From Swerve to Bolts. (Photo: ToshackHighway.com)

[by Scott Thill]

Sometimes it sucks to have to say I told you so.

For years, Swervedriver's powerhouse sonics were given the shaft by everyone from the UK label that broke them (Creation) to the US major (Geffen) that buried them. The public, meanwhile, was none too appreciative either, in love as it was with terminology and marketing, neither of which work at all. Because the band's stunning output defied categorization. From a knockout batch of EPs to four full-lengths filled with the kind of guitar work Jimi Hendrix must dream of while in heaven, as well as the rhythmic assault that would destroy that heaven's windows, Swervedriver was both consistently amazing and consistently ignored. Trying to live through shoegaze, grunge and the commercial explosion of what used to be called alternative music can kill any band. (It claimed Kurt Cobain in an eyeblink.) Basing a serious amount of your creative expression on the existential joys of drugs, sex, pain and escape, as Swervedriver did on incendiary EP's like Rave Down and full-lengths like Mezcal Head and Ejector Seat Reservation, only adds fuel to the fire.

But everyone from Freud to Newton understands that you can only oppress unimpeachable energy for so long: Eventually, it'll make its way back to you, sometimes violently, sometimes not. But it will come back. And you will be the better for it. In the long run.

And sure enough, Swervedriver is making its inexorable way back to the world that unfairly shunned it. Its fans are bombarding YouTube with material, compilations such as 2005's sweeping Juggernaut Rides are schooling latecomers, and its talented frontman Adam Franklin is finally stepping out from behind his new moniker Toshack Highway ("too unwieldy for a number of his reasons," he wrote on Swervedriver's site) to tour on the strength of his own name. And another moniker, this time termed Bolts of Melody, probably taken from the Emily Dickinson poem that makes fun of poetry: "A privilege so awful/What would the Dower be/Had I the Art to stun myself/With Bolts of Melody!" After all, Franklin's a reader. Much of Swervedriver's early work was equal measures J.G. Ballard and Hunter S. Thompson. Emily Dickinson fits that company fine.

Plus, Franklin's Bolts of Melody, the band and the solo disc, are the closest thing Swervedriver's long-suffering fans have so far to what he accomplished with his previous incarnation, albeit quieter in sections and repurposed in others: Some of the songs spent time as Toshack Highway compositions. From the distorted astro-poetry of "Walking in Heaven's Foothills" to the jarring opener "Seize the Day" and onward to the epic amble of "Ramonesland," Adam Franklin hasn't just made Swervedriver relevant again. He's made one of the finest rock efforts of the year. Just in time.

Morphizm: Bolts of Melody makes me feel like I've stepped into a time machine and landed in a much more interesting period. Were you interested in revisiting this sound, or is it, for lack of a better term, your trademark?
Adam Franklin: One thing about the Bolts of Melody style is that, to a degree you could say it's my trademark sound, inasmuch as every artist or band eventually finds their trademark sound, the sound they're most comfortable with. That being melodies, sounds, and lyrical themes that they favor or keep returning to.

Morphizm: It sounds like you're returning to a heavier but still heavily melodic sound.
AF: From the backlog of songs that I built up, I wanted to release a clearly focused collection of songs that could be played live with a kickass band. I definitely put thought into things like, "Should this song have a guitar solo, where I can really stretch out and do what people seem to want to see and hear me do?" As opposed to doing something more studio-derived. Consequently, there are no songs that we can't play live. We even managed to do a version of "Walking In Heaven's Foothills" as a five-piece, with Gerald Menke on the pedal steel. That was the one song that I thought may have stayed in the studio.

Morphizm: How would you describe the difference between Bolts of Melody and Toshack Highway or The Setting Suns, your project with Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino, or even Swervedriver?
AF: I think I would say that Toshack Highway as a project is possibly more studio and keyboards-based, whilst The Setting Suns is a whole different working process. Toshack Highway or Adam Franklin material is a collaboration with the musicians and engineers from the point at which we start recording. The Setting Suns is a more formal collaboration from the outset.

Morphizm: Speaking of, do you think tech has leveled the playing field for artists?
AF: The greatest way that things have changed shows up in the recording process. You can now collaborate on different sides of a continent, or different sides of the world. Many of the Bolts of Melody tracks were bounced up and down New York to Toronto and back. Same with The Setting Suns. We were initially emailing ideas back and forth. The best thing is knowing that some vocal that you recorded late at night in your bathroom that sounded really good can actually be the final take that goes out on the final release.

Morphizm: Do you think it's had an effect on the sound as well? It seems like fewer artists are interested in playing guitars and drums, when they can sample or synthetically produce any sound they want without relative expense.
AF: I don't agree that people aren't so interested in picking up guitars and drums. Guitars are with us all the time, man!

