Current Swell

In the Press

The Swell Season

The concept was a day in the life of Current Swell.
It’s been well over a year since the band’s third album, Protect Your Own, was released but last March a video for the single “Young and Able” became available for viewing. A sensuous but earthy groove, the video follows a few members of Current Swell as they head out to the beach near their homebase in Victoria. Surrounded by British Columbia’s blue-green haze and filmed with a misty focus as the group laughs around a roaring campfire, if the video’s concept was a day in the life, then life seems pretty damn good for these boys.
“We did it in January of this year,” explains guitarist Dave Lang. “It was filmed right after New Year’s, which is pretty amazing if you look at some of the shots — it was beautiful, it could pass for a summer afternoon.” Ya, we’re all jealous here.
“We actually had to fight a little bit against it ‘cause the [director, John Poliquin] really wanted to pump up the surfing angle,” continues Lang. “It’s kind of in our name, we’re pretty mellow guys and a couple of us do surf, so people are always wanting to promote and sell the angle that surfing is cool. But we didn’t sign up for that video because it’s something a little bit more private.” So no surfing, just dreamy shots of beaches and waterfalls.
While Lang readily admits that he and co-founding member Scott Stanton, are very much into West Coast culture, to assume Current Swell is all reggae beats and chill vibes is inaccurate. In fact, both Lang and Stanton grew up in Alberta; St. Albert to be specific. And you’re just as likely to hear a bluesy stomp with a blazin’ harmonica running through any particular tune as you are likely to hear the syncopated rhythms of that sunny beach sound.
“We are really into that coastal groove thing,” says Lang. “People receive that really well. But we also have a deep love for this prairie-rooted music, you know? Like Neil Young style — more of the bluesy stuff. It’s a country vibe that comes from being from Alberta.”
Alberta and their parents’ music collection — according to Lang, Stanton’s dad loved the blues. That influence is now blended seamlessly into a genre that occasionally (around summertime) seems over saturated, making Current Swell’s sound fresh year-round and contagious live.
“I think we love the blues because it’s one of those musics that,” says Lang before pausing and starting again. “You can be a really amazing guitar player but if you don’t have the soul, if you can’t feel the blues, you can’t really play stuff like that. And I think that’s why we really responded to that, ’cause it’s not easy to play blues music in our generation, but when you can play something and you can feel something, it’s pretty great.”
There’s an earnestness to his voice as he struggles to explain that experience of hearing something that seems honest and real. It’s an earnestness that returns when talking about his own songwriting.
Though he credits the fans for keeping Current Swell in line, requesting new music and tour dates, Lang describes his own desire to write as irrepressible.
“You’ll be sitting in bed, about to fall asleep and then ‘bam,’ something comes into your head and you’re like, ‘great, I will not get to sleep,’ because I can’t stop thinking about the beat and what the bass line might do,” Lang says. “You get kind of consumed as a songwriter because you just have it inside you and it comes out whether you like it or not.”
If you’re wondering, they are working on new tunes and so a day in the life of Current Swell should involve a recording studio come fall.
“I’ve never really sat down and gone, ‘I really want to write a song right’ — it doesn’t happen like that.”
As long as it happens.
Kathleen Bell - See Magazine
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Maui Times

Maui Times - Anuhea Yagi Arts and Entertainment - Current Swell February 02, 2011 Oh, Canada. Known for its maple syrup, ice hockey, lumberjacks and surf. OK, Canada isn't exactly known for its surf, but it does have surf—the best of which can be found around Vancouver Island off the coast of British Columbia, the country's westernmost province. Hailing from this wintry isle—and immers... View Full Article
Anuhea Yagi - Maui Times
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Canmore News Article

Current Swell to break over Valley DAVE WHITFIELD CANMORE With a non-summer now wound down and few signs of a warm autumn in the offing, maybe a warm, coastal Current Swell is just what the Bow Valley ordered. While the Victoria four-piece won’t be riding into town in a 409-powered Little Deuce Coupe when they visit Communitea Café, Sept. 30, the band will be driving a sound that embraces th... View Full Article
Dave Whitfield - Outlook Entertainment

The Swell Season

The concept was a day in the life of Current Swell. It’s been well over a year since the band’s third album, Protect Your Own, was released but last March a video for the single “Young and Able” became available for viewing. A sensuous but earthy groove, the video follows a few members of Current Swell as they head out to the beach near their homebase in Victoria. Surrounded by British C... View Full Article
Kathleen Bell - See Magazine
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Ottawa Blues Fest review

Current Swell dropped a West Coast hippie groove on the unsuspecting audience in the Barney Danson theatre. In cutoff shorts, tank top and bare feet, surfer-blond singer-songwriter-guitarist Scott Stanton looked like he had just come from a campfire jam on the beach. If so, no doubt he was the star. Stanton's quicksilver vocal style was drenched in funky rhythms that were underscored by the energ... View Full Article
Ottawa Citizen - Ottawa Citizen
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Edmonton Journal April 2010

Victoria's Current Swell is currently riding high with its charming new video, Young & Able, now in rotation on MuchMoreMusic. The clip features the folk-roots musicians in their VW van, driving to the beach to meet their friends, then carrying their surfboards through a forest. (Oddly, there are no shots of them on their boards in the water ... ) Current Swell stars two Edmonton natives and surf... View Full Article
Sandra Sperounes - Edmonton Journal
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SBC Article 2009

Susan Hollis - SBC Magazine
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CD - Review : Current Swell - Protect Your Own (independent)

With their second release, this local surf/ska/reggae/rock outfit has really begun to find their own distinctive sound. Current Swell’s debut, 2005’s So I Say, sounded more like a Sublime tribute record, but Protect Your Own shows the boys branching out and really experimenting with new styles. Most notably, there’s a lot more slide guitar and harmonica, adding a grittier, bluesy aspect to t... View Full Article
Amanda Farrell - Monday Magazine
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