Cold Water Swimmers – Interview
Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: What type of artist are you?
CWS: We’re a three piece rock n roll band, in my mind.
PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.
CWS: Gosh, the brief version is we got together in our drummers conservatory in Prestwich on the day Mark E Smith died. That’s just a coincidence but I will always remember it because as we packed away that night Carrie our bass player got a call telling her the news. We’ve all done stuff before and I guess that’s out there if readers want to discover it. Carrie and Selina played together as a duo called Tuareg, I thought they had great energy and invited them to support my then band The G-O-D in London the night before we opened for The Stone Roses at Wembley Stadium in 2017, after that gig I told them that I thought their band was great and the only thing missing and what they needed to be really good was me. Six months later we were doing our first rehearsal. It was meant to be.
PD: Who are your musical and non-musical influences
CWS: That’s quite a list ; bowie, cure, JAMC, birthday party, Dylan, Velvets, scouse bands, Mondays, all the early punk bands, you’ll hear all that shit in our songs and more like most people I’m a fucking sponge! .. non musical .. probably my mates when I was growing leading each other astray.
PD: What are your dreams and goals?
CWS: I don’t do dreams and ambition and worry about career I’ve come to realise those things are not real. It’s not easy to do and sometimes I fail but my goal is simple, the next thing I do, I do to the best of my ability with what I have available to me at that time. If I do that every time all else will be as it should.
PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?
CWS: I write the songs covering topics like self-belief, redemption, mental health, loneliness and the like. I wrote a love song once. I never set out to write a song on a subject, the song reveals itself as I create it often in the same way a poet or painter works. The trick is to start writing and let the song tell you what
you’re thinking and feeling.
PD: How do you promote your band and shows
CWS: Social, reviews, blogs all that stuff we never have a budget for poster campaigns as everything we do is self funded and DIY .. our own label is called DIY or DIE we live and breathe that philosophy
PD: What do you think about downloading music online?
CWS: Downloading is dead it’s all about the stream which is fab for the listeners but just one more noose for the artist to tie around their necks.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
CWS: That would change daily but something like “I Wanna Be Your Dog” by The Stooges because all punk rock comes from that song. Or “Sound of Silence” or “Day in the Life” or “Sympathy for the Devil” or … I’ll stop now! And why? Because they’re all fucking stone cold classics!!
PD: What are some of your pet peeves?
CWS: Just in music yeah .. ageism, bullshit industry insiders, sexism, bullshit promoters, racism I wouldn’t describe them as peeves though, I hate these things.
PD: What is your proudest moment in music?
CWS: It’s not one thing and I’ve played huge gigs, been on telly had singles of the week on national radio, had major deals recording and publishing all of that but I think picking up guitar again after 15 years away from music recovering from drug addiction and mental health problems is my greatest 
achievement, that and the fact I still want it.
PD: So what are you working on at the moment?
CWS: We’ve just release our latest track Be My Sunshine on our own label so we’re working that plus we’re in the studio recording the follow up which we hope to release on vinyl. I write everyday so always have songs on the go.
PD: What music have you available online and where can we buy it from?
CWS: All of our releases are on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/2etMDtY2tpxqFI0AVn5Rgb?si=xPkADeYsTlSLCpgnZ5sE8Q
And all of our stuff to buy on bandcamp https://coldwaterswimmers.bandcamp.com/
Cold Water Swimmers links:
Band/Artist location – Manchester England
YouTube – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer –
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