We understand by the feedback what our strengths are in the show. Swingrowers: It’s something that makes the band grow a lot.
We give them our music, energy and emotion on stage and they give us a lot of feedback and energy in return. The audience is very, very hot in America. Loredana: There’s a lot of stuff – every gig was different and amazing. Roberto: I fell down on the stage in Montreal – oh, we had amazing homemade lasagne in Portland by the promoter. SD: Can you share some highlights from the US tour? There was a time he put on electro-swing and I said, “whoa what the fuck?” I went upstairs and said, “tell me, what is this?” It was love. Every morning he played old music from his window to the whole building. I lived there for a time in a student building and met a DJ who also lived there. Roberto: I discovered swing when I was in Catalan in Sicily. I didn’t know what it was and then I saw Caravan Palace play. Loredana: I discovered it from my friend who was in France and he gave me an album of Caravan Palace and I said, “I want to make this kind of music.”Īlessio: I discovered electro-swing in Paris at the biggest Manouche festival in the world there. SD: How’d you discover electro-swing if it’s not a presence in Sicily? One of the principle reasons we think is, geographically, since Sicily is an island in the south of Italy, it’s far from a big music city or scene like London, Paris, Milan. The majority listens to commercial music. Swingrowers: There’s a lot of great artists, though there’s not as many opportunities so it’s difficult to be discovered in Sicily. SD: What’s the music scene like in your hometown of Sicily? I also like the improvisation from the musicians and same as Roberto, the warmth of the recordings. Roberto: I love the warm sound of the vinyl recordings.Īlessio: For the musicians and the audience both, the music has a cheerful sound, a happy sound. SD: What about the 20s do you find inspiring?
We find samples online, from fans and their vinyl collections and Roberto’s father who’s a musician. When we recorded the album in Brighton, UK we collaborated with a clarinetist, trombonist, guitarist, etc. We have 8 or 9 tracks with samples on Pronounced Swing Grow’ers, but we prefer to re-create the old sounds ourselves. We cut and rearrange the notes to make new melodies and new sentences. Swingrowers: We use samples from vinyls from the 20s, 30s, 40s. SD: What kind of samples do you like experimenting with? How do you discover them? So we combine these different backgrounds with swing. Loredana Grimaudo (singer) sang in a folk band in Sicily. Whereas Roberto Costa (DJ, producer) came from bass and drums and has a background in electro. When Alessio Costagliola (guitarist) came on, he brought a more Manouche, Balcan and Gypsy style to the music. When the trio works together and all our ideas are mixed together, the final result is perfect. We felt the song should be more happy sounding. For example on “Kiawami”, we re-arranged the song from a hip hop track to a pop track. It’s not genre-specific, we experiment with lots of different tempos and sounds and in the end it’s swing.
On our album Pronounced Swing Grow’ers, you can hear everything from drum and bass, electro-house, hip hop and house with swing. Swingrowers: We mix all different styles. Sound Dessert: Which swing elements do you most incorporate most into your music? I caught up with them to chat about swing music, swing dancing, Sicily and much more. The Italian-natives stop in NYC this week to play A Speakeasy Swing this Friday, April 19th at The Box. Electro-swing trio the Swingrowers recently released their debut album, Pronounced Swing Grow’ers, and are in the middle of their first American tour.