How to Swim (band)
Encyclopedia
Formation and early years (2000-2003)
How to Swim were formed at Glasgow School of ArtGlasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...
in late 2000 by Ink Wilson (aka Gregor Barclay, vocals and guitar), then a 1st year architecture student. HTS began as a six piece, comprising Wilson and fellow undergraduates: bassist Tang Chi Meng, percussionist Michael Bates, drummer Benedict Radcliffe, guitarist Mark Chapman and multi-instrumentalist Anna Webster. This line-up would last for only one performance, with Radcliffe departing, replaced by Bob Rafferty. Initial influences included Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
and Pavement
Pavement (band)
Pavement is an American alternative rock band that formed in Stockton, California in 1989. In their career, they achieved a significant cult following, and they were called the best band of the 1990s by prominent music critics Robert Christgau and Stephen Thomas Erlewine...
. The band's line-up would continue to change many times over subsequent years, adapting influences and styles. Throughout, Wilson has remained the principal songwriter, the sole continuous member through the different incarnations of the band.
In 2001, HTS released three home-recorded EPs, each on a very limited run. In the summer, the three CD-Rs were collected and released as The 3 EPs, the title a nod to The Beta Band
The Beta Band
The Beta Band were a British musical group who received much critical acclaim and achieved cult status amongst avid followers of the underground and experimental music scene...
's similarly titled 1998 release. The material from this period was recorded and performed by Wilson, with violinist Pauline McMullen and bassist Tang Chi Meng (by this point the only surviving member from the 'classic' line-up.) Around this time, the band played a number of gigs in Glasgow as a quartet with Rafferty on drums, occasionally augmented by Rafferty's elder brother Nick on lead guitar. In 2002, Tang departed the band to concentrate on his studies, and was replaced by Jim McAteer.
By 2003, with McMullen, McAteer and both Raffertys departed (the junior Rafferty would return to the drumstool for a brief period in 2010), the band used recording dates arranged at Glasgow's Stow College
Stow College
-History:The college is named after David Stow, whose primary teaching seminary was founded close to the college at Dundasvale. Stow was the first purpose-built Further Education college in Glasgow, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009....
to embark upon producing a self-funded first album Start Life in 2D. The line-up now included bassist/trumpeter Martin Docherty, drummer Chris Brown and flautist Fiona Burns. Recordings made by the music production class formed a large portion of the album, along with tracks recorded at the SAE Institute
SAE Institute
The SAE Institute is a private college founded in 1976 by Sound Engineer, Record Producer and businessman Tom Misner. The first school was opened 1977 in Sydney,...
, and two home recordings produced by Wilson's schoolfriend Mark Velarde.
The ten-track album was released in limited supply in August 2003, (following on from a limited-edition collection of live recordings and home demos entitled Gain Dimension) through the band's own 'Personal Hygiene' imprint, sold in local independent music stores and promoted with a number of live performances in and around Scotland.
The release found some limited radioplay; the band were interviewed on Jim Gellatly's Beatbreakers programme on the now-defunct XFM Scotland (then Beat 106).
It Stings When I EP and expansion (2003-2006)
Recordings for another self-funded record, It Stings When I EP, began in August 2004, the first HTS record to be produced by Gavin Thomson, then of local band 'Flying Matchstick Men', and latterly of Findo GaskFindo Gask (band)
Findo Gask is an electropop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Gerard Black , Michael Marshall , Gregory Williams and Gavin Thomson .-Singles:*"Findo Gask/Errors split 7"" *"Va Va Va" *"One Eight Zero"...
. By this point, the band was a seven-piece, now including trumpet player Alastair Johnson and guitarist Sean Callaghan. More ambitious than previous recordings, the EP included a string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
(arranged by Ross McCrae, then of The Poppadoms), brass, timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
. For "Bones", over thirty people were squeezed inside Wilson's home to perform backing vocals.
The EP was launched in Glasgow in December 2004 with a free show at Glasgow's Oxfam Music
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
store.
The record received a good response over the coming months, from publications including Is This Music?
Is this music?
Is this music? is an alternative music magazine based in Scotland, with a focus on the Scottish alternative music scene. Its first issue appeared in late 2003, featuring news of Bob Fairfoull's split from Idlewild, but its best known 'exclusive' was the first ever interview with Glasgow-based pop...
and The List, with Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
’s Teletext
Teletext
Teletext is a television information retrieval service developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. It offers a range of text-based information, typically including national, international and sporting news, weather and TV schedules...
service Planet Sound
Planet Sound
Planet Sound was a Teletext music page on ITV and Channel 4 in the UK. It was broadcast on analogue Teletext from page 340, and on digital Teletext from page 820. From May 24, 2007, Planet Sound was also available to read online via the Teletext website...
making it their ‘Demo Of The Week’, stating that “Of the released CDs we receive, 98% are nowhere near this imaginative.”
