New Jersey’s Can’t Swim have not long released their debut album ‘Fail You Again’. Haven’t introduced yourself to them yet? Now’s your chance – Chris LoPorto runs us through a few factoids about his band.
We’re from Keansburg, New Jersey. We all live within five minutes of each other and grew up as friends. I started the band myself, writing songs on my laptop as a hobby, which turned quickly into a full-time project after getting signed by Pure Noise. Our record was being heard all over the world before we even got into a room together to play the songs live.
The girl on our record covers is my ex-girlfriend. She is 19 years old on the cover of ‘Death Deserves A Name’, and 26 on ‘Fail You Again’. She is the majority of lyrical content in all my songs, and the main reason I started Can’t Swim. A past lover who turned into a dear friend over the years who I can’t thank enough for making this all possible.
Danny Rico, our guitar player, is also the band’s producer and recording engineer. We have recorded all of our own releases so far, and he has produced every song we have made. We don’t go into some fancy studio but rather our living rooms to make music that really feels our own.
We all grew up with very different musical backgrounds. I never sang a day in my life, and our very first show was the first time I put my mouth to a microphone in front of anyone. Greg grew up playing guitar in a technical metal band and hadn’t played bass in almost ten years when Can’t Swim started. Andrea plays every instrument and was doing her own electronic band, where she sang and played keyboards live, when she joined the band. Danny, started the band playing drums and then moved to guitar, but he also grew up playing drums in a fast hardcore band and fronted an alternative rock band called Mason Avery. Mike and I played in a Jersey hardcore band which is how we met, shortly after that we decided to start doing Can’t swim stuff.
All of our songs are about personal experiences that have happened in my life. ‘Hey Amy’ is about our town being destroyed by Hurricane Sandy. ‘Molly’s Desk’ is about my grandfather passing away. ‘Death Deserves A Name’ is about my girlfriend’s abortion. ‘What’s Your Big Idea’ is about my close friends turning to drugs. ‘One Shot’ is about my parents’ relationship. I try to cover everything that’s affected me in some way or another emotionally in the last 29 years.
