Interview: Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin on new music and the “shoegaze” sound

How do you think bands can reach those people who are used to getting music for free their whole life?

Well, I think an album should always have a great sleeve. I think there was probably a period in the 90’s or whatever, when CD’s became really horrible with jewel cases, and just maybe even like a fold-out piece of paper that was white on the inside. I think now people realize you can’t do that anymore. You’ve got to put some effort into it, and make it an artifact that people want to own, you know? But it’s like music for rent now. And people pay $10 a month or whatever for Spotify, and that adds up. It adds up over time, but you don’t actually own it. It’s a weird concept really, it’s all up in the air. If Spotify is going to be closed down because of massive losses. people will then be really pissed off. They’ll be like, “Wait a minute, I had all these things in my playlist,” and Spotify will say, “Well, you didn’t own it. You were just renting it.” So it’s a weird thing really.

To take thing back, you were on Creation Records at the height of that label’s notoriety, what was it like to be on the label at that time? 

It was great. It was an unexpected label for us, because the label we initially went to was Blast First, which was a label in Britain that was licensing Dinosaur Jr. and Sonic Youth. That was the first place we took our demo to, and then our very last demo was handed to Creation, because we knew some of the people on the label. But it felt like the right kind of label, because there was more of a sort of outlaw spirit. There was more of this sort of cowboyish spirit you know? And the fact that there were parties going on at their offices all the time. And there were plenty of bands on the label that we respected and loved. It was great being on the label because people who were interested in the label – every release on the label, people were interested in. So it was a massive sort of steeping stone in that sense as well.

How did you feel being labelled as a “shoegaze” band? Did you feel you had something in common with bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive?

Well, I  think all the bands were kind of separate entities in a way. You had a band in Oxford doing their thing, and a band in London doing their own thing, and a band in Reading or wherever else … And then suddenly, just wanting to do something different with guitars that was just sort of more psychedelic thing. Rather than just being an E chord or an A chord, suddenly all these chords are blurring into each other, and it was an interesting development. And it felt really modern, you know? It felt like the latest thing, it wasn’t a retro thing. The initial period was more exciting when there wasn’t a name for it, when it was just all these bands. But also, lots of heavier bands that we were kind of lumped into, rockier bands in London as well. It was a derogatory term, which is why it’s much better now – after all this time it’s become sort of an embraced thing. Good thing people don’t think about the “shoe” element of it, which we all thought was ridiculous – having a shoe as a part of a musical genre! But the “gaze” part is fine. People now often just refer to it as “gaze,” which is fine, you know?

Swervedriver and Gateway Drugs at Theatre Fairmount (5240 Park Avenue), May 4th, 9:00pm. Tickets are $22.50 / $26, available here.