On Completion and Notes from The Trial

So now that my Swim album is done and out there is in the real world I thought maybe it was time to kind of detail some of it's creation.

Inception:

The concept itself was born one night a couple years ago standing alone on the shores of the Atlantic ocean in the middle of the night. I was just there, nothing else. Sound of the waves, the ocean breeze and the feel of the sand beneath my feet. The music itself didnt take on any life at that time, but the mood was born certainly.

Flash forward 2 years and 1 heartbreak later.

I return home, enjoy several months of just being once again the me i thought i was. The musician me. The guy who lives, breathes music. I was alive again and i knew what had to be done...

Conception:

It started simply, just a song called Man Unkind. It was just kind of a test of where i wanted to go with this Swim thing. I felt the pull of that eastern seaboard in an all new way, it wanted me to write an ode to it and the feelings left behind there.

So I did.

Construction (the technical side of things):

Everything you hear on the album is me (save for a soundbite at the end of Creeper Police which is my friend Amanda). That means drums, guitar, vocals, synth/keys and random noises that occur from time to time. This is not because i am some control freak or something. It was simply me expressing exactly what i was thinking, who i am and why i do what i do in the only way i have ever really known how.

It starts usually with a line, a sentence. Like an ocean in my head and how the waves just keep breaking. Its an unstoppable force, before us, with us and long after us those waves will break. So thats it. I write the words for the song "Like and Ocean" and then decide what that particular song should sound like. In that case it sounded like plucky minor chords and and a descending chorus with a little drum driven break.

Sometimes though it starts with the guitar and a certain feeling. The song "The Good Ones" is an example of that. I felt like it needed to move fast, to run away from everything else. To get away from the good ones who cant understand its meaning. So its got it's jagged chorus and jittery guitar thats on the verge of a psychotic breakdown. And then when it feels like perhaps it will fly apart the drums, bass and guitar come together for a solid bridge and into the outro.

The third method is much more organic. There are two songs that were written that way. "Truth Be Told" was written practically at the same time it was recorded. It's straight from my soul, i guess. Its the truth i suppose. Then "Which Way Home" was sort of the same. I had this simple two chord strum going and the words were just there, i knew them without having to ever right them down. The song was built to close out the album and apparently close out this post as well.

Errata:

There was a lot of other work that went into creating "Swim". I not only wrote and played all the instruments. I also produced it, meaning i recorded it, mixed it and mastered it. Which in the end took likely twice as long to do as the actual writing did.

"Swim" is obviously a heartbreak record, i had some of that i had to get off my chest. Don't think however its all about some girl, because it certainly is not. Many things break hearts just as well as girls. Some of it has basis in my previous active band project and the lack of true commitment from parts of the components of the particular machine.

The album cover. I had several different options for it including an original piece by the same Amanda from "Creeper Police". In the end i chose the night shot from the Atlantic because it was literally from the exact moment of the inception of the very thing it represents. It just made sense to me, and thats who i was doing this for.

Closing:

Its been a very informative and enlightening experience. I think i have really honed my skill as a composer. Gone are the days of meaningless pieces of music that dont make sense (not that i wont return there for fun). I feel proud of what i accomplished on my own and i sincerely hope you enjoy my creation.

- Jonathan Rollans

P.S. Yes, a live act swim set is in the works. It is too early to say what, who and when it will be, but it is coming.