In our latest Band Spotlight, we chat to Jack Beavers from Yorkshire alternative trap act, Haxby Swango.
S] What inspires you guys nowadays?
J] We just love making music. We’re constantly immersed in it which can make you take it for granted sometimes, but then you hear something completely alien and it blows your mind. That’s what inspires me. There are infinite ways to create music and I feel like we’re just scratching the surface. Bringing our productions to life on stage is just the best feeling in the world.
S] How do you define success?
J] It would be “the accomplishment of an aim or goal” according to Google, so for me that would be to spend as many hours as possible every day making music that makes other people feel happy. That’s what makes us happy. If you can do what you love and be happy and healthy, you’re pretty successful to me.
S] What motivates you outside of music, think specific people and places, or movies for example?
J] We grew up watching TV in the 90s, so that’s always had an influence in one way or another. Films like Gummo were pretty relatable. So was the music, even from the cheesy Hollywood films and the excess of the 90s. Also, Adventure Time, Welcome to the NHK… all that good stuff!
We love all kinds of music, Smashing Pumpkins, Queen, Young Thug, Die Antwoord, Chvrches, Sonic Youth, James Blake, Baths… The list goes on. We loved the Netflix series Stranger Things so much we had to make a remix of the soundtrack, and we were big fans of battle rap and got the chance to work with some great artists, like UK legend, Shotty Horroh. We also recruited one of the funniest guys going – Adam Woollard, aka Shuffle-T, to help us in a sketch in homage to The Champion Tyson Fury upon his triumphant return to glory which proceeds to the music video for the song:
S] How do you look back at your early material, like ‘The Lately Low’ now?
We still love those songs. We were finding our feet with electronic music, and that shows in the production in hindsight I suppose.
S] Talk us through the inspirations behind ‘Kitchen’?
I feel like “Kitchen” saw us find our feet a little musically, It was written over a few odd years and was our first proper attempt at a decent DIY record. The lyrics kind of speak for them self I suppose, both me and Hutchy worked as chefs which makes it really hard to make music. It comes with various pitfalls which weren’t really conducive to a healthy, happy lifestyle. Those songs were written a long time ago and life moves on and evolves. We’re coming back with a really distinctive sound this year which incorporates more of what we want to do in a way that’s (sometimes) more “accessible”.
S] What’s the new track, ‘River Street’ about?
J] It’s basically about growing up. The events, emotions and experiences of life.
