Biography
Swervedriver were formed in Oxford, UK in 1990 by vocalists and guitarists Adam Franklin and Jimmy HartridgeCombining the shoegazer aesthetic with crashing swirling guitars Swervedriver and a heavier rock/ psych feel. The first incarnation was ‘Shake Appeal’ which was influenced by 60s garage rock bands like The Stooges and MC5 and the sights and sounds of the British Leyland car factory that Franlkin and Hartridge walked past every day on the way to school.
However they soon moved on to listening to American alternative indie rock acts Hüsker Dü, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr. Before leaving Oxford, they had handed their demo to fellow Oxford kid, Mark Gardener of Ride, who passed it to Alan McGee at Creation Records, then home to My Bloody Valentine, The House of Love, and formerly The Jesus and Mary Chain. McGee signed them almost immediately after listening to the tape and Swervedriver was born!
Swervedriver debuted with a series of brilliant EPs - Son of a Mustang Ford, Rave Down, and Sandblasted before releasing their first full-length album, Raise, in 1991. After a U.S. tour in support of Soundgarden, their then drummer Grahm Bonner left and it marked the start of a series of line up and label wrangles that seemed to thwart Swerverdriver’s rising star. In 1993, Swervedriver returned; with the core of Franklin and Hartridge and released their second album Mezcal Head. The band were on hiatus for most of 2000s with Adam working on Magnetic Morning with Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino.
In October 2007 they spearheaded the shoegaze revival with a reunion announcement and tour; appearing at international festivals as well as making an appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. It seemed that a whole new generation were ready to embrace Swervedriver. Pitchfork praised their second album as ‘the lost classic of the shoegaze movement’ and with the release of the highly critically acclaimed 5th album ‘I Wasn’t Born to Lose You’ in 2015, Swervedriver finally got their due.
