A band with a career of two distinct halves Headswim changed everything for their second release 'Despite Yourself'. Released in 1997, the album's melancholic outlook, loops, and electronic samples were perfect for the times, with the four-piece creating one of the most underrated albums of the era. Getting a reissue and its first ever vinyl release via Trapped Animal records in December2024, we caught up with bassist Clovis Taylor to learn of the heartbreak that informed its creation, and the mainstream success that followed. Moving on; Eamon O'Neill.
How are you doing today, Clovis?
I'm very well and glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
At long last, 'Despite Yourself' is being reissued and is coming out on vinyl; you must be pleased with that!
Absolutely, I mean, when it was first released back in 1998 I think vinyl was was already sliding off the shelf, so to speak, in terms of a viable alternative to CD. CD was in its ascendancy, so vinyl by that point wasn't really thought of as worth printing your record on. It's feels good to finally do it and put it on LP because a year or two ago we reissued 'Flood', Headswim's first LP, so this is neat. We also have it on CD as well with lots of bonus tracks and what have you, so, yeah, I'm really thrilled.
'Despite Yourself' is very different to 'Flood', isn't it? It's almost a different band, would you say?
I would absolutely agree with you. We were really a band of two halves, like mark one and mark two, really, The band kind of progressed in terms of song writing and development in the music we were playing, very quickly. We developed from a band that would write songs together in a rehearsal room just jamming, with each bringing various riffs or ideas, to a band that was led by song writing, so, somebody actually writing an entire song and bringing that into the rehearsal room. It was a natural development, but it was quite a steep development in terms of the two records are completely different. They may as well be by two different bands, very, very different. But it was the way that we were developing as musicians and as people. We were in our twenties, and we were learning and growing as we went.
The album has been described as containg "cathartic songs about death and spirituality", which I think is a pretty accurate summation. Obviously, we have to talk about the passing of Matthew Glenndinning, which really informed the album, didn't it?
I agree, absolutely, yeah. There were two brothers in Headswim, Daniel Glendinning and Tom Glendinning - Daniel being the singer and guitarist, and Tom being the drummer - and they had a younger brother called Matthew, who was very talented artist. He did the artwork for 'Flood'. He was younger than us, but sadly, he succumbed to leukaemia. and this obviously affected Dan and Tom immensely, and the band, really. I mean, in some ways I wouldn't have been surprised if it would have been the end of the band, because it was absolutely devastating, particularly to Dan and Tom, of course. So in a way, that also informs and explains the difference between 'Flood' and 'Despite Yourself', in that on 'Despite Yourself', Dan was writing a lot about how he was feeling at the time, which was complete and utter devastation, and trying to trying to express and cope with a unimaginable situation that, hopefully none of us will be in. So yeah, it was very cathartic, especially for Dan and Tom, to try and express the grief that they were going through. That definitely coloured 'Despite Yourself' as a record.
Clearly 'Despite Yourself' captures all of that, and that moment in time; does that make it a difficult listen for you?
That's a good question. I know what you're saying, because you're instantly transported back to that time, because those songs were written at that period in our lives, so it can be a difficult listen, in terms of the lyrics are extremely honest in their in their expression of grief. At the same time, Dan's writing style was - and it is still - richly melodic, so it has this dark, velvet, satiny kind of feel to those songs, which does evoke deep feelings, but is also enriched with great melody. So I wouldn't say it's difficult for me to listen to, but it's a part of our lives, of the band's lives, of us as young men, really, men in our middle twenties.
Listening to it again, one song that immediately jumped out for me was 'Wish I was Naïve'.
That's a great pick. I'm glad you chose that one. In a way it could have easily opened the album. That would have been a composition that Dan would have written, and he would have made a demo recording of that with Nick. Nick Watts was the keyboard player in Headswim, and at that time they would have used a drum loop to record the guitar chords over and the piano part, etc. So it has a little bit of that trip hop kind of feel to it, with this repetitive, repeating drum loop. It's very beautiful piece of music, and it's not rushed. The lyric is yearning for a certain innocence of, you know; "I've been to hell and back, and I wish I hadn't. I wish I was still naïve". I guess you'd have to ask Dan, but that's my interpretation of it. So, yeah, it really is a case of going through an awful experience and just wishing you were the person before that experience happened in life. But again, like we were discussing earlier, the way that it's interpreted in the music is very beautiful and and quite ornate. It's a highlight of the LP.
