Chris and Danny from Can’t Swim were kind enough to sit down with us for a quick chat before their set at 2000trees. We spoke about the success of This Too Won’t Pass, being comfortable as a band and, obviously, CKY and Korn.
How are you guys doing?
Chris: Pretty darn good.
How long have you been here today?
Both: An hour.
Danny: We play at five so we got here an hour ago.
Have you played at 2000Trees before?
C: We have not.
Is there anything in particular that, sort of, drew you to the festival?
C: Ummm, we’ve heard about it. We’ve been coming over here for two or three years and they were nice enough to invite us here to play so we said “yeah”.
Is there anyone that you want to see today, or are you heading straight off after your set?
C: I think we’re going to stick around, I hope.
D: Yeah, I think we’re sticking around.
C: Every Time I Die is playing, love them. Out buddies in Free Throw are playing, also love them. So, yeah, we’re gonna hang.
So you’re obviously playing the festivals at the moment, have you got plans for a proper tour?
C: Yeah, we’re going on tour [in North America] with Enter Shakira, which is an English band.
D: Shikari.
C: Shikari, yeah, you got it! Which is in September, late September. We do Riot Fest first which is in Chicago and then, right after that tour, we do Self Help Fest, which is in California. And that’s everything we have booked so far.
With the Enter Shikari tour, you’re going to be playing to big rooms. Is that going to be some of the biggest places you’ve played or is something like this (the festival) the biggest?
C: We’ve done, like, big festivals before. We’ve just played Warped Tour in New Jersey, which is a tonne of tickets sold. We’ve snuck our way into some big shows before.
D: We were on the Creeper run over here a couple of summers ago. That was an incredible tour, really big rooms, that was cool!
The album came out fairly recently (This Too Won’t Pass, 2018). How have you found the reception to it, do you feel like it’s pushed you to another level?
C: I hope so! People keep inviting us to play shows so not everybody hates it!
D: It seems to be working.
With regards to the album, was there anything in particular that had an influence over the music style or lyrics or themes throughout?
D: CKY and Korn.
C: CKY and Korn, of course, a lot of stolen riffs from them. I think we’ve just been doing the band now for a good amount of time, two or three years, where we know each other a little bit better and know what we can do. We tried to be a little bit more conscious of that with the newest record, so I think that’s pretty much our only objective, we just tried to write songs that sounded like Can’t Swim.
Are you recording, or looking to record again any-time soon?
C: Yeah, we’re in the process of recording currently, in the States. Everything’s been going alright.
The most boring question…
C: Please!
Can you talk a little bit about your musical influence, artists that you like, or are listening to now?
Both: CKY and Korn [laughter]
C: What was the band you were listening to yesterday over the PA?
D: Oh, Polyenso! Very into them.
C: We’ve all come from different things. We’ve all played in hardcore bands, metalcore bands when we were young men, somehow it all makes sense when it comes to Can’t Swim.
We don’t want to keep you too long, so thank you very much for meeting with us and good luck with your set this afternoon! We’re looking forward to it!
Both: Thank you!
Interview by: Henry McCaughtrie
