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To quote the '90s dance floor classic, groove is in the heart of SWELL. "A lot of bands focus on how heavy they are, but we didn't want to do that," vocalist Victor tells No Echo.
"One thing that everybody can universally understand is groove, and the groove will make you move! We took a lot of influence from bands like Higher Power, Mindforce, Backtrack, and Leeway."
Based in Tilburg, a city in the Netherlands, SWELL started working together in 2019 and began hitting their stride in early 2020, just as the pandemic hit the globe. "Bummer, but it worked out in the end, because we could really focus on writing new cool songs," says Victor. "We (Bara, Jurriën, Levi and Victor) all knew each other from different bands we were in before and wanted to start something different."
Since then, SWELL have released a demo, two EPs (2022's Mercy Never Wanted Me and last year's Primal Rage), and earlier this month, a track called "True Deceiver," which they've made a music video for:
"It is a true blue hardcore song," Victor tells No Echo. "It's uptempo, hits hard when it needs to, and is groovy as fuck. The inspiration behind the song was just to make an angry song about people who are stuck in a life of apathy. You're stuck in your own insecurities and don't have the strength to do something about it.
"Jaap van der Kleijn (Shoelace Productions) recorded, mixed and mastered the track, as he did for all of our previous songs. Oh, and Bryce from Mindz Eye did the feature, can't thank him enough for it. It turned out amazing."
Victor also wants to share some words of inspiration for our readers:
"Go start a zine, go to local shows, book hardcore shows, start a band or a record label, start recording your own demos. Without DIY, hardcore would never exist, so keep the DIY spirit alive, baby! Oh, and go Straight Edge!"
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