I'm very well and glad to be here. Thanks for having me.
At long last, 'Despite Yourself' is being reissued and is coming out on vinyl; you must be pleased with that!
Absolutely, I mean, when it was first released back in 1998 I think vinyl was was already sliding off the shelf, so to speak, in terms of a viable alternative to CD. CD was in its ascendancy, so vinyl by that point wasn't really thought of as worth printing your record on. It's feels good to finally do it and put it on LP because a year or two ago we reissued 'Flood', Headswim's first LP, so this is neat. We also have it on CD as well with lots of bonus tracks and what have you, so, yeah, I'm really thrilled.
'Despite Yourself' is very different to 'Flood', isn't it? It's almost a different band, would you say?
I would absolutely agree with you. We were really a band of two halves, like mark one and mark two, really, The band kind of progressed in terms of song writing and development in the music we were playing, very quickly. We developed from a band that would write songs together in a rehearsal room just jamming, with each bringing various riffs or ideas, to a band that was led by song writing, so, somebody actually writing an entire song and bringing that into the rehearsal room. It was a natural development, but it was quite a steep development in terms of the two records are completely different. They may as well be by two different bands, very, very different. But it was the way that we were developing as musicians and as people. We were in our twenties, and we were learning and growing as we went.
The album has been described as containg "cathartic songs about death and spirituality", which I think is a pretty accurate summation. Obviously, we have to talk about the passing of Matthew Glenndinning, which really informed the album, didn't it?
I agree, absolutely, yeah. There were two brothers in Headswim, Daniel Glendinning and Tom Glendinning - Daniel being the singer and guitarist, and Tom being the drummer - and they had a younger brother called Matthew, who was very talented artist. He did the artwork for 'Flood'. He was younger than us, but sadly, he succumbed to leukaemia. and this obviously affected Dan and Tom immensely, and the band, really. I mean, in some ways I wouldn't have been surprised if it would have been the end of the band, because it was absolutely devastating, particularly to Dan and Tom, of course. So in a way, that also informs and explains the difference between 'Flood' and 'Despite Yourself', in that on 'Despite Yourself', Dan was writing a lot about how he was feeling at the time, which was complete and utter devastation, and trying to trying to express and cope with a unimaginable situation that, hopefully none of us will be in. So yeah, it was very cathartic, especially for Dan and Tom, to try and express the grief that they were going through. That definitely coloured 'Despite Yourself' as a record.
Clearly 'Despite Yourself' captures all of that, and that moment in time; does that make it a difficult listen for you?
That's a good question. I know what you're saying, because you're instantly transported back to that time, because those songs were written at that period in our lives, so it can be a difficult listen, in terms of the lyrics are extremely honest in their in their expression of grief. At the same time, Dan's writing style was - and it is still - richly melodic, so it has this dark, velvet, satiny kind of feel to those songs, which does evoke deep feelings, but is also enriched with great melody. So I wouldn't say it's difficult for me to listen to, but it's a part of our lives, of the band's lives, of us as young men, really, men in our middle twenties.
Listening to it again, one song that immediately jumped out for me was 'Wish I was Naïve'.
That's a great pick. I'm glad you chose that one. In a way it could have easily opened the album. That would have been a composition that Dan would have written, and he would have made a demo recording of that with Nick. Nick Watts was the keyboard player in Headswim, and at that time they would have used a drum loop to record the guitar chords over and the piano part, etc. So it has a little bit of that trip hop kind of feel to it, with this repetitive, repeating drum loop. It's very beautiful piece of music, and it's not rushed. The lyric is yearning for a certain innocence of, you know; "I've been to hell and back, and I wish I hadn't. I wish I was still naïve". I guess you'd have to ask Dan, but that's my interpretation of it. So, yeah, it really is a case of going through an awful experience and just wishing you were the person before that experience happened in life. But again, like we were discussing earlier, the way that it's interpreted in the music is very beautiful and and quite ornate. It's a highlight of the LP.
