to write songs. Everything was self-taught, so the whole process is like feeling around in the dark. What works best for me is to start with the music. Randomly come up with a riff or chord progression and try to make it reflect how you feel. When you have it, write it down or record it somehow. Then, continuing to write or record as you go, try to improvise a melody for vocals.  Don’t try to actually think of words—just make noises that sound like words, it could be mumbling, moaning, whatever. Then, if you feel the song needs it, come up with a second part that will be your chorus and do the same with that. When you have most or all of the song, play back those random mumblings you made the melody out of. Listen to them over and over, and write the words that sound like the noises you were making. That’s how I started out writing music, and I think of it as using free-association. Being a psychology major, it seemed valid. Later on, as I got better with practice, I was able to be more deliberate with the lyrics. Hell, if worst comes to worst, just sing about what you can literally see from where you’re sitting. The only song I’ve ever done that for turned out to be our most popular song. I try to roughly follow the verse-chorus-verse-chorus-solo-chorus-chorus pop music formula, because it offers structure to build on, but not all songs work that way. I’ve written songs that don’t repeat. Let the song be whatever it needs to be, because it’ll be part you and part luck. Like a child, you can’t predict or dictate everything it will become. When it comes to songwriting, don’t try to do what you can’t do yet. Start simple, do what works for you, and write a LOT of songs."

 Any advice to give to a person who's just starting out? This would be a good place to clear up any misconceptions/unrealistic expectations beginners might have about being in a band.

QUINN: “I’d suggest that, unless you’re in a formal class, learn the instrument by learning songs. Some people will tell you to learn scales and chords, and do all these exercises up and down the neck, but if that doesn’t appeal to you, just look up a song. There’s guitar tabs all over the internet that show you how to play. I learned the guitar by learning songs. The more songs I learned, the more song characteristics I learned. You’ll see techniques repeat themselves across different songs, so not only are you learning the most practical skills for playing your instrument, but you’re also learning songwriting. Also, don’t get discouraged. I can only speak for learning guitar, but there’s an impossibly steep hill at the very beginning, but everything after that is stupid-easy. Look at famous musicians… Chances are, you’ll find a famous musician with millions of fans that you’re probably smarter than. Tell yourself, “If [low-life celebrity burn-out] can be that good, I can be better.”  Anyone who’s ever become an expert at something was a human, and if you’re a human, you’re capable of the same."

CONOR: “Well, if you want to be good you’re going to have to practice. The Beatles started out as a Cover band. They would all learn a song and perfect it to the dot! As a result they became great technical players, and that ability transferred over to writing originals. Another thing would be to get a group of your friends that all like the same music and actually want to make music. But make sure they are willing to put as much work into the band as you are.”

Have you had any embarrassing stage moments?

QUINN: “I can personally handle things pretty well, I always think of it as one of many inevitable bad shows within a long career of shows. There was a particular awkward moment that stands out though… We were playing at a smaller show, and our bassist at the time (we’ve had a LOT of bassists) started arguing with us during the show because he began playing a song we hadn't rehearsed, so I ended the argument by playing a song the bassist didn't know. We ended the set on that song, and people loved it.”

MAX: “My most embarrassing stage moment is that I play with Quinn and Conner.”

 Is this something you want to do for life, as a career, or is it mostly a hobby? Why or why not?

QUINN:  “I want music, songwriting, and performing to be in my life, but I don’t want it to be at the cost of everything else in my life. I've got my eggs in different baskets, but that doesn't mean I don’t take it seriously… I’m always planning and moving toward the next step.”

MAX:   “Hobby, but it would be nice if people appreciated the music enough to want me to tour, or pay me to tour. If you choose the career path, the money aspect of it makes you do things you don’t want to. The artistic aspect of playing music is the most important part to me. It’s a way of getting your weird emotions out so they don’t clog up your chakras or whatever. When you play music as a career, you have to stress about it like it’s a job, and some people thrive off that, but money always, always complicates things. You fight with people because you aren't making enough. You fight with your bandmates because you ‘contribute more.’ I would love to be good enough to self-fund a tour and have the fan base to support it. But fuck the music business.”

CONOR: “It started out as a hobby, but the more I did it, the more I grew to love it. It’s more of a passion than a career. If I can get paid for doing this, I would drop everything and do nothing but this! I think we’re striving for this goal but could use some help, like a record deal and a manager. I mean, who wouldn't love to not go to school and wake up early to go through an hour of traffic for a job they hate doing? I’d rather stay up late, be my own boss and do something I love doing? I’d be able to go to a bar every night without getting called an alcoholic. I’d get to just play my music and shoot the shit with chicks and fans.”

 As we know, some gigs pay and some don't. Describe a little bit about band economics. Like, how do you choose where to play, or if/when it pays off to play for free.

QUINN: "I like to tell myself  I’m not a musician, I’m an artist. But every now and then you have to take off your artist hat and put on your business hat. I've always heard that you should play every gig you can. It’s better practice, more exposure, more experience, and it’s very motivating when it comes to songwriting. I've also heard that if you want to get discovered, concentrate more on playing live shows. A lot of musicians want to get in the studio, but the fans want entertainers who are good at performing. I would say get paid to play gigs because  you’re getting paid, but you’re also advertising yourself to people who pay to hear live music. I think they’re more likely to become fans, especially if you’re good and they see you often. Look up the ‘Mere Exposure Effect’ and you’ll understand it better. Even open-mic nights have their advantages. One, yes, there’s the potential fans again, but two, there’s other musicians. It’s your chance to meet friends and network. A lot of gigs require more than one band to be booked, so now’s your chance to meet those bands. Hitch a ride on their shows, and have them play at yours.”

MAX:  “Paying gigs suck. I have been paid for 5 gigs in my life, and I find that the people who pay you more are dicks, unless you know somebody at a small bar. There were two gigs I played in particular that were both $100 gigs and both were saying ‘oh yeah, we have bands in here all the time.’ We found out that was not the case, and we practically got booed off stage by the bartenders. They want acoustic acts so their patrons can drink and ignore the music. Free gigs are where it’s at. I guess paying $20 to see some shitheads bang their instruments around isn't what most people are looking for. The freer the better, in my opinion.”

CONOR: “ If it’s free its free, I'm not going to turn down a gig that doesn’t pay, because a gig’s a gig. It’s kind of like on rock band, where you can choose between more pay but fewer fans or more fans but less pay.  I realize it’s just a video game, but it does have some roots in the real world.”

CREDITS: Quinn Landes (singer/guitarist), Conor Landes (drums), Maxwell Aldrich (bass)