A.Swayze & the Ghosts is an exhilarating new garage-punk band from Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, the island located just below Australia. They are comprised of lead singer Andrew Swayze, alongside high school friends Hendrik Wipprecht (guitar), Zackary Blain (drums) and Ben Simms (bass). They will release their debut 12” on March 29th via Rough Trade Records.
Their lead single ‘Suddenly’ is backed with the epic, 10 minute jam-fest known as ‘Reciprocation’.
Tasmania is known around the world as The Island of Inspiration and it’s no secret that the albums that have inspired A.Swayze & the Ghosts came from classic artists such as Iggy & The Stooges, Television, Fugazi, The Ramones and Australia’s kings of punk, The Saints. Elements of these masterful artists from an early era can be found in the band’s DNA and have allowed them to grow into their own world, to create their own scene, on an island that also has much deep and meaningful history with potential to have some new rock n’ roll history too.
Within the driving impact of “Suddenly”, A.Swayze & the Ghosts is unleashed in all its bombastic, garage-punk glory. Written by front man, Andrew Swayze and his wife Olivia, “Suddenly” addresses the pressing issue of gender inequality, using Olivia’s own anecdotes and experiences of day to day harassment, choosing “the perspective of a woman for a more sincere and potent viewpoint of the subject matter”.
UK live shows:
9th- 11th May – The Great Escape, Brighton