photo: Jannica Honey
Swimmer One
You can listen and buy Swimmer One records here: http://swimmerone.bandcamp.com
Get in touch: biphonicrecords@gmail.com
‘They give intelligence a good name and are more windswept than worthy. Their music has the quirky intricacy of Belle & Sebastian and the soaring atmosphere of Blue Nile, and it is very, very good’ – The Guardian.
‘Their songs often evoke the wind-blown expanses of the Scottish countryside and coastline. But there’s little narrow-minded or hidebound about their exhilarating debut, The Regional Variations, one of the finest of this year’s freshman efforts.’ The Independent.
‘One of the country’s most exciting bands.’ – The List.
Swimmer One write and record their experimental pop music in a studio on the outskirts of Edinburgh, in Scotland. They have been compared to everyone from the Pet Shop Boys and The Associates to the Blue Nile and The Who. They have released two albums, The Regional Variations (2007) and Dead Orchestras (2010), and several singles – including We Just Make Music For Ourselves and Come On, Let’s Go!. All their releases have received enthusiastic reviews both in the UK and abroad.
From 2011 to 2013 Swimmer One worked with director Cora Bissett and playwright David Greigon a major, Creative Scotland-funded theatre project called Whatever Gets You Through The Night, which brought together new work by over 20 of Scotland’s most distinctive writers and musicians, all of whom were invited to create something inspired by the hours between midnight and 4am. This resulted in a live theatre show directed by Cora Bissett, premiered at the Arches, Glasgow in June 2012, a feature film directed by Daniel Warren premiered at Summerhall, Edinburgh in August 2012, a 16-track album released on Biphonic Records and an accompanying book. In 2014 Swimmer One reunited with David Greig to create an Edinburgh Fringe show called All Back To Bowie’s, a mix of debate, polemic, poetry and music inspired by the Scottish independence referendum.
Hamish Brown and Andrew Eaton (now Andrew Eaton-Lewis) formed Swimmer One in 2002, with Laura Cameron Lewis joining the line-up in 2007. Another key contributor is Daniel Warren, who has made six short films with the band and designs all their artwork. All four have worked together in various different combinations outside of Swimmer One – Hamish has done soundtrack work on Daniel’s films, Laura and Daniel collaborated on Linder Sterling’s 13-hour performance The Darktown Cakewalk, and Andrew and Laura have made several theatre installations together.
Hamish is a musician and producer who, as well as having played in various bands, has written the music for films about Samuel Beckett and Scottish Ballet (both made by Daniel Warren), composed music for live dance, and performance. He also remixes tracks by other artists.
Andrew is a singer-songwriter whose music, before Swimmer One, found its way into one guitar band, one cabaret act, one play and one short film, but mostly into his cupboard. In 2010 he began making his own music again as Seafieldroad, and will soon release his third album under that name (produced by Hamish, with musical contributions from Laura)
Laura has worked as an actor, writer, theatre director and producer, as well as making her own music as Laura Lewis and the Tea Dance Orchestra. Her company Highway Diner collaborated with Swimmer One on two projects, a live show called We Just Make Music For Ourselves, performed in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Italy, and a short film for the single The Balance Company, directed by Daniel.
Daniel is an award-winning artist and filmmaker whose work has been screened at film festivals in Cannes, Naples, Chicago and Zurich, as well as in Scotland. You can watch a selection of his work online here or read more at his website.
Swimmer One run their own independent record label, Biphonic Records.
Laura Cameron-Lewis 