Review Fix chats with Swirl founder Duane “DT” Jones, who lets us know all about the band, their creative process and goals for the future.
Review Fix:Â How did the band get together?
DT Jones: Brian “Bam Bam†Jones and I have been together since his birth since I am his brother! We have both been in separate bands growing up, but when I put Swirl together he came in to record the first release and never left! It`s been an amazing experience working with him.
Shane Carlson (bass) and Alfred Ramirez (vocals) were playing in a Southern California band that was on the verge of going into the studio with former Dio keyboard player Claude Schnell. Claude called me up and asked if I would consider writing with them since they just parted ways with their guitar player and doing so would give us an opportunity to record together as well. What started out as a writing project turned into a live band. After one of our gigs, a friend of mine said Alfred would sound really good singing Swirl songs. I approached him about it and he was interested.
We recorded two songs together with Cinderella drummer Fred Coury co-writing, mixing, performing on and producing the tracks. The songs are “Time To Fly†and “Mad Disease.” “Time To Fly†was particularly well received and led to a tour offer for Swirl. We needed a bass player and already had a history with Shane so that band broke up and both joined Swirl.
Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?
DT: I always have a guitar in my hand or on the brain when I am not taking care of the business end of Swirl. I tend to write nearly complete songs on guitar then get together with Brian to work on the arrangement before presenting it to Alfred and Shane.
Review Fix: What’s your standout song? How was it written?
DT: With our new song, “The Lift†the creative process changed for Swirl in that while I still had a couple of writing sessions with Brian I also had a writing session with Alfred independent of the rest of the band. He had some very good ideas for changing of the guitar parts in the verses to make it more compatible with what he was singing. Obviously, it worked as “The Lift†is doing amazingly well for Swirl since it December pre-release to radio and our Go Fund Me investors and its release to the public on January 11, 2018. We have our first #1 charting song of our career with 365 Indie Radio in the United States and “The Lift†has reached as high as #4 on Banks Radio Australia! New internet and FM stations are adding the song daily.
Review Fix:Â What are your goals for 2018?
DT: With the success of “The Lift: to start 2018 and the success of three songs from the previous self-titled release ‘SWIRL’ being licensed into the 2 time award winning ‘Ditch Day’ movie, our primary goals for 2018 are to continue to record new music with the donations through our Go Fund Me page from Swirl fans (https://www.gofundme.com/laun
Review Fix:Â How do you want your music to affect people?
DT: The overwhelming theme with our music is a positive one. If you read the reviews from the ‘SWIRL’ EP and even our new song “The Lift†we seem to be capable of inspiring the mood of our audience.
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