Finding Inspiration with BLUE SWANS (INTERVIEW)

If you’re someone who likes discovering new, up and coming artists with a pop-centric feel, then you must check out Blue Swans.

Blue Swans started as a solo project, created by Chris Swangim (she/her), in 2019 and has since developed into a full band experience. The Minneapolis based artist’s most recent release, It’s Been So Long (Since I’ve Seen Art), will give you chills with the emotion she’s captured both musically and lyrically. This song tells the story of longing for inspiration. Blue Swans shared, “during the pandemic, my partner, who is also a creative, was really missing the art world and the inspiration it gives her.” This song captures that longing but brings you resolve by the end. It’s Been So Long (Since I’ve Seen Art) was just released on May 21^st, so go check this tune out.

Now let’s get into it with Blue Swans.

1.Blue Swans; tell me about the inspiration behind that and what does that name mean to you?

So, originally the project was going to be called Swans… my last name is Swangim, Pronounced Swan-gim, and I’ve been called a version of my last name all throughout childhood whether it was Swans, Swanny, Swan Star… You name it, I answered to it. I found out just weeks before my debut release that there was already a band named Swans and they were well established, so I had to pivot. I was literally in the process of getting my logo designed when this happened, so you can imagine I was freaking out a little bit. I called up my friend Matt Hasenmueller to bounce ideas off of him and after about 30 minutes of talking about it, he asked me what my favorite color is, and the rest is history.

2. A lot of your aesthetic and style revels in the 80’s. Are there any moments or memories from that decade that has inspired your sound?

This might sound weird, but I really didn’t have much exposure to 80s music until after college… Even then, it wasn’t something I listened to often. A lot of my aesthetic and sound is inspired by current day artists because as a kid, I grew up on strictly church music, so I don’t have the nostalgia of 80’s and 90’s music that a lot of my peers have. Eventually I started swiping music from my friends in high school and got some exposure to R&B and Pop. I like to think that made me a better writer… I discovered what I liked, and just started writing it at a young age.

3. Last May, you dropped a virtual performance “Social Distancing Stream: An Evening with Blue Swans” and it is truly captivating. Describe what it felt like after making that virtual performance debut?

Making the debut stream was awesome… I never would’ve made anything like that if the pandemic hadn’t hit. It was disappointing to cancel the live debut, but I’m grateful for my friends at Ivy Media pushing me to go for it. I’m glad that I did it, it was a great experience, and I learned so much about what it means to perform. It was really excited to see people tune in and a lot more people watched than I had anticipated, so that’s always a plus.

4. We’re all wondering, what are your 3 favorite foods?

Oh that’s easy, my top 3 favorite foods would have to be 3 different kinds of tacos. But if I had to branch out from tacos, I’m a sucker for a fried chicken sandwich and I really enjoy Pho. Also does cold brew count as a food? I feel like I have that for breakfast half the time haha.

5. Pandemic, everything cancelled, and intuitively you dropped an album titled, “On My Own.” Within that project is a song titled, “Everything Changed”, a song I personally find very inspiring but if I’m not mistaken it was written pre-pandemic. Has your perception changed about any of your works after release or taken on new meaning?

You’re 100% correct, the On My Own record was written pre-pandemic. Honestly, if there was a silver lining to the pandemic for me, as it relates to music, it would have to be the time and space that I had to really think through the type of music I want to create. The EP was awesome and for a freshman record, I’m very pleased with how it came out. All of those songs are near and dear to my heart, but like any creative out there, I’m always looking back and hearing new opportunities in my old work. Take Everything Changed, for example…when I hear that song now, I feel like it needs to be at least 10bpm faster and the sound could be so much more expansive. We wrote that song exactly like we should have for that time, but as I grow as an artist, I do look at my previous work differently. So, who knows, maybe we’ll get a remixed version of Everything Changed in the future!

Thank you for taking the time to answer those questions!