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.
Earlier that month Monte Vallier (drums) and Sean Kirkpatrick (bass) already passed by in the Muziekgieterij studio. There they talked to Ludo Diels of Heaven Magazine about the rise of grunge, the origin of the cinematic elements in their music and of course about David Freel. And whether Swell will go further in the future? They don’t close the door all the way.