Where you’re headed label-wise seems to be the big question as to the future of the Swellers. What exactly is the thought on where you’re headed with all the power back in your hands?
With the [7-inch we recently released on SideOneDummy], that was just like a handshake deal because we just love everyone at the label and they love our band, so we were like, “Cool, let’s do it.” Those were two songs from the Good For Me sessions that didn’t quite fit the record. They were some of our favorite songs that we recorded at The Blasting Room, but we were kind of like, “Eh, we’ll save these.” We were actually really glad we saved those because that was almost just a taste for people to be like, “Wow! These guys put out these pretty intense songs right as they left the label. That’s a pretty cool move.” I feel like putting out those songs was super-effective as a quick teaser.
With the talk of leaving the label, we were just so excited. We’re like, “Cool, we have to do another release. Let’s get something out for the fall.” As far as we were concerned, the record cycle for Good For Me was done almost as soon as the record came out. We were the only ones really promoting it. We toured our asses off, and people really loved the record and sing along to the songs in big numbers at the shows, but we got to this point where we were like, “Let’s put out a record ourselves and outsell the major label record we just put out.” I think that’s going to be the biggest “fuck you” to the music industry that’s happened in a while.
A lot of bands are forced to become an independent band because no one will put out their records and they were dropped from their label, whereas the Swellers asked to leave the label. It’s like how you don’t want to go fucking another girl right away after the breakup. You want some time to yourself and to do things your own way. That’s exactly what we’re doing. Labels have approached us and we’re like, “Cool, man. Thank you, but wait a second. We need to do this first.”
As far as our sound with the new EP, I’m sure a million bands say, “This is our most mature record to date.” Everybody says that and then they’ll go on to say, “Yeah, everybody says it’s their most mature record to date, but…” and it’s like, “Okay, man.” I’ll be the first to tell you: this is not our most mature record to date. It’s five songs that we wrote in our basement and it’s, like, the first time in a long time that we’ve been free and able to do what we want to do. We’re not thinking about it too hard, and we’re doing it exactly the way we would have 10 years ago when we started the band. [These songs] come from such a special place—just jamming in the basement with my brother again. It’s just like it used to be.
Your 10-year anniversary was recently. It seems like a lot of the bands that have been around for similar lengths are seeking that same independent power over their music, so that’s an awesome place for you guys to be in.
Right, right. Our 10-year anniversary was [June 24, 2012] and that was a really cool thing. It’s really bittersweet because it’s like, “Wow! We’ve been doing this for 10 years on our own terms and having a blast,” but then it’s also like, “Wow! We have so much more to do and so much room to grow even after 10 years.” So this is sort of like a, “Well, here we go again…”
But I think that “here we go again” is the best feeling we’ve had in a long time because sometimes your band will hit a plateau or you just kind of get bored, and we’ve been lucky enough that people have been wanting to take us out on tour time after time. I guess that comes with writing a good song and being nice dudes.
Getting back to the record itself, where in the process are you?
We just got the drums done. We’re kind of spacing it out over the course of two weeks, but we’re pretty much going to get this record done in about five days. We’re just doing it like we used to do it like, “Cool, we have no money and no time.” That was the attitude when we used to make records. Now, I’m doing most of the record myself, so I don’t have to pay anybody. It’s really cool being in my home studio and being able to experiment with tones. If I’m super-critical of something, I can always just redo it. I’m really looking forward to that.
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AltPress have posted an in-studio interview with The Swellers' Nick Diener where they discuss leaving Fueled By Ramen Records and progress on the band's upcoming independent EP. Click the Read More… link to read an excerpt.
