Inovo Swim Alone Interview

Come and dive into the ambient, hazy realms of Brisbane alt-prog rockers inovo with the group today releasing a brand new single Swim Alone. An atmospheric and immersive outing that meshes grooves with moody textures, inovo's new track also comes armed today with a visceral accompanying music video, drawing you deeper into the band's sonic universe ahead of inovo officially launching Swim Alone in their hometown on Friday 31 March at BackDock Arts in Brisbane.

Pulsing with artsy alt-rock and explorative flourishes, Swim Alone firmly displays inovo's love of unorthodox rhythms, a la Karnivool, Incubus and Tool, along with the colourful, textured storytelling of the likes of Tesseract, Devin Townsend and Thrice. With guitarist Rhys Tyack editing and tracking parts in the band's studio, Swim Alone also reached its layered and dreamlike present state via James See mixing, and Steve Smart wrangling the levels for mastering. Moody, modern and sonically expansive, Swim Alone's surreal qualities stem partially from an actual dream experienced by vocalist Declan Nicholls, with roots also flowing from a song devised by the band's former guitarist. "It's about a dream I once had about a gigantic humanoid entity drifting through space, swinging off of planets to change its trajectory," shares Declan of Swim Alone's origins. "In the dream I was a prophet on earth that had predicted its imminent approach to Earth, and wanted to warn everyone that it will be here soon and bring about the end of the world". "Swim Alone is actually based off an old song our ex-guitarist Jamie created called 'It Swims Above'," adds Rhys. "We loved the elements but couldn't perform it when we were reduced to a smaller group. It's completely different but if you squint your ears during a full moon you can hear a glimpse of similarity."

Perfectly complementing the glossy darkness and cascading grooves, the accompanying music video for Swim Alone marries the track's lyrics of uncertainty and angst with riveting and disconcerting visuals. Shooting the video themselves over a series of weekends, special effects masks, costumes, body organs and props were made by guitarist Rhys, whose work as a cinematographer has seen him shoot music videos for Halfway, Sarah Stockholm, Daylight Ghosts and many more. Drawing together a team of actors, friends and crew, the clip ultimately oozes with sharp aesthetics and boundless imagination. "Declan writes all the lyrics which invokes a very vivid representation of the story and meaning," shares Rhys of making Swim Alone's music video. "I wanted the story to take some of that and combine it with the feeling I had when I wrote the track. In the video we incorporated quite a lot of symbolism and centralised the theme around confinement, while keeping a cosmic horror aesthetic. We wanted to create a visceral dimension to parallel our reality, or collective experience, relying on semiotics for layers of meaning. Every shot was storyboarded as we didn't have a lot of time on-set once people had intestines glued to their stomach or full-faced latex masks muting sense receptors."

Sharing a love for thought-provoking music and haunting tonalities, inovo started life when Declan, Rhys and drummer Jackson Caswell met at university before evolving into their present iteration, with bass player Karl O'Shea joining a few years later after meeting in a shared rehearsal space. Originally called Solus before changing to inovo, Latin for 'in the egg' reflecting the conceptual and embryonic nature of their songs, inovo is ultimately passion project dedicated to making music that each band member loves, with significant emphasis on storytelling, irregular rhythms and arrangements that pervade deep into your soul.

inovo's live show is an equally memorable affair, with the band set to launch Swim Alone on Friday 31 March at BackDock Arts in Brisbane - and there may just be a few surprises in store. "We may have a few surprises coming up, maybe…" teases Jackson of the upcoming launch show. "We like to keep things fun and unpredictable," adds Declan of inovo's live performances. "We tend to move with the music, so one minute we might be chill, and the next minute really not so chill".

A labour of love, Swim Alone is just the beginning of a huge 2023 for inovo, with the group primed to reveal even more musical goodness in the near future. "It's very relieving to release Swim Alone," says Rhys. "We've been working on these songs for quite some time so it's exciting to release our child outside of our collective womb into the big wide world". "We worked so hard on this song and the video," concludes Declan, "and now that it's finally going to be out there in the world I just hope it's something people connect with and enjoy. We have so much more to show you guys, so if you like what we do – then watch this space. Also, I love you."