Morphizm: The Bolts tunes have that swirling richness that marked Swervedriver's work, and are almost laid out and titled like a concept album. Is there a strand that ties them together?
AF: There may be a strand that ties them together, but I wouldn't know precisely what that is. I work with lyrics instinctively, and that prevents me from making analytical assumptions about the songs. But I would say that much of the songs definitely came from the music first; the lyrics and themes came about from working vocal melodies over the top. I would find myself sort of singing the first thing that came into my head, often not even singing actual words, and then going back and making sense of it all. It can be as much about requiring a certain kind of vowel sound at a certain point as what words are actually being sung.

Morphizm: So it's all about the listener's instincts?
AF: Your instincts can push you into interesting areas. "Song of Solomon" could be loosely related to the book in the Old Testament of the same name, which is very simple and actually the only book that doesn't really force its religiosity down your throat. But it's also a song about love. So when I sing "Just sing everyone your Solomon's Song," perhaps I'm encouraging people to simplify things and love one another. Or something! But really, I just thought "Song of Solomon" was a good name for a song.

Morphizm: "Theme from LSD" shows off your skill for instrumentals and guitar. How would you describe your guitar style, and how did you get started?
AF: Well, I'm a better guitar player now than I was in Swervedriver, but that's only natural since I don't put my guitar down. It's sometimes a bit strange being somewhere where there is no guitar around. And having a guitar pick somewhere on my person used to be essential, but now having a capo there would probably take precedent! My guitar style, at least when playing these songs live, involves a certain amount of showboating with the pedals. I need those to create that kick-ass show I was talking about. I definitely lost interest in electric guitar and stomping on boxes some time around the turn of the millennium, but I'm right back in there now.

Morphizm: Who are some of your influences?
AF: Jim Hartridge from Swervedriver always used to describe Jimi Hendrix's version of "All Along The Watchtower" as the most complete rock guitar song. It showcases so many different sounds and styles, all within a three-minute song. That idea was definitely a template for a lot of the Bolts of Melody songs.

Morphizm: I'm guessing that "Syd's Eyes" is an homage to Syd Barrett?
AF: Yeah, Syd's Eyes is about Syd Barrett. Great songwriting, great singer, amazing words that were like paintings. And he was a ground-breaking electric guitar player. I guess drugs played a part in his unravelling though, right?

Morphizm: Swervedriver was always honest about drugs and how they can change culture and art.
AF: Drugs have changed culture and art, but you wouldn't want to have heroin on your tour bus. People can become assholes on drugs, but if drugs don't make them assholes, you can live with it. Then it's just a question of whether they can.

Morphizm: Now you have to answer the hard question: Syd Barrett or David Gilmour?
AF: Syd Barrett or David Gilmour? You not serious. Are you?

Morphizm: What's the latest on The Setting Suns? And how many projects do you have going these days?
AF: The Setting Suns release an EP this fall, and there are plans to support that live as well. I do seem to have a few projects on the go right now, you're right!

Morphizm: And have you ever thought of soundtracking film? Your musical talents seem to fit that method like a glove.
AF: Some of my music has been floating out there in the soundtrack world. I've collaborated on some music for films, but unfortunately the one film I was going to score outright ran out of funding and never saw the light of day. I was also approached by the music supervisor for the TV show Lost to suggest some music for a flashback scene set in a London pub circa 1995. Naturally, I suggested that something like "The Other Jesus" or "Last Day On Earth" by Swervedriver was what they wanted, but they went with some generic rave music instead!

Morphizm: That's weak. Speaking of Swervedriver, much has been said about the band and its troubles, but would you mind telling me how you feel about its work and its legacy?
AF: I don't think I'm really in a position to offer valuable insight here, regarding the band's legacy. It's not something I spend my time thinking about. I think it's a great band with a great collection of songs. The best thing about Swervedriver is that it rocks, but there's always something more. A melodic twist or something. It sounds breezy and effortless, but some of those arrangements took time to write and perfect. The execution was pretty much always spot on.

Morphizm: The band was always criminally underrated.
AF: People should listen to Swervedriver. There are plans to get the music out there again, in all formats.

Morphizm: Finally, shoegaze. Does the term bother you, or are you cool with it?
AF: The term wasn't complimentary at the time, but people don't care about that now. In fact, I've heard people put a positive spin on it by saying that it's like stargazing within yourself or something. I don't know. I was never in a shoegazing band anyway! But people have opened up the term to the extent that you can describe a song on the new Sonic Youth album as shoegaze and, at the other extreme, describe a band like Air the same way. It's open to your own interpretation.

September 15, 2007