Lowswimmer

question: We are loving your album ‘Red Eye Effect’ Can you tell us a little about the backstory of the album? When was it written and recorded?
answer: ‘Red Eye Effect’ was written and recorded in my old house in Cardiff, from mid 2020 to mid 2021. It had been a very long time since I had made any fully solo work, and I was unsure if I ever wanted to do it again. I had this collection of songs that didn’t really fit with any other project, and I just decided to make them and see where it went. It turned into ‘Red Eye Effect’. The record as a whole is inspired by my own late ’90s-early 2000s nostalgia, being a kid in this weird analog-to-digital transitional period and things feeling completely limitless, but also grounded by family, friends and reality.
question: With your countless collaborations, who was the artist you admired the most before working with them? What is your personal favorite song you’ve collaborated on?
answer: Probably S. Carey, who’s on two tracks on ‘Red Eye Effect’ and a Hailaker single/an older Lowswimmer track. I had his ‘All We Grow’ vinyl blu-tacked to my wall when I was a teenager, so it’s been amazing working with someone whose work I admire so much. Sean is a dream to work with and is the nicest guy. Maybe my favourite collaborative song is “Wavepool”, the song Hailaker did with him in 2021, or “Can’t Be By Myself” with Squirrel Flower, because it turned out so beautifully, and Ella’s voice is so beautiful.
question: If you could open for any band ever, which band would it be and why? When you’re feeling down, what is a song that makes you feel better?
answer: It’s a difficult one, because live isn’t really my sphere. I much prefer being in a studio environment to a live one. I don’t really tend to think about live in the same way as a lot of artists, and don’t really fantasise about playing certain shows or opening for certain bands. I guess whoever’s audience would be the most attentive to my work! As for feeling down, maybe something like an upbeat Pinegrove song, or honestly something of my own work to remind me that I’ve made and fully-realised something good, haha.
question: When you were young, did you want to be a musician? What’s a great childhood memory you have?
answer: I think I first started playing guitar when I was around 11, gave it up a bit, and picked it back up again at 12 or 13. I started writing (terrible) songs at a fairly early age, and I never had any sort of “real job”, so yeah, I’d say I wanted it for a while. Never as a really young kid though. I remember being in year 8 at school and having written like 14 songs and getting a guy a few years above me to record me in the studio at school, playing them all, and him saying “just one more!” over and over until I had all of these (awful) songs recorded, just me and an acoustic guitar.
question: Where is your favorite place to be out in nature? What is your ultimate goal for Lowswimmer?
answer: I’m kind of a massive home-body, so it’s harder than you’d think to give a place. I guess anywhere where I’m with people I know, love and trust, and feel safe with. I have fairly bad social anxiety, and I’m not someone who loves being out of the house unless I’m being productive/have somewhere to go or something to do, so there isn’t anywhere that immediately comes to mind – maybe that’s something I should try and change. Ultimately the goal is to have a vehicle to do whatever I want creatively with, and to build an audience that is loyal to that and is open to/enjoys whatever I release.