Filmed earlier this year, members from the band, SWIMM visited our Santa Monica studios for an intimate interview and unplugged performance.
Chris Hess and Hany Zayan from SWIMM arrived separately for their afternoon shoot. It quickly became apparent, however, that the pair have the kind of easy rapport that stems from mutual respect over time. Formerly a Floridian two-piece known as “Bastard Lovechild of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” aka “B.L.O.R.R.”, co-founders Hess and drummer Adam Winn decided to transition to full band in support of a new creative direction. According to Zayan (bass/keyboard/vocals), he and Hess met while playing the same bill in Florida. It wasn’t until they individually relocated to Los Angeles that things turned in a mutually-meaningful direction.
Zayan recalled going to ‘something called a “SWIMM” show,’ fingers raised to indicate quotation marks. He had been in L.A. for about a week. “I don’t even think I was listening to what you guys were playing,” he said turning to Hess (lead vocals/guitar), “Cos I was just so like…I know these guys.”
It had been a year since that “winter night in February” when B.L.O.R.R. since turned SWIMM, and Zayan had first connected. That L.A. show became the beautiful birth of a successful collaboration that continues to this day.
“16 And Pregnant’ was always kind of a shocker.”
The song placement in the reality show which divulges the challenges of teen pregnancy came as a surprise. Says Hess of the sync, “Never in a million years dreamed I’d be hearing my music on ’16 And Pregnant’.
Other unexpected placements for SWIMM were a Jack Daniels commercial, and a stripped-down, heartfelt song on a radio commercial. They also landed a Progressive Insurance commercial with a remixed version of their song, “Wanderer”.
Without breaking their endearing repartee, Hess, and Zany pondered the benefits of insurance then seamlessly swiveled back to their music. Undeniably, both musicians share a healthy appreciation for the tangible rewards a placement brings. After all, what they choose to do is essentially often unpaid labor of love. They also agree that friendship underpins their collaboration and without it, this whole thing just wouldn’t be worth it.
When you watch their interview, we think you’ll love them as much as we do. Enjoy! 💝
Watch SWIMM’s full studio interview here.
Songtradr’s Chris Strickland brings us the backstory from Chris Hess for the song, “Beverly Hells.”
What would you describe as the catalyst behind “Beverly Hells”?
The initial catalyst of writing ‘Beverly Hells’ came from this ‘fish out of water’ feeling we had as Floridians from a small town moving to LA and how the bizarre world of Hollywood engendered new social coping mechanisms as well as a hell of a lot of doubt in a recent break-up. Observing a spectrum of behavior — in myself and others — ranging from meek attempts at going with the flow (i.e. “smile and nod through every desperate situation”) to more tactical executions of climbing the ladder (i.e.“you can bat your eyes through almost every desperate situation”).
Were there other underlying messages coming to life when writing the song?
The whole song toys with the idea of Los Angeles being this literal hell-mouth, smiling through its star-studded sheen. I think whenever anyone moves to LA they consider this could be the case… then they concede to the fact it most definitely is and go about their business. That said, I love Los Angeles. I tend to love things that freak me out. So pondering if I’d be in town if ‘the big one hit’ and that hell-mouth swallowed us whole was a fun idea to toy with.
That’s an interesting thought, especially with the global pandemic and how the state of lockdown has separated us from those we love, leaving many of us in a very dark place. Do you sense any irony, or are there any implied comparisons to the song that you now see?
As soon as it happened, I felt a parallel to the song as I found my whole existence contained to my downtown warehouse, bit of a concrete box. During the first few weeks of the lockdown, it all was edging towards a dystopian feel and to some, it was like hell was swallowing us up. It’s always wild how music exists in its own time, not in the linear manner we are used to. Different reasons for writing something present themselves after the song exists and sometimes you have no idea where certain lyrics are coming from and then years later it’s like a Tetris block that suddenly fits right into your life. That’s happened a few times with “Beverly Hells” and is always a nice reminder that you’re just a small part of the puzzle with all this art stuff.
Watch SWIMM’s performance of “Beverly Hells” here.
Check out SWIMM on Songtradr