Looking to both improve the band’s compositional repertoire and perform the EP tracks live, additional players were brought in over this period. Adding keyboard player Jenny Wan (formerly of My Legendary Girlfriend), cellist Patrick Johnson, violinist Mhairi Ross, flautist Heather North (replacing a departing Fiona Burns) and Ross McCrae on trombone, the band played at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut
King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, also known as King Tut's, is a live music venue and bar in on St. Vincent Street, Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned and managed by Glasgow-based gig promoters DF Concerts...
in July 2005 for the first time as an eleven-piece; a line-up that would remain intact for another year.
In 2005, the band contributed to a covers album of proto-C86
C86 (music)
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other...
group The June Brides
The June Brides
The June Brides were an English indie pop group, formed in London in 1983, by Phil Wilson and Simon Beesley of International Rescue. Influenced by Postcard-label bands such as Josef K and punk-era bands such as Buzzcocks, The Desperate Bicycles and The Television Personalities, their mix of guitar...
, re-arranging and recording a version of the Brides' "On The Rocks". The record, entitled Still Unravished: A Tribute to The June Brides, also featured contributions from Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers
Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...
and Television Personalities. It was released in 2006 on Yesboyicecream Records.
The Littlest Orgasm and Electric Honey (2006)
Planning a debut album, to be titled A Little Orgasm Of Disappointment, the band began recording, again with Gav Thomson, at Berkeley 2, Glasgow, in September 2005. Shortly afterwards, time and money restrictions brought about the decision to release the record as a six-track mini-album, rather than the full 15 tracks planned. The 2009 release of A Little Orgasm of Disappointment is a compilation of The Littlest OrgasmThe Littlest Orgasm
The Littlest Orgasm is a six-track mini-album by Scottish indie rock band How to Swim. A reduced version of a planned longer album , the mini-album was distributed by Stow College’s Electric Honey label and released in the Summer of 2006.The record was recorded by Gavin Thomson at Berkeley 2 in...
and It Stings When I EP, and not to be mistaken for the abandoned full-length.
In October 2005, the band signed to Electric Honey
Electric Honey (label)
Electric Honey is a record label run by students studying the HNC and HND in Music Business course, as well as students studying the Advanced Diploma in Music Industry Management & Marketing course at Stow College in Glasgow, Scotland...
; a music label run by the Students of Stow College
Stow College
-History:The college is named after David Stow, whose primary teaching seminary was founded close to the college at Dundasvale. Stow was the first purpose-built Further Education college in Glasgow, celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2009....
’s HNC Music Industry Management, famous for uncovering local acts such as Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
, Belle and Sebastian and Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro
Biffy Clyro are a Scottish rock band from Kilmarnock, comprising Simon Neil , James Johnston and Ben Johnston...
. The deal would last until the end of the academic year, with the label agreeing to release and help promote The Littlest Orgasm
The Littlest Orgasm
The Littlest Orgasm is a six-track mini-album by Scottish indie rock band How to Swim. A reduced version of a planned longer album , the mini-album was distributed by Stow College’s Electric Honey label and released in the Summer of 2006.The record was recorded by Gavin Thomson at Berkeley 2 in...
.
A promotional single featuring "(I am a) Logical Man" and "Bones", released by Electric Honey
Electric Honey (label)
Electric Honey is a record label run by students studying the HNC and HND in Music Business course, as well as students studying the Advanced Diploma in Music Industry Management & Marketing course at Stow College in Glasgow, Scotland...
would be released in 2006, gaining considerable radio airplay, including broadcasts on BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland is BBC Scotland's national English-language radio network. It broadcasts a wide variety of programming, including news, sport, light entertainment, music, the arts, comedy, drama, history and lifestyle...
, Phil Jupitus’ BBC6 Music show and BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
by DJ Rob Da Bank
Rob da Bank
Robert John Gorham, known by the pseudonym Rob da Bank, is a British disc jockey. He presents a Friday-night/Saturday-morning show, Rob da Bank, on BBC Radio 1 from 5am-7am, focused on promoting new left field music...
.
