41

Late March 1994 (The 22nd), thirty years ago, the Ricans of Swell exhibit their third opus, the magnificent 41.

A meeting between one of the participants of the tribute around “41”, and the members of the group on the eve of the European tour tribute to David Freel, who died on April 12, 2022.

SWOLLEN

In 1991, I was designing THRASHER magazine at the time I was in SWELL. SWOLLEN Issue 1 was the first zine I ever made on the computer. I quit THRASHER to go on the first tour. Enjoy this piece of SWELL history.

This was a rare and special event for fans of Swell, a San Francisco cult band who haunted the peripheries of ’90s underground rock and gradually drifted away. It was part of a reunion tour, yes, but the inspiration for it was anything but typical. The members regrouped for a four-date West Coast trip to pay tribute to their late leader, David Freel, who passed away last year at age 64.

For Swell — the post-punk pioneers who will play a special reunion show at the Independent on Dec. 5 in memoriam of late singer David Freel — their band origins can be traced back to a small, remote village in Spain, thousands of miles away from their homebase of San Francisco.

Welcome to ’90s Overlooked Underheard! An in-depth look at fifty underrated albums from the 1990s… Indie, Alternative, Shoegaze, Grunge, Punk, Lo-fi, Post-Rock, Math-Rock, Hardcore, Industrial, Americana, Ambient, Avant Noise, Hip Hop and more.

SWELL’s original members playing songs from those good ole bad ole days in San Francisco, in memory and tribute. Only U.S. Shows – First in many moons.

OXBOW

Swell’s Guitarist Niko Wenner and vocalist Eugene S. Robinson of experimental rock band OXBOW discuss their new album Love’s Holiday.

SWOLLEN Issue 6

SWOLLEN Issue 6, the 2023 David Freel Tribute Tour Edition is now available as a complimentary download. The first Zine production executed by JDL since the first edition of SWOLLEN.

David and I used to joke about where we were going to have our ashes scattered. He wanted to be made into a bullet or dropped off somewhere in France : )

THE HOMECOMING…The Independent is a premier live music venue in San Francisco that opened its doors to Bay Area music lovers in February 2004.

The American indie band Swell was not in the studio, but on stage at Muziekgieterij, in front of the audience. Swell’s music is elusive. The band navigates between punk, psychedelia and folk and lards its music with cinematic elements.

SWELL

The American indie band Swell was not in the studio, but on stage at Muziekgieterij, in front of the audience. Swell’s music is elusive. The band navigates between punk, psychedelia and folk and lards its music with cinematic elements. Exactly one year ago singer and guitarist David Freel died and now his fellow band members are on the road in tribute to their deceased companion.

The second leg of the tribute tour will take place at the end of this year (December). Only the West Coast will served. The plan: five, maybe six shows. We’re still figuring it out. More information will follow in the weeks & months to come. Booked & confirmed: the shows @Madame Lou’s on December 9. Place 2b: Madame Lou’s.

Swell

We are very honored to be able to announce that the very generous crew at Maastricht are going to be broadcasting the concert live on Vimeo on 19 April, 2023 at 8:30pm European time from Muziekgieterij in Maastricht.

One year and a day after David FREEL’s tragic passing, we met with the surviving members of SWELL in Lyon on April 13 for their European tour commemorating the loss of their band leader.