- Tue, 2010-02-23 09:45
Despite their tender ages - singer/ guitarist Dominic McGuinness and drummer Brendan Heaney are both only 20 - Swanton Bombs show a remarkable facility in assimilating influences belying their age group (they count everyone from The Clash to Tom Waits to The Strokes as influences), while also hardwiring them to a stomp and swagger entirely their own. Their debut album Mumbo Jumbo and Murder sees a rough edged collection of punk influences come together to form a messy and invigorating record.
I Like Music caught up with Dominic to chat about music, live gigs and the future plans for Swanton Bombs.
"I Like Music because… If there's music we can use it, we need to dance, for psychological romance, no romance, no romance, no romance for me mama.” Dominic McGuiness, Swanton Bombs
ILM: For those that haven't heard you - how would you describe your sound?
Dominic: It's hard to say what we might sound like to the listener. We're a two piece so that might help describe us. Guitar and drums. We take our influences from blues, punk and rock bands. Howlin Wolf, The Clash, Television, The Strokes. That sort of thing really.
ILM: How and why did Swanton Bombs come to be?
Dominic: Swanton Bombs happened a couple of years ago now. We've been playing together since our first year of secondary school, which is when we met. So that's nearly ten years now. The reason we're here now is because we started gigging before getting the chance to go to Uni. Well, I was in my first year doing an art foundation, but it was really mind numbing. People started showing an interest and getting a real job would be miserable. I'm too thick and lazy for that.
ILM: How would you describe your process of making music? How does it all come together?
Dominic: Well I write the lyrics and the guitar parts. Then when we rehearse. Brendan creates the drum beat and we work on the structure of it together. I don't feel like I write enough. When i do it's really early in the morning, like 3 or 4am. I admire people who can write constantly and still be good.
ILM: Who are your musical inspirations?
Dominic: Ray Charles, Tom Waits, Randy Newman, The Clash, The Strokes, Jimi
Hendrix, Television, The Ramones, Richard Hell and The Voidoids, The Band, Blur, The Kinks, The Beatles, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, The Stooges...
ILM: What can we expect from a Swanton Bombs live show?
Dominic: A gaping void between the front of the stage and the back of the venue. People usually stand at the back and wait for the better bands to headline.
ILM: Out of all the live shows/gigs you've been to as punters, which have been the most memorable and why?
Dominic: Kings Of Leon at Reading 2007. They were playing all the stuff from Because of The Times. The sun was setting. Black Thumbnail was just epic. I also saw a great Mystery Jets gig in Elephant & Castle a couple of years ago.
ILM: What are your future plans?
Dominic: Hopefully we'll get to tour this album quite heavily. There's new material that still needs recording. There's enough for an album but I don't know if it's good enough yet. Still have plenty of time to write more I suppose...
ILM: What do you think of the current UK music scene? Where do Swanton Bombs fit in?
Dominic: I don't know anything about the current UK music scene. I haven't seen anything that's excited me. Part of me thinks it'll take a while for us to fit in to the current UK music scene. Our radio plugger keeps sending us updates of how we're getting received. XFM and Radio 2 say we're too rough...