In 2007, the band released a split 7" single with Edinburgh act Found
Found
FOUND are an experimental pop band and arts collective from Edinburgh, Scotland. The founding members, Ziggy Campbell, Tommy Perman and Kevin Sim met while studying fine art at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen. They began working on sound art installations together whilst in their final year at...
through Creeping Bent
Creeping Bent (record label)
Creeping Bent, aka The Creeping Bent Organisation is an independent record label set up by Douglas MacIntyre in 1994, based in Glasgow, Scotland.-Notable artists:* Bricolage* Alan Vega* Vic Godard, of the Subway Sect* The Secret Goldfish...
. Later in 2007, Electric Honey
Electric Honey (label)
Electric Honey is a record label run by students studying the HNC and HND in Music Business course, as well as students studying the Advanced Diploma in Music Industry Management & Marketing course at Stow College in Glasgow, Scotland...
chose How to Swim to represent them on Thank You For Being You; a record highlighting some of the best independent Scottish music releases of the previous 25 years. The release was met with positive reviews nationwide in publications such as Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
and NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
.
Recent Years (2007-2012)
In May 2007, the band began recording Retina (or More Fun Than a Vat of Love)Retina (or More Fun Than a Vat of Love)
Retina is a ten-track album by Scottish orchestral rock band How to Swim. Produced by Gavin Thomson and the band's own Ink Wilson, the record was released on 4 October 2010 through Personal Hygiene Records....
, the follow-up to The Littlest Orgasm
The Littlest Orgasm
The Littlest Orgasm is a six-track mini-album by Scottish indie rock band How to Swim. A reduced version of a planned longer album , the mini-album was distributed by Stow College’s Electric Honey label and released in the Summer of 2006.The record was recorded by Gavin Thomson at Berkeley 2 in...
, in Glasgow's Forth Street Studios, again with Gavin Thomson. Further recording sessions would take place in 'The Freezer' and in the band's rehearsal space. The album was mixed by James Neilson and mastered by Steven Ward.
The tracks "Genesis P and Me" and "From Here to Dundee Slash Eternity" were released as a double A-side single in September 2008, with "High School Apocalypse" appearing as a free download in August 2010. An accompanying music video was directed by the band and Colin Bell from Phase VI Media.
The album was released on physical and digital formats on October 4, 2010.
In Summer 2011, How to Swim released the double A-side singles "Corpsing" and "She Gets Around." They will be returning to the studio in early 2012 to begin recording the follow-up to Retina, provisionally titled Niagarama.
A career-spanning live album, "Little Room/s", is scheduled for release in November 2011. The album will be a collection of live recordings and unreleased tracks from the period 2004-2011.
Untitled Musical Project
Since 2005, How to Swim have been developing a dramatic project for the stage. With words and music by Wilson, the project was to take the form of a musical, with the band providing live accompaniment to the action. A number of songs on Retina, including "Genesis P and Me" and "Diego Whirlwind" were written for the as-yet unrealised project, a labyrinthine tale set in the Mediterranean during the 16th Century.Live
Over the years the band have shared bills with several established acts including Sons and DaughtersSons and Daughters (band)
Sons and Daughters are a rock band from Glasgow, Scotland.-Biography:Conceived while on tour with Arab Strap in 2001, Sons and Daughters was initially Adele Bethel's creation...
, Dananananaykroyd
Dananananaykroyd
Dananananaykroyd was a six-piece, self-dubbed 'Fight Pop' band formed in 2006 in Glasgow, Scotland. Their name is a play on the name of Canadian actor Dan Aykroyd...
, Gravenhurst
Gravenhurst (band)
Gravenhurst is a vehicle for the music of the singer-songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist, Nick Talbot, who lives in Bristol, England and is signed to Warp Records.-History:...
, The Phantom Band
The Phantom Band
The Phantom Band is a Glasgow-based band consisting of Duncan Marquiss , Gerry Hart , Andy Wake , Rick Anthony , Iain Stewart and Greg Sinclair . They are often generally described as indie-rock but are known to utilize a variety of genres and styles...
, Broken Records
Broken Records (band)
Broken Records are a six-piece indie folk band from Edinburgh, Scotland, which formed in December 2006. The band are signed to 4AD and released their debut album, Until the Earth Begins to Part, in June 2009...
, The Twilight Sad
The Twilight Sad
The Twilight Sad are an indie rock band from Kilsyth, Scotland, comprising James Graham , Andy MacFarlane and Mark Devine . The band are currently signed to Fat Cat Records and have released two full-length albums, as well as several EPs and singles...