It's got, as you say, that trippy thing going on, as has 'Moving On'.
'Moving on', I remember that was more or less a collaboration between the four of us, and yeah, it's a bit more upbeat, and it's positive in the lyrical theme. Again, the way it's constructed, there's a little bit of looped drums going on in there as well, samples, as well as live drums. We're all playing on that; I'm playing bass on it, and Nick's playing keyboards, and triggering samples or what have you. Yeah, 'Moving On; is great, and again, the theme running through 'Despite Yourself' is that moving on is a positive kind of message. Again, it's enriched with this lovely melody, and a great chorus that is very original and quite unusual. I'm glad that made it onto the LP, actually.
They're, for me, the the real standout deeper cuts, but let's talk about the singles, starting with 'Better Made'. Dan's Voice is just so impressive on 'Better Made', as it is on all the record, but the way he enters into the chorus, the way he sings it with such power, you know, it really grabs your attention, the way he delivers that lyric and the sort of yearning sentiment behind that lyric as well; "I wish I was better made". It's just got a real power to it, and I think it was a perfect single. The minute it was written, it was like; "oh, okay". In fact, that was one of the last songs that made it onto the album. If I remember rightly, we recorded 'Despite Yourself' at Van Morrison's Wool Hall studio, and then we went back about a fortnight later and recorded 'Better Made'. My memory is fading a little bit, but Dan must have come up with that in the last weeks of recording, and there it was.
That's quite amazing, because what no one knew at the time is that this would be the final Headswim album, so we might never have heard it.
That's right.
With all that we're discussing, it seems the album was perfect for the late '90s; was it a disappointment that it failed to reach what yourselves and the record company would have liked?
Well, at the time, I don't remember thinking that at all. I think we were pleased with how 'Tourniquet', the single got to no. 30. I think we would have wished it could have got higher, but it did get us onto Top of the Pops, which, back then was a big deal. So to us, that felt like a win. Then we spent a lot of time touring on the back of 'Despite Yourself'; we went to the States two or three times, did a couple of tours there, so we felt that there was progression. We were trying to break the band in the States as well, which is a well trodden path by many British bands, as you know, and it's an enormous task, really, because the States is so vast. So I don't know whether we were disappointed. We saw it as a positive because we were getting more mainstream attention. So I guess we were probably thinking; "well, this is good.", you know; "more people have heard of us now". so we were probably facing forward, smiling.
What did that feel like to have a success with 'Tourniquet'? Like, you said, doing Top of the Pops was a big thing back then.
Absolutely, I mean, that was part of the the great feeling of 'Despite Yourself', that it did get us that kind of attention. We did those TV shows; we did TFI Friday and various music shows that I now forgot the name of on MTV and what have you, so we were accruing a wider fan base, and we were appealing to a wider audience. I mean, for 'Tourniquet' to get us on Top of the Pops, that kind of validated us amongst like, our family or other people who may not be particularly into music. They would have heard of Top of the Pops, and they would have heard of the Radio One Chart Show that we would have been played on, so suddenly, instead of like; "oh, those guys messing about in that band; why don't they get proper jobs?", it was like; "actually, they could go all the way being a band and make a success of it".
'Moving on', I remember that was more or less a collaboration between the four of us, and yeah, it's a bit more upbeat, and it's positive in the lyrical theme. Again, the way it's constructed, there's a little bit of looped drums going on in there as well, samples, as well as live drums. We're all playing on that; I'm playing bass on it, and Nick's playing keyboards, and triggering samples or what have you. Yeah, 'Moving On; is great, and again, the theme running through 'Despite Yourself' is that moving on is a positive kind of message. Again, it's enriched with this lovely melody, and a great chorus that is very original and quite unusual. I'm glad that made it onto the LP, actually.
