1.Growing Up

Lucia grew up in Norway – we are drawing from her childhood in a song we have just started piecing together by chanting in Norwegian, “Men are like fish, the large eat the small”. Sam grew up chewing tobacco out in the farmlands of Bowral. We draw inspiration from his cowboy heritage in the hoedown bridge of our song ‘Checkout Chick’. Alex grew up in a Catholic family and played in the liturgy group from a young age, so she learnt how to spot out shit music and how not to groove.

2.Inspirations

Well we all fuckin’ love Zeppelin… especially Lucia. We definitely draw a lot of inspiration from Stevie Wonder – Sam says, “Ever since I was a child a major part of my growing up was spent listening to Stevie Wonder albums.” The ultimate groove goal is to be tight as Tower Of Power – or just be Tower Of Power.

3. Your Band

Our core members are Alex McIntyre on gat and vocals, Stevo Lee hits shit, Lucia Capell sings, Sam Wilson slaps bass and ass, and Roberto Mouat is our operatic guitarist. But wait, our family is expanding – we also have some horny horns. Tom Smithson plays trumpet and ladies, Ben Reyden is a flame on the flute, and Mitch Lowe is a sleazy slide on the trombone. Sean Mapesone has also featured a couple times on synth, keys and lush BVs.

4. The Music You Make

Psychedelic (Pink Floyd), funk (RÜFÜS), pop (Destiny’s Child). We are recording an LP at Grove Studios in July, which we are hoping to release early next year. On the 15th of June we will be performing our LP at Brighton Up Bar. You can expect some badly choreographed dance moves, some tight harmonies, and a bodacious horn section. Rob will also be soloing blindfolded while Stevo has a wet T-shirt competition with himself, pouring several bottles of water over his head to keep hydrated.

5. Music, Right Here, Right Now

The local music scene is oozing great talent and a lot of shit. We’ve made some tight mateships with bands we play with regularly. Our mates Doko, Treehouse Children, Fox Holmes and State Of Art all played with us during our residency at Captain Cook. The biggest obstacle in the industry would be avoiding the name-droppers who expect you to pay $1 million to record an EP and act like they are doing you a solid. Come on guys, we are poor uni students – be reasonable.

[Swamp To Sahara photo by Liam Cox]

Swamp To Sahara play theBrighton Up Bar, withThe Modern Glitch and Sour Dragon. on Wednesday June 15.

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