{"id":2507660,"date":"2026-07-18T21:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T21:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2507660"},"modified":"2026-07-18T21:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T21:22:09","slug":"the-new-school-swapmeet-interviewed-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-new-school-swapmeet-interviewed-features\/","title":{"rendered":"The New School: Swapmeet Interviewed | Features"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Australia\u2019s newest alternative hopefuls <strong>Swapmeet<\/strong> have had nothing short of an emphatic rise in the last couple of years. Since the release of their debut EP\u00a0\u2018Oxalis\u2019\u00a0in 2024, which won the group more nominations than any group at the South Australian Music Awards of that year, the group has steadily built a hefty reputation, most recently culminating in a standout performance at this year\u2019s SXSW and securing a record deal with Los Angeles-based label <strong>Winspear<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their debut full-length album, entitled\u00a0\u2018Mount Zero\u2019 \u2013 <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/lnk.to\/mount-zero\">out now, in fact<\/a><\/span><\/strong> \u2013 pre-empting a mammoth tour of Australia, the USA, Europe, and the United Kingdom beginning in September. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Venus and Jack, making up half of the act, joined CLASH to speak on their new record and upcoming world tour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Swapmeet - Sand (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3039fwj-OUo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Hello Swapmeet! Thank you for joining us today. How are you doing?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus<\/strong>: Couldn\u2019t be better!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>As we speak now, your debut record is a mere three days away from release\u2026have the nerves gone or is there still a lot of anticipation?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s unreal. It feels fake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>It kind of feels like when you\u2019re really excited about Christmas, and the week of Christmas you\u2019re really confused, but then it gets to Christmas Day and you\u2019re like: Yippee it\u2019s Christmas!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>To go back to your roots, you began the band in 2022 in Adelaide, Australia, yet you\u2019ve recently signed to a label based in LA, Winspear. How do you describe that journey from being a local band on the scene to a band signed by a label on the other side of the world\u2026 that feeling must be weird!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>It feels so natural, what happened to us. It doesn\u2019t feel weird or out of place. But I get that it\u2019s maybe surprising, or something.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>It\u2019s definitely one of the things that in retrospect is unusual.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>I suppose you wouldn\u2019t have done it if it didn\u2019t feel natural.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah! But I guess when we look back, if you had told us this would all happen, we probably wouldn\u2019t think it would.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Throughout your time as a group, has there been a shared philosophy or attitude that has guided you through your career so far?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>I think we take it really seriously without taking it really seriously. The dynamic will always be about a friendship and what we create together. It\u2019s the people first. We really care about what we\u2019re making, but it\u2019s ninety percent human interaction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>I feel like we\u2019re all really naturally good at managing how our egos interact. Everyone is good at like taking a backseat to let whoever\u2019s cooking take a step forward. That\u2019s something I realised the other day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Were there any rules set for the band in that way?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>We didn\u2019t have to make any rules, it was just getting used to each other. Seeing each other\u2019s ideas to be as important as everyone else\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>No missing band prac! No matter how hungover you are.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>If one of us is sick, all of us are sick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>You first released <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/album\/3g608lbZu1mWovF1mYelCA\">an EP, \u2018Oxalis\u2019, in 2024<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. If you were to listen to that EP and your album one after another, what would you say have been the biggest changes or developments in your music?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>The attention to detail, and knowing the parameters of experimenting. Feelings wise it\u2019s more pessimistic but more mature in that way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Even though it\u2019s a clich\u00e9, your first release is often quite angsty because you just want to get it out there\u2026 but since then you\u2019ve probably been more able to hone it in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>We figured out our process, to some extent.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah, and we were able to write whilst recording some of the stuff. Which I think makes the final product more connected to what we were trying to do originally. The first EP was songs we had for a long time. This one was really, like, eyes on the money.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>I read that you have experimented with heavy track layering in production\u2026 how did that style come about?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>Everyone has so many ideas. We had so many instruments lying around as well. When you get to a part and you\u2019re trying to make it different to everything else, why not put some accordion in this one part? It might have hundreds of tracks, but one track is like three seconds of sound on it. We would do that then cut a bunch of things back.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Am I right in saying you guys are self-produced? The album too?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>The EP was. This album we worked with Hamish from Armlock, who mixed the record. He was just like an absolute brother, guiding us through.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>When we first brought it to him, he thought he wasn\u2019t going to do very much, like it was just a little lo-fi thing, like our EP. Then he saw all the tracks and how big everything was, and was like, okay, let\u2019s do this properly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>In addition, I\u2019ve read of your swapping of roles, from songwriting to instruments to production, which makes the group extremely versatile by nature. What would you say are the biggest pros (and cons) to that dynamic in a band?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>The cons would be like, there is a slightly higher number of compromises to be made. But, the pro\u2019s is that it\u2019s just way more fun for everyone. There is no boringness of playing guitar all the time, no getting sick of stuff. At least for me.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>It keeps things playful when there aren\u2019t set roles and identities within the roles. Whoever\u2019s playing the instrument will just play the instrument. That kind of flexibility is really important for us. Luckily, Jack and Maxwell are both so good at playing drums, guitar, singing, and songwriting. I just feel lucky and that there could be no other way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>In various interviews, you\u2019ve named plenty of influences and artists you admire. If you were to concentrate the record\u2019s core influences to three acts, who would you pick?