, The Low Miffs, Dawn Of The Replicants
Dawn of the Replicants
Dawn of the Replicants are a Scottish indie rock quintet from Galashiels, described by Allmusic as "one of the most inventive groups in the United Kingdom. Impossible to categorize"...
, Misty's Big Adventure
Misty's Big Adventure
Misty's Big Adventure are an eight piece band from Birmingham, England. Their music is an eclectic mix of jazz, lounge, psychedelia, two tone, pop and punk....
, Wild Beasts
Wild Beasts
Wild Beasts are an indie rock band from Kendal in Cumbria. They released their first single, "Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants", on Bad Sneakers Records in November 2006, and subsequently signed to Domino Records. They have released three acclaimed albums, Limbo, Panto in 2008, Two Dancers in...
, Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson
Kimya Dawson is an American singer-songwriter, best known as a solo performer and as one half of The Moldy Peaches. In Swahili, "Kimya" means "silence" or "silent".-Career:...
, Amusement Parks On Fire
Amusement Parks on Fire
Amusement Parks on Fire are a shoegaze band from Nottingham, England.The band was formed by Michael Feerick in 2004, who wrote and performed all the instruments for the self-titled debut album...
, The Fire Engines
The Fire Engines
The Fire Engines are a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The band was a part of the same literary art-punk scene as the Scars and their most famous contemporaries, Josef K. They grew out of the Dirty Reds which had actor Tam Dean Burn as singer....
, The Bluebells
The Bluebells
The Bluebells were a Scottish pop group in the 1980s.-Career:The Bluebells performed jangly guitar based pop not dissimilar to their Scottish contemporaries Aztec Camera and Orange Juice. They had three Top 40 hit singles in the UK, all written by guitarist and founder member Bobby Bluebell - "I'm...
and Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players describe themselves as an "indie-vaudeville conceptual art-rock pop band", from the United States. Originally from Seattle, Washington, they are now based in New York, New York.-Overview:...
.
In 2006, the band took part in TBreak, an annual event sponsored by Tennents
Wellpark Brewery
Wellpark Brewery is a brewery situated in Duke Street in the East End of Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1740 on the bank of the Molendinar Burn by Hugh and Robert Tennent...
, giving bands the opportunity to appear at Scotland’s T In The Park
T in the Park
T in the Park is a major British music festival that has been held annually since 1994. It is named after its main sponsor, the brewing company Tennents. It was originally held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire but since 1997 has been held at a disused airfield in Balado, Kinross-shire...
festival. The band were chosen to appear at one of several showcase events in May, viewed by a panel of judges. Ultimately, they were one of twelve acts selected, and performed at the festival on the Sunday evening.
Following the festival, How to Swim were then selected for the show 'Best of TBreak' as part of Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
's The Edge Festival. The band played at The Liquid Rooms, along with 3-Style, The Acute and Found
Found
FOUND are an experimental pop band and arts collective from Edinburgh, Scotland. The founding members, Ziggy Campbell, Tommy Perman and Kevin Sim met while studying fine art at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen. They began working on sound art installations together whilst in their final year at...
.
Albums/EPs
| Year | Album information | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
UK Indie Chart UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
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| 2001 | The 3 EPs
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n/a | n/a | |||
| 2003 | How To Swim Start Life In 2D
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| 2004 | It Stings When I EP
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n/a | n/a | |||
| 2006 | The Littlest Orgasm The Littlest Orgasm The Littlest Orgasm is a six-track mini-album by Scottish indie rock band How to Swim. A reduced version of a planned longer album , the mini-album was distributed by Stow College’s Electric Honey label and released in the Summer of 2006.The record was recorded by Gavin Thomson at Berkeley 2 in... |
n/a | n/a | |||
| 2010 | Retina (or More Fun Than a Vat of Love) Retina (or More Fun Than a Vat of Love) Retina is a ten-track album by Scottish orchestral rock band How to Swim. Produced by Gavin Thomson and the band's own Ink Wilson, the record was released on 4 October 2010 through Personal Hygiene Records.... |
n/a | n/a | |||
Compilations
| Year | Album information | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
UK Indie Chart UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Chart or Indie Chart is a chart of the best-selling independent record releases in the UK.- History :In the wake of punk, small record labels began to spring up, as an outlet for artists that were unwilling to sign contracts with major record companies, or were not considered... |
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| 2009 | A Little Orgasm of Disappointment
|
n/a | n/a | |||