Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (https://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: How would you describe yourself or your band as an artist?
S: Ugly, heavy industrial metal. The aim isn’t to write songs, it’s bigger than that. It’s about using music, lights and video to create feelings that are bleak, heavy and overwhelming. For us, that is the cathartic experience of music.
PD: Can you tell us briefly about your background – i.e. where you’re from, how you came to make music, etc.
S: We’re from Southampton and Newport in the UK originally. Both of us had the same experience growing up: loving music and picking up guitars and being in bands. We met about ten years ago, and started using electronic beats when our drummer left. Initially, this was based around dark synth wave like Gunship and Perturbator, but ended up much heavier.
PD: Who and what inspires you to make music, both in terms of musical and other influences? What do you like to write about in your songs?
S: This is not really about songs in the traditional sense. The vocals are another layer of texture, along with the samples and the beats and guitars. The bands that we really connect with are the ones that drive the most visceral reaction when you watch them live. I saw LLNN a few years ago and they blew me away with how crushingly heavy they were, and I loved their use of industrial samples along with heavy guitars. Godflesh are the godfathers of what we do, and Amenra are the most influential to us around creating mood and vibes. We draw a lot from them live with our black and white visuals.
PD: What are your aspirations as an artist?
S: Artistically we are exactly where we want to be. The record and visuals are great. We’re doing this DIY which is really freeing because we can do exactly what we want
PD: What is the proudest moment in your music career so far?
S: These moments where random people tell you they like your music.
PD: Promoting one’s music is such a challenge these days, especially with so many new
artists emerging from bedrooms in the day of the home studio. How is that going?
S: Music is saturated. I think our expectations are in a healthy place. We’re not chasing “going viral”. What we do is niche and it’s about building a community and a reputation in the extreme music scene. We’re getting some genuine listens and watches on you tube.
PD: And how do you book and promote your live shows and tours? Any performances coming up?
S: We’ve been announced for Cruel & Unusual at the Black Heart in London in March, and we have a few other festivals not yet announced next year. We’ll do a tour in the Autumn for sure, and we’re thinking through how to do this DIY.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online? What about streaming sites like Spotify?
S: I don’t have an issue with how anyone wants to consume their music, that’s up to them.
PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?
S: Something like Rats by Godflesh. Its so guttural and primal, its a perfect song.
PD: Is there anything you don’t like about the music industry, which you would change if you could?
S: Music shouldn’t even be considered an industry. Its is deeply fucked. An artist gives away ownership of their work to a company and it is turned into a product and asset to be monetised while artists themselves are forced into debt. It’s a corruption of what 
music should be. But if I could change one thing, people should put their phones down and switch off Netflix, get out and see live music in small venues as a way of life.
PD: So, what are you working on at the moment?
S: So much going on! we have singles to release, an album to released. We have our live show nearly sorted out: I won’t say too much but its different to a lot of other bands our size where we use visuals and lights to create something more immersive.
PD: Where can we learn more about you and buy your music/merch online?
S: YouTube is a good place to see us because the visuals are a big part of our songs, and we have some lovely T shirts on bandcamp.
SUNSWARM links:
Band/Artist location – London UK
Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp – Merch –
Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer –
Check our page for SUNSWARM