Swim Alone is out today.

Interview eith Inovo

How would you describe your music?

(Declan) That's a tricky question but we've found it easier to answer in the last few years. I'd say we're Art Rock with some dark and progressive elements. We like to be spooky and explore mysterious, disturbing or fear-inducing concepts since I find them particularly inspiring or interesting. We have a focus on storytelling and building soundscapes to invite a vivid image in the listener's mind.

Can you tell us about your new song Swim Alone?

(Declan) It's the first song we've released in what feels like forever! Now that people are finally able to listen to our music outside of gigs it's such a relief. The song has a really powerful meaning for us in that way, not only because it's attached to the music video we worked so hard on, but also because it was the flagship single from our very first album. It's a gem that we've had in the back pocket for quite some time

What inspired your new song?

(Jackson) Instrumentally, the song is inspired by a very old song of ours called It Swims Above, which was created years ago with our old rhythm guitarist. We loved it but with his departure from the band we were unable to perform it live without him. We eventually rewrote the entire song, retaining small elements here and there. A lot of the inspiration comes from a vivid dream our vocalist Declan had - "There was a gigantic humanoid entity drifting through space, swinging off of planets to change its trajectory. In this dream I was a prophet on Earth and wanted to warn everyone that it will be here soon and bring about the end of the world."

Is there a particular message you hope listeners take from your music?

(Declan) Honestly, when I'm writing the lyrics and meaning into a song I don't want the original intended meaning to be considered "baked-in". I love the idea of different people interpreting the meaning of our songs in ways unique to them and their experiences. That's a really beautiful thing!

Do you prefer performing live or recording?

(Jackson) I much prefer performing live compared to recording. Recording requires a lot of precision, though nothing beats performing with your band mates, moving around getting all sweaty and jazzed up!

Which is your favorite song to perform live and why?

(Jackson) My favorite song to perform live is actually "Since the Fire" which will also be released soon. There's a couple of heavy moments in this song that really punch you in the face as well as some slightly irregular rhythms.

If you could have anyone, in the world, attend a show, who would it be?

(Jackson) That's a tough question, the first person that comes to mind is the Aussie comedian Steve Hughes. He seems to like heavier music and also seems like a downright bloody funny guy to hang with i reckon.

What is the story behind the band name?

(Declan) During our uni days we used to be called Solus. This never quite stuck with us and we then changed it to inovo (lowercase "i" intended), which is a reference to a character/concept by Clive Barker which means "within the egg", referencing the embryonic nature of our music.

How did the band come together?

(Jackson) The original 4 (Drummer - Jackson, Guitarist - Rhys, Vocalist - Declan, Rhythm guitarist - Jamie) all met during our studies at uni around 2014 when the music we wrote was purely for assessments! We all shared the same passion for creating music and have been together ever since. Eventually Jamie had to leave the band due to other commitments and we then teamed up with our mate Karl on Bass.

What motivates you most when writing music?

(Jackson) Being able to create and have a piece of each band member come together and being able to see what beautiful strange things we can come up with.

Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

(Jackson) Pretty much all of us are currently listening to Sleep Token. Just wow.

Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

(Jackson) Nah, I don't think there ever was a moment we've wanted to throw in the towel, there have definitely been a few snags and bumps along the way but giving up achieves nothing!

What has been your favorite part of becoming a music artist?

(Jackson) Working with and meeting heaps of different people over the years has been great, as well as the constant strive to improve and evolve is also something special. Also the curiosity of what we will create next! So much freedom!

What's a typical day like?

(Jackson) Each of us have had different day jobs for a while now, but my day usually consists of working on other music projects before heading off and teaching my instrument for a living.

What advice do you have for aspiring songwriters or artists?

(Jackson) Don't copy other people! Create, learn and take your ideas and bleed them dry! Enjoy the process!

What's next, for you?

(Jackson) At the moment we're in the process of releasing the rest of our album one song at a time and then once that's done, getting straight back into the writing process to see what we can come up with next! There are currently already a couple of things being tossed around and worked on so definitely watch this space!

Can you share your socials? (links please)

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/inovo_band/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/inovoband

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@inovobandau