They're, for me, the the real standout deeper cuts, but let's talk about the singles, starting with 'Better Made'. Dan's Voice is just so impressive on 'Better Made', as it is on all the record, but the way he enters into the chorus, the way he sings it with such power, you know, it really grabs your attention, the way he delivers that lyric and the sort of yearning sentiment behind that lyric as well; "I wish I was better made". It's just got a real power to it, and I think it was a perfect single. The minute it was written, it was like; "oh, okay". In fact, that was one of the last songs that made it onto the album. If I remember rightly, we recorded 'Despite Yourself' at Van Morrison's Wool Hall studio, and then we went back about a fortnight later and recorded 'Better Made'. My memory is fading a little bit, but Dan must have come up with that in the last weeks of recording, and there it was.
That's quite amazing, because what no one knew at the time is that this would be the final Headswim album, so we might never have heard it.
That's right.
With all that we're discussing, it seems the album was perfect for the late '90s; was it a disappointment that it failed to reach what yourselves and the record company would have liked?
Well, at the time, I don't remember thinking that at all. I think we were pleased with how 'Tourniquet', the single got to no. 30. I think we would have wished it could have got higher, but it did get us onto Top of the Pops, which, back then was a big deal. So to us, that felt like a win. Then we spent a lot of time touring on the back of 'Despite Yourself'; we went to the States two or three times, did a couple of tours there, so we felt that there was progression. We were trying to break the band in the States as well, which is a well trodden path by many British bands, as you know, and it's an enormous task, really, because the States is so vast. So I don't know whether we were disappointed. We saw it as a positive because we were getting more mainstream attention. So I guess we were probably thinking; "well, this is good.", you know; "more people have heard of us now". so we were probably facing forward, smiling.
What did that feel like to have a success with 'Tourniquet'? Like, you said, doing Top of the Pops was a big thing back then.
Absolutely, I mean, that was part of the the great feeling of 'Despite Yourself', that it did get us that kind of attention. We did those TV shows; we did TFI Friday and various music shows that I now forgot the name of on MTV and what have you, so we were accruing a wider fan base, and we were appealing to a wider audience. I mean, for 'Tourniquet' to get us on Top of the Pops, that kind of validated us amongst like, our family or other people who may not be particularly into music. They would have heard of Top of the Pops, and they would have heard of the Radio One Chart Show that we would have been played on, so suddenly, instead of like; "oh, those guys messing about in that band; why don't they get proper jobs?", it was like; "actually, they could go all the way being a band and make a success of it".
I wanted to touch on the image change; you did a Metallica before Metallica, or was it the other way around?!
It probably was, yeah. Again, we were developing as as people, as well as musicians, and as you can tell by the two records we were writing, like a band of songwriters as opposed to a band of contributors towards a song. It wasn't about jamming so much. 'Flood' was about; "let's get in a room, let's have a jam, let's see if we can put some ideas together, write a song. Let's see what happens". Whereas 'Despite Yourself' was about; "oh, I'm beginning to understand how to write songs now", and that whole attitude bled into how we wanted to present ourselves as well. We just wanted to look differently. The music was completely different. It probably would have been clashing if we had done 'Despite Yourself' but still looked like how we did when we were doing 'Flood' with long hair and and flares and beads and what have you. It would have been a clash.
So that change was actually for the good?
It just went with the music, but I'm pretty aware of how confusing it was to people, and because with the two records and the look of the band, we may as well have been two completely different bands.
If the band had gone on and made kind of six albums, we wouldn't even be talking about this, I mean, according to Wikipedia, Headswim were signed to an eight album deal; is that correct?
