We had the good fortune of connecting with Swells and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Swells, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
The pursuit of an artistic career came from not wanting to be confined to a typical work-schedule. We enjoy working odd hours and the idea of fitting into a 9-5 schedule was never appealing. Most artistic careers give you some sort of flexibility and being so in love with music it only seemed natural. And the idea of being your own boss is something too good not to pursue!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
We started in 2015 as a surf-rock duo and have evolved into a five (sometimes six) piece band now with more elements of indie-pop and jazz. Nothing in a creative field is easy, and we’re pretty proud of being able to keep ourselves together for this long especially through the pandemic. We’re in the end stages of finishing our third album, and it’s quite a leap from our first. If there’s something we want the world to pay attention to it’s the changes we make from album to album. Even in our live shows we’re often joined by outside musicians so our songs take on new form depending on when you see us.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s so many places in LA to choose from! To start we would go see a day-time game at Dodger stadium. For food we would give them two options (both in Koreatown): Two Hand Seoul Fresh Corn Dogs for the best corn dog you will ever eat. Or maybe you’re a little burnt out on dogs from the game so instead we can go to Dan Sung Sa; a really cool Korean food place that has a very quaint, authentic feeling on the inside. For after dinner entertainment we would go to a speakeasy in Sherman Oaks called Alchemy Bar. They have live jazz music on Wednesday nights and have a custom drink menu that will get you absolutely wasted. After waking up with a crushing hangover we’ll go have brunch at Blue Jam Cafe, a little outdoor spot in the heart of Sherman Oaks. From there we would go play 18-holes at Woodley Lakes Golf course, the most bang for your buck golf in the Valley. You know what? We might give up music to be activities planners.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Our shoutout is to Warmbedrooms who has produced our last two albums. His recording and producing knowledge has helped us reach a higher quality of sound. On top of our work together he’s become one of our close friends and someone who’s opinion we value a lot!

Website: swellsband.com

Instagram: @swellsmusic

Twitter: @swellsband

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfUokyUnxFWIqr6f29y5tQw

Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3AfxKYXcLidSdXwOVZAap6?si=eTl5xl0YRUaSJtYpCLj4Yg

Image Credits
Allyssa Cornier, Carina Gutierrez

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