Interview - Will Swan, Guitar/Screamed Vocals
What was the first genre of music that you were into?
The first album I ever got was a compilation and I really liked the Tool song and the LL Cool J one. So I guess just like hip hop and rock at first. I didn’t really get into hardcore or anything like that ever. I started out more like indie and hip hop and experimented from there. I finally got into hard rock, like At The Drive-In, in late junior high and that was kind of the gateway to the kind of music that we play now.
When did you realize you could make your living playing the guitar?
I still haven’t really realized that. I just really liked playing the guitar when I started playing it around 16 or 17. I joined some bands for fun and I got accepted into a band that was kind of doing okay on the scene and I got my first experiences playing shows. After that fizzled out, we started Dance Gavin Dance and it was just sort of a party for six months. We wrote a few songs and people ended up liking them. We started playing shows and good things just kept happening.
The Sacramento music scene is known more for rock bands than screamo/hardcore bands. Is there a larger audience for the genres today?
I feel like Sacramento has a more radio-rock based scene. We didn’t really try to break into the local scene. Dance Gavin Dance was formed on the idea that we should just make good music and not really care who listens to it. All the success and good things that have happened to us have all been kind of a fluke.
Your band has recently made some big changes in its lineup. Did you feel like the loss of those original members was a long time coming?
Let’s just say we’re really happy with the way things are happening now. We’re just happy with the lineup we have now and it’s the strongest lineup we’ve had so far. We’re trying to keep this core we’ve got. I believe we’re going to stick with it for awhile.
Do you think you will change your band name?
I don’t think so. I think we’ll keep it. I feel like as long as I’m involved, it’s going to be Dance Gavin Dance. There’s no way Matt [Mingus, drums] would leave either, though. We’re like attached at the hip.
Talk to me about the writing process for the new album.
We always write the music part before. I’m kind of like the main conceptualizer, if that’s even a word, about what Dance Gavin Dance is going to be. I like to do the majority of the concepts based on what the music turns out to be and everyone else just adds on to that. I think me and Matt hold down the sound of the music, and whoever else is working with us just piles what they do on top of that, and it turns into our records. With the EP and “Downtown Battle Mountain,” because of the mindset, I didn’t really enjoy writing. But with this album, I feel like it’s all across the board everywhere and hard to take down. I was way happier during the writing process because it was the most free I had felt to do whatever I want, especially to venture into different genres.
Can you clear the rumor that the album is going to be titled, “The Death Star Album”?
That would probably be copyright infringement to call it that. It’s going as untitled, but I don’t see how people aren’t just going to call it, “The Death Star Album.”
“Death Star” is from Star Wars. On “Downtown Battle Mountain,” you also make reference to film. How important an influence is pop culture on your music?
I think it’s actually become huge in the writing process for most musicians. Musically, I don’t think it plays a part at all, but lyrically, musicians definitely like to reference pop culture. We put a lot of subliminal stuff in our lyrics that you have to search for, like, references to certain pop records that you’d have to know to understand. We try not to make anything blatant. Most of them would have to be explained to you, but we don’t really like to share that stuff. [Laughs].
Let’s talk robots for a minute. What’s the connection between “The Robot with Human Hair, Pt. 1,” “Pt.2,” and now on the new album, “Pt.3”?
The connection between the three is musical. I listened to parts one and two, and for part three, I tried to take those songs and mesh them. I even took a few riffs and reworked them. I don’t know if you can hear that when you listen to it. Hopefully not! I tried to make them like a musical score. It would be cool to play them back-to-back, and eventually, we’ll probably do that on tour. Doing all three “Robots” would be pretty crazy!
Is there any topic you’ve wanted to talk about in your music that you haven’t yet?
No. We’re not a band that’s trying to make huge statements on politics or anything like that. I don’t think we take ourselves that seriously and that’s one of the things I like about Dance Gavin Dance. We’re not trying to change the world, we’re not trying to be the next Rolling Stones, we’re just out doing the best that we can and having fun doing it.
Do you think that Dance Gavin Dance has the potential to go mainstream?
I don’t really know. If that happens, then it just happens. We’re not trying to do anything; we’re just going where the wind takes us.
If that’s true, why spend months on tour or work so hard on a new album?
I feel like touring is the work part of it and the writing of the albums and the recording is the fun part. For me, I could just be in the studio. It’s a personal challenge and I want to make the best music that I possibly can all of the time. That’s how I would like to spend pretty much all of my time. When we challenge ourselves, it’s a personal thing. It’s not really for other people.
Bands that deal with controversy are often remembered more for their drama than their music. What do you believe that Dance Gavin Dance is setting itself up to be remembered for?
Definitely just the music. All of the other stuff, we don’t really care about it. People will make what they make out of it, but I think that as a band, you have to actually take all the stuff people say about you seriously for it to mean anything.
