The Swongos are a surf band from the St. Croix River Valley on the Minnesota/Wisconsin border. I’m pretty sure there isn’t too much surfing going on but there but when it comes to Surf music, well that’s a different story! The Swongos play classic surf music with a couple different musical genres throw in for good measure. The Swongos are releasing their first album soon, it’s called Curious Tourist and here’s Tom (The Swongo’s guitarist) to tell you all about it …
What is the tiki/surf scene like where you live?
Tom- We live in Wisconsin, on the border of Minnesota. So, we’re about an hour from Minneapolis/St. Paul, and there is a pretty good Tiki scene there. They have an annual Tiki Festival called Big Kahuna Bash in Roseville, MN. We’ve played it twice and had an amazing time! It was super cool to hang out with Tony Andreason from “The Trashman” in the green room.
Also, SHAG introduced us before we played our set, which was pretty darn great! Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge is in Minneapolis and is a super popular place. There are a few of surfy bands around, there’s the Intoxicats, Hot Pastrami, and Black Widows. We’ve played with all three of these bands and really love and appreciate them and their music!
How did the Swongos come together?
Tom- I had been interested in Surf music for a long time but had discovered a music style called Chicha, which is Peruvian Cumbia heavily influenced by Surf Music and Psychedelic Rock. And at that point I thought I would like to do a band that plays Surf and Chicha music. Our first practice we learned the Chicha songs “Sonido Amazonico” and “La Danza de los Mirlos” and a handful of Surf songs. After that we leaned into more Surf music and did our own thing. Looking back, Chicha is kind of what started the fire, so I’m very grateful that. Also, I’m married to the bass player and we decided to do the band together. We’ve played with our wonderful drummer Brian off and on throughout the years, so things just fell into place.
Who would be some of the band’s influences?
Tom- We are basically influenced by everything!!! Dick Dale, Messer Chups, The Cure, Angelo Badalamenti, The Muffs, Los Mirlos, Pixies, to name a few.
What are The Swongos all about?
Tom- Honestly, we just love music and want to create interesting music to the best of our abilities. We also like meeting lovely people along the way and maybe get silly from time to time. We totally get silly a lot of the time!
The Swongos are releasing a new album! Tell us all about it.
Tom- We recorded it in May of 2021, and finally plan on releasing it on April 23rd, 2022. Everything has been taking a bit longer than expected. Because of Covid we weren’t able to record it until later than planned or rehearse much and the Vinyl pressing plants are all backed up, so it’s been a bit of a waiting game. But soon, very soon, it will be released. We’re super-excited to have an album pressed to vinyl. None of us have done vinyl before. We really hope people dig it! We think the songs are pretty solid, and we’re really looking forward to getting it out there.
What does the future hold for The Swongos?
Tom- We are hoping to play some Tiki or Surf Music festivals next year or maybe this year. We hope to be working on some new original material. We’re already starting to fill up the calendar for this year and are looking forward to getting the record out there.
Anything else you would like to add?
Tom- If folks are interested, find us (The Swongos) on Social Media and look for us on streaming platforms on April, 23rd. Feel free to send us a DM and introduce yourself. Much LOVE to the Tiki and Surf community and everyone else. And THANKS RAY for letting us into your world!
Here is The Swongos Bandcamp Page
Give The Swongos a like on Facebook
The Swongos on Instagram