Yeah, that's how it was. It's absolutely mind blowing, isn't it? Yeah, eight albums we were signed for, and in the reissue I wrote a few paragraphs on what it was like at that time recording 'Despite Yourself, and that era of the 1990s, and I mentioned about how completely different the landscape was then, regarding opportunities for bands and eight album record deals. That was kind of normal. The big record labels - in our case, Sony - they wanted you for eight albums. There was more money going around, there was more music venues, there was more music press. I know there's plenty of press online, but press on the racks of in WH Smith, or what have you. It was all there, and there was just so much more opportunity. I think that whole eight album deal, that was typical of the of the music business back then, of the power of record labels, which, as we know, with the advent of downloading, completely collapsed. Eight album deals became a thing of '90s bands like Headswim; that's what we were offered, and that's what we signed for.
This new reissue is really beautiful; what can you tell us about it?
Yeah, it's gorgeous. So yeah, so the the album cover's the same, but inside, it's very different. We've got some photographs from the band that have never been published before, some that I kept, some Polaroid shots, stuff like that. And lyrics are all on it. The running order is the same, however, we've got bonus material on it including all the b sides from the 'Tourniquet' and 'Better Made' singles. There's a couple of songs that we recorded during the sessions that were never released, and never even made it onto b sides, let alone onto the vinyl.
There's also an orchestral version of 'Torniquet'.
We recorded that with a string section Abbey Road, believe it or not. Again, another example of the amount of money that was swilling about in the 1990s regarding record labels. Can you imagine that they sent us into Abbey Road Studios, of all places, with a flipping String Orchestra?! Nick Watts, the keyboard player wrote and scored the keyboard part, and we recorded this version with strings. Once we'd done it, we decided; "oh well, we don't really like it", so it was shelved. That just goes to show how relaxed we were about this kind of thing. Can you imagine?! Doing that there must have cost a fortune! I've got no idea how much that cost, but we just shelved it. The band wasn't particularly happy with it, and I guess the record company wasn't. It didn't get released until now, and you can hear this version with this lush string section on it that sounds like it could have been on a James Bond soundtrack. So yeah, there's plenty of goodies.
You must be so pleased with what Trapped Animal Records have done, because this the third release from the now.
Actually yeah. We met their main man, Joel Clayton because he was a fan on the on the Headswim Facebook page. This wouldn't have happened if that fan base hadn't set up that Facebook group about Headswim, so it's all worked out beautifully. In many ways, the rereleases are better than the original product that we did back in the day, because there's been more time and love lavished on them than the original releases. Just the quality of the vinyl itself is better. It's 180 gram vinyl, whereas back in the day, it would have been much thinner, and the artwork is more in-depth. There's a bit of background, literature about the recording of those records at the time, so yeah, we're absolutely thrilled.
It probably was, yeah. Again, we were developing as as people, as well as musicians, and as you can tell by the two records we were writing, like a band of songwriters as opposed to a band of contributors towards a song. It wasn't about jamming so much. 'Flood' was about; "let's get in a room, let's have a jam, let's see if we can put some ideas together, write a song. Let's see what happens". Whereas 'Despite Yourself' was about; "oh, I'm beginning to understand how to write songs now", and that whole attitude bled into how we wanted to present ourselves as well. We just wanted to look differently. The music was completely different. It probably would have been clashing if we had done 'Despite Yourself' but still looked like how we did when we were doing 'Flood' with long hair and and flares and beads and what have you. It would have been a clash.
So that change was actually for the good?
It just went with the music, but I'm pretty aware of how confusing it was to people, and because with the two records and the look of the band, we may as well have been two completely different bands.
If the band had gone on and made kind of six albums, we wouldn't even be talking about this, I mean, according to Wikipedia, Headswim were signed to an eight album deal; is that correct?
Yeah, that's how it was. It's absolutely mind blowing, isn't it? Yeah, eight albums we were signed for, and in the reissue I wrote a few paragraphs on what it was like at that time recording 'Despite Yourself, and that era of the 1990s, and I mentioned about how completely different the landscape was then, regarding opportunities for bands and eight album record deals. That was kind of normal. The big record labels - in our case, Sony - they wanted you for eight albums. There was more money going around, there was more music venues, there was more music press. I know there's plenty of press online, but press on the racks of in WH Smith, or what have you. It was all there, and there was just so much more opportunity. I think that whole eight album deal, that was typical of the of the music business back then, of the power of record labels, which, as we know, with the advent of downloading, completely collapsed. Eight album deals became a thing of '90s bands like Headswim; that's what we were offered, and that's what we signed for.