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>Wilco \u2013 \u2018Yankee Hotel Foxtrot\u2019 was playing every single morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>Ninajirachi? (laughs)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>Wings!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>That\u2019s very true. Wings is like a general inspiration. I got reminded of the band Duster the other day; I forgot how actually integral that band is to us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>For the first two years of Swapmeet, it was all just Duster ripoffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>And a little sprinkle of Twin Peaks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Besides your brilliant songs, I was certainly intrigued by the album artwork. What\u2019s the story behind it?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>I mean, there were themes in the album about heaven and doors unlocking. We were doing a photoshoot for the album cover, and then afterwards, my friend and I went into Melbourne and filmed a whole music video for \u2018My Heart Breaks II\u2019. I was going through the footage and took a screenshot; the cover for the album is the screenshot, which I fucked with more than the photoshoot. It was originally meant to be like an angel through a keyhole, but I kind of just got bored with that, to be honest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>It was meant to be like the Benny Blanco and Selena Gomez album that came out, and it\u2019s them through a keyhole.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Which song on the record grew the most to jump out and surprise you when recording it in the studio?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>Probably \u2018I Know\u2019. We didn\u2019t really have a demo for it. When we recorded it, I was still making up drum parts for it. I didn\u2019t expect it to keep the energy of playing it live. Our recordings tend to be a bit different. But that one worked very well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Seth:\u00a0<\/strong>Do you guys record live in the room together? Like kind of old-school style?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>Hell no! We do the opposite; everything is very new-school around here\u2026 We\u2019ve tried to do it old-school, but we just found it a bit boring. We like to separate the live experience from the recording. They exist as different entities. We\u2019re not shying away from our live playing; we\u2019re just interested in making music in a different way. We do everything quite randomly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>All very spur of the moment?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah, very experimental. We have no idea what we are doing ever. We like to play around with the form of all the songs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>You can do some crazy shit in Ableton. You can transform a song.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>It is a credit to you guys that you can go into a song, add a thousand things, and still come out of it with a finished thing that sounds brilliant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>Going mad with it is a part of the process for us.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Swapmeet - 2 C U (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b5TzxCmIVxs?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Are there any songs you got stuck on?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>\u20182 C U\u2019 was tricky. That\u2019s because we needed every second thing to be different.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019d say Bonny. We came to Hamish with that song, and it wasn\u2019t done at all.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>This debut album is supported by a whole calendar of tour dates\u2026 from gigs in Australia to a full US\/UK\/EU tour later this year\u2026 it must be so exciting to get the new record on the road!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>I\u2019m so keen! I can\u2019t believe that it\u2019s happening, especially in the UK and Europe. Amsterdam! I\u2019m so keen for Amsterdam. I have a mate who just came back from Amsterdam; he said it was the best. I just wanna ride a bike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Supporting Wolf Alice as well in December! Dream come true perhaps? Big fans?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>I am now! I\u2019ve been listening to lots of Wolf Alice and have been loving it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>One of my first bands covered a Wolf Alice song!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Just as a final question \u2013 if you could bring out one artist on stage with you during the duration of this tour \u2013 who would it be?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus &amp; Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>Addison Rae!!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>Or Julian Casablancas, because that would just be funny.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Opinions on Julian Casablancas\u2019 autotune?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>I don\u2019t mind it!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Venus:\u00a0<\/strong>I fuck with it, I mean, I was into The Voidz in high school.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Yeah, The Voidz is all about that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Jack:\u00a0<\/strong>I was obsessed with this one Voidz song called \u2018Pink Ocean\u2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>CLASH:\u00a0<\/strong>Yes, that\u2019s a great one. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the interview drew to a close, Venus produced a guitar on the Zoom call and attempted <strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=XdFpzaM07i0\">\u2018Headphones\u2019 by Addison Rae<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. Which about sums up our chat with Swapmeet. Unpredictable, but thoroughly entertaining and authentic. Their debut record, \u2018Mount Zero\u2019, is a must-listen for any self-respecting indie fan of today. Even better, if you\u2019re sold on it, you can catch them out on the road later this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Swapmeet - Bonny (Official Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UgjfEIqx7f0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u2018Mount Zero\u2019 is out now.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Words: <strong>Seth White<\/strong><br \/>Photo Credit: <strong>David Milan Kelly<\/strong> <strong>+ Josh Sabini<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2014<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.clashmusic.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Australia\u2019s newest alternative hopefuls Swapmeet have had nothing short of an emphatic rise in the last couple of years. Since the release of their debut EP\u00a0\u2018Oxalis\u2019\u00a0in 2024, which won the group more nominations than any group at the South Australian Music Awards of that year, the group has steadily built a hefty reputation, most recently [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2507661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[464441],"class_list":["post-2507660","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-swapmeet"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/The-New-School-Swapmeet-Interviewed-Features.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2507660","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2507660"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2507660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2507662,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2507660\/revisions\/2507662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2507661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2507660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2507660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2507660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}