This new reissue is really beautiful; what can you tell us about it?
Yeah, it's gorgeous. So yeah, so the the album cover's the same, but inside, it's very different. We've got some photographs from the band that have never been published before, some that I kept, some Polaroid shots, stuff like that. And lyrics are all on it. The running order is the same, however, we've got bonus material on it including all the b sides from the 'Tourniquet' and 'Better Made' singles. There's a couple of songs that we recorded during the sessions that were never released, and never even made it onto b sides, let alone onto the vinyl.
There's also an orchestral version of 'Torniquet'.
We recorded that with a string section Abbey Road, believe it or not. Again, another example of the amount of money that was swilling about in the 1990s regarding record labels. Can you imagine that they sent us into Abbey Road Studios, of all places, with a flipping String Orchestra?! Nick Watts, the keyboard player wrote and scored the keyboard part, and we recorded this version with strings. Once we'd done it, we decided; "oh well, we don't really like it", so it was shelved. That just goes to show how relaxed we were about this kind of thing. Can you imagine?! Doing that there must have cost a fortune! I've got no idea how much that cost, but we just shelved it. The band wasn't particularly happy with it, and I guess the record company wasn't. It didn't get released until now, and you can hear this version with this lush string section on it that sounds like it could have been on a James Bond soundtrack. So yeah, there's plenty of goodies.
You must be so pleased with what Trapped Animal Records have done, because this the third release from the now.
Actually yeah. We met their main man, Joel Clayton because he was a fan on the on the Headswim Facebook page. This wouldn't have happened if that fan base hadn't set up that Facebook group about Headswim, so it's all worked out beautifully. In many ways, the rereleases are better than the original product that we did back in the day, because there's been more time and love lavished on them than the original releases. Just the quality of the vinyl itself is better. It's 180 gram vinyl, whereas back in the day, it would have been much thinner, and the artwork is more in-depth. There's a bit of background, literature about the recording of those records at the time, so yeah, we're absolutely thrilled.
This leads into what could happen next, but I know there were sessions and you started working towards a third Headswim album; surely, that's the obvious next Trapped Animal release?
Let's see what happens. Yeah, I mean, initially, I'll be straight with you, that was my intention a few years ago when I learned that Sony had dropped all debts to recording artists who signed to the label pre the year 2000. Headswim signed to Sony in 1993, and that's what got me motivated to investigate; "oh, I wonder if we could release that third record that we recorded?", which at the time we didn't like. We felt apathetic about it. I really don't know where our heads were at, but we weren't happy with it, and it just got shelved. So that was my main motivation, but on meeting with the band and explaining to them what had occurred with Sony, there wasn't such an appetite to release that third album, but there was an appetite to go for 'Flood', so we did that, and now 'Despite Yourself'. So look, I'd have to have a conversation with the rest of the band to see if there's still a appetite for that third album, but I don't know. One thing I will explain quickly is that Dan Glendinning recorded about half of those songs that would have been on Headswim's third album in his Black Car band. Dan's band after Headswim is called Black Car, and a lot of that material Dan re-recorded. However, yeah, let's see what happens. You'll be the first to know!
That leads me onto another question; Wikipedia stats that 'Headswim IS...'; should that be 'Headswim WAS...'?
Yeah, that's a good point. I think it's we did reform to play one gig at the Camden underworld in London in 2022, so somebody must have rewritten our Wikipedia page to say that we are ongoing and a functioning, performing band once more. But there aren't any plans to play any more gigs at the at the moment, I can tell you that much. I mean, we still get on really well as people; we still meet up, we're still friends, but there's not so much of an appetite to reanimate our younger selves. But never say never, right? Dan Glendening is doing a gig under the Black Car name and he will be playing songs from 'Despite Yourself', and that gig is on the 7th December [2024] in London, at the Lexington. So although Headswim hasn't reformed and going forward, like I say never, say never, but there aren't any plans to do that. It has inspired some of us as musicians to begin recording again, and release music, so expect that, especially from Daniel, and who else, we'll see.
What about you, what are you up to in the future?
I'm happy to do any Headswinm-based archaeology. I'm always up for doing that because I just feel so grateful for the attention that the fans have given us on this on the Facebook group which has just been lovely and genuine. In a way, I feel like I owe them something, and I'm really grateful and happy that we're making people happy by re-releasing some of this old stuff.
Me, I'm writing music under the name of Fake District, so you can find me on YouTube. I don't really have any solid plans. I'm just writing music, recording little videos and putting them on YouTube. Like I say, Dan has reanimated his Black Car band, so definitely expect more from Dan. He's begun writing songs again, reinterpreting old Headswim and Black Car material, and Dan and Nick, I'm sure they'll be dabbling in music as well in the future. So in one way or another, you'll hear from Headswim, but maybe not under the same banner.
Headswim's 'Despite Yourself' reissues is released on 6th December 2024. Click here to order.
Let's see what happens. Yeah, I mean, initially, I'll be straight with you, that was my intention a few years ago when I learned that Sony had dropped all debts to recording artists who signed to the label pre the year 2000. Headswim signed to Sony in 1993, and that's what got me motivated to investigate; "oh, I wonder if we could release that third record that we recorded?", which at the time we didn't like. We felt apathetic about it. I really don't know where our heads were at, but we weren't happy with it, and it just got shelved. So that was my main motivation, but on meeting with the band and explaining to them what had occurred with Sony, there wasn't such an appetite to release that third album, but there was an appetite to go for 'Flood', so we did that, and now 'Despite Yourself'. So look, I'd have to have a conversation with the rest of the band to see if there's still a appetite for that third album, but I don't know. One thing I will explain quickly is that Dan Glendinning recorded about half of those songs that would have been on Headswim's third album in his Black Car band. Dan's band after Headswim is called Black Car, and a lot of that material Dan re-recorded. However, yeah, let's see what happens. You'll be the first to know!
That leads me onto another question; Wikipedia stats that 'Headswim IS...'; should that be 'Headswim WAS...'?
Yeah, that's a good point. I think it's we did reform to play one gig at the Camden underworld in London in 2022, so somebody must have rewritten our Wikipedia page to say that we are ongoing and a functioning, performing band once more. But there aren't any plans to play any more gigs at the at the moment, I can tell you that much. I mean, we still get on really well as people; we still meet up, we're still friends, but there's not so much of an appetite to reanimate our younger selves. But never say never, right? Dan Glendening is doing a gig under the Black Car name and he will be playing songs from 'Despite Yourself', and that gig is on the 7th December [2024] in London, at the Lexington. So although Headswim hasn't reformed and going forward, like I say never, say never, but there aren't any plans to do that. It has inspired some of us as musicians to begin recording again, and release music, so expect that, especially from Daniel, and who else, we'll see.
What about you, what are you up to in the future?
I'm happy to do any Headswinm-based archaeology. I'm always up for doing that because I just feel so grateful for the attention that the fans have given us on this on the Facebook group which has just been lovely and genuine. In a way, I feel like I owe them something, and I'm really grateful and happy that we're making people happy by re-releasing some of this old stuff.
Me, I'm writing music under the name of Fake District, so you can find me on YouTube. I don't really have any solid plans. I'm just writing music, recording little videos and putting them on YouTube. Like I say, Dan has reanimated his Black Car band, so definitely expect more from Dan. He's begun writing songs again, reinterpreting old Headswim and Black Car material, and Dan and Nick, I'm sure they'll be dabbling in music as well in the future. So in one way or another, you'll hear from Headswim, but maybe not under the same banner.
Headswim's 'Despite Yourself' reissues is released on 6th December 2024. Click here to order.
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