SWOMP

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MUSIC INTERVIEWS
UPDATED WEEKLY

SWOMP’s podcast is your unfiltered backstage pass to the music world. Rooted in Canada and raging worldwide, we bring raw artist interviews, behind-the-scenes chaos, and deep dives into the bands shaping the scene. From legends to rising stars, it’s all about the energy, passion, and stories that make music unforgettable. Plug in and enjoy.

3D AGO

AV & the Inner City on exploring faith & belonging with new single 'Dinner With the Lord'

Canadian Roots and Soul vocal collective AV & the Inner City are turning inward on their new single, “Dinner With the Lord,” an acapella track that reflects on where people seek comfort during times of uncertainty. Released Nov. 21, the song is a stripped-down acapella interpretation of a composition by fellow Edmonton porch-concert musician Alin Rogoz. It marks the first recording by the group that was not written by founder Ann Vriend, known professionally as AV. SWOMP caught up with AV for an interview. Recorded live around a single microphone, “Dinner With the Lord” features no edits, isolation or studio enhancements. The approach places the focus squarely on vocal blend, trust and shared intuition, drawing on gospel, soul and roots influences without leaning into traditional religious framing. The song explores themes of faith, memory, community and connection, inviting listeners to consider what they reach for when familiar sources of support feel out of reach. Rather than offering resolution, the track creates space for reflection and shared experience. AV & the Inner City formed during the COVID-19 pandemic on a front porch in Edmonton’s McCauley neighbourhood, where weekly outdoor singalongs were held to maintain connection during lockdowns. Those gatherings evolved into an all-female vocal ensemble representing Indigenous, Black, Filipino, LGBTQ, immigrant and working-class voices. The group’s self-titled debut EP, released in October, has gained national attention and is currently ranked No. 7 on the CKUA Radio Top 30. The release has also received support from CBC, SiriusXM, Edify and Porter Airlines Magazine. “Dinner With the Lord” serves as the closing track on the EP, bringing the project full circle by echoing the communal porch-singing roots that first brought the ensemble together. In just three years, AV & the Inner City have completed a summer tour and appeared at major festivals including the Calgary Folk Festival, Vancouver Island Music Festival and Edmonton Folk Festival, where they received an Emerging Artist Award. Follow the group at https://www.avandtheinnercity.ca/. Photo credit: Lulubee Photography

20 min
5D AGO

School House on new single, tour & sophomore album 'Homeland'

Canadian folk-country band School House will release their new single, Live While I’m Alive, on Jan. 16 across all major streaming platforms, marking the next chapter for the fast-rising group as they prepare for a national tour and their second full-length album. Band member Joel Ryan says the song reflects the tension of modern adulthood, touching on financial stress, self-doubt and the uncertainty that often defines a quarter-life period. Rather than offering easy solutions, Live While I’m Alive leans into imperfection, encouraging listeners to let go of constant comparison and focus on living in the present. The single arrives ahead of School House’s highly anticipated sophomore album, Homeland, scheduled for release on Feb. 27, 2026. Formed in 2021 after three best friends moved into a century-old schoolhouse together, the band quickly gained attention for its harmony-driven sound and songwriting rooted in late-night, campfire-style sessions. Since then, School House has built steady national momentum, winning the 2025 Boots and Hearts Emerging Artist Showcase and earning Group of the Year at the 2024 Ottawa Music Awards. Their debut release was also named Album of the Year by Faces Magazine. The band is signed to the Paquin Agency for live representation and has toured with the Strumbellas, opened for Alan Doyle, and continued to expand its presence on stages across the country. To support the new single and upcoming album, School House will join Braden Lam on the “Freewheelin’ Field Trip” tour in March 2026, with stops throughout Atlantic Canada, Quebec and Ontario. Tour dates include: March 5 – Halifax, N.S. – Seahorse Tavern March 6 – Truro, N.S. – Marigold Cultural Centre March 7 – Miramichi, N.B. – New Maritime Beer March 8 – Charlottetown, P.E.I. – The Guild March 10 – Moncton, N.B. – Xeroz Arcade Bar March 11 – Fredericton, N.B. – The Cap March 13 – Quebec City, Que. – L’Anti March 14 – Ottawa, Ont. – Overflow Brewing March 15 – Kingston, Ont. – Broom Factory March 18 – St. Catharines, Ont. – Warehouse March 19 – Toronto, Ont. – Rivoli March 20 – Windsor, Ont. – Meteor March 21 – London, Ont. – London Brewing Company March 22 – Kitchener, Ont. – Boathouse Follow the band at https://schoolhouseband.com/. Photo credit: Cam Forrester

16 min
DEC 13

Canadian singer-songwriter Laila Biali on her first Grammy nomination with 'Wintersongs'

Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, pianist and broadcaster Laila Biali has earned her first Grammy nomination, landing in one of the ceremony’s most closely watched categories. Biali is nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album alongside Brandi Carlile, Elton John, Lady Gaga, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Hudson and rising star Laufey, placing the Canadian artist in rarefied company and bringing new international attention to her latest work. SWOMP caught up with Biali for an interview. The nomination recognizes Wintersongs, an album inspired by and written at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Biali has a long-standing relationship with the Banff Centre, and that connection is woven deeply into the record. Much of the album was written during a winter residency in the Rocky Mountains, where she worked from a quiet cabin surrounded by snow-covered peaks. The setting shaped both the mood and scope of the music, which moves with a cinematic sense of space, reflecting winter light, drifting snow and the stillness of Banff’s landscape. What makes the nomination particularly notable is how it came about. The album was initially submitted in the jazz category, but the Recording Academy moved it into Traditional Pop, a decision that immediately placed Biali alongside global icons and significantly effected the album’s visibility. The category itself has recently been highlighted by Billboard for its growing influence, adding further weight to the nomination. While Biali is a well-established and respected artist in Canada, her profile in the United States has been comparatively modest. For an independent Canadian artist to receive Grammy recognition for a project so closely tied to a Canadian winter landscape stands out, especially in a category often dominated by major international stars. The response suggests that the themes and atmosphere of Wintersongs have resonated beyond borders, connecting with American Grammy voters through its craft and emotional clarity. The recognition also arrives at a busy moment for Biali. She is set to return to Banff in mid-December to begin work on a new project, Dreamland: The Canadian Songbook Reimagined, which explores iconic Canadian material through a contemporary lens. She has also released a new holiday single, an extended version of “Joy to the World,” adding a timely seasonal chapter to an already landmark year. With her first Grammy nomination now secured, Biali’s Wintersongs stands as both a personal milestone and a broader moment for Canadian music, demonstrating how a project grounded in place and season can find an audience on the world’s biggest stage. Follow her at https://lailabiali.com/. Photo credit: Chris Nicholls

22 min
DEC 12

HEALTH on their brand new album 'Conflict DLC' + 2026 U.S.-Canada tour

HEALTH have never been a band to sugarcoat the state of things, but their new album CONFLICT DLC—out today on Loma Vista Recordings—might be their most direct confrontation yet with the emotional fallout of living online, living overwhelmed, and living through a world that feels permanently tilted toward chaos. The Los Angeles industrial trio have spent nearly two decades expanding, exploding, and mutating the boundaries of heavy music. With CONFLICT DLC, they deliver 12 tracks that feel like the next evolutionary jump in their ongoing descent: hyper-charged industrial metal, dense digital noise, bleakly funny lyricism, and a maximalist aesthetic that hits like a steel-toothed synthwave cyclone. SWOMP caught up with bassist John Famiglietti for an interview to discuss the album. Where 2023’s RAT WARS leaned into corrosive hooks and “cum metal” absurdism, CONFLICT DLC sharpens everything, emotionally, sonically, and thematically. Produced again by STINT, with mixing from Drew Fulk (WZRD BLD) and Lars Stalfors, the album pushes the band’s cinematic heaviness into an even more concentrated blast radius. It’s an album built for a fanbase the band affectionately describes as “a coalition of subcultures”, memelords, heavy-music obsessives, digital weirdos, and everyone drawn to the catharsis of beautiful noise. Jake Duzsik’s lyrics roam familiar territory, depression, compulsion, anxiety, but now framed in the hyper-digital exhaustion of 2025’s doomscroll culture. “No, it’s not just your imagination. The future is shit and the phone you are reading this on is making it worse,” he deadpans in the album’s announcement, capturing the tone of CONFLICT DLC perfectly: devastating truths delivered with a smirk, wrapped inside earth-splitting industrial arrangements. Despite the emotional weight, this is one of the band’s most purely enjoyable albums—a slate of “sad bangers for the end times,” designed as much for release as it is for reflection. Before the album’s arrival, HEALTH dropped “ORDINARY LOSS,” their heaviest opener yet. With serrated riffs, suffocating textures, and Duzsik’s grim mantra - “The dead are blessed with no dreams”- the track announced CONFLICT DLC as a ferocious new chapter. It’s an intimidating start, but undeniably gripping. HEALTH are currently in South America on Pierce the Veil’s massive I Can’t Hear You World Tour, with dates across Bogota, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo. In the spring, they’ll return to North America with a run of mixed U.S. and Canadian stops. Canadian dates include: April 4 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre April 14 - Toronto, ON - History April 15 - Montreal, QC - MTelus Full details and additional tour dates are available at youwillloveeachother.com. Photo credit: Mynxii White

10 min
NOV 21

Lighthouse on anniversary edition of landmark 1971 album 'One Fine Morning'

Canadian rock legends Lighthouse are revisiting one of their most celebrated works with the release of One Fine Morning (Anniversary Edition), arriving Nov. 7 through Anthem Records. The release marks the first time the platinum-selling album has been fully remixed, remastered and expanded. It will be available on limited-edition three-colour-splatter vinyl, sun/moon vinyl, double CD and digital formats. SWOMP caught up with founding member Paul Hoffert for an interview to discuss the release. Originally released in 1971, One Fine Morning helped establish Lighthouse as one of Canada’s most innovative and influential bands, known for fusing rock, jazz and classical elements into a distinctive sound. The title track became a radio staple and remains one of the country’s most recognizable rock anthems. “When we chat with our new and younger audiences at concerts and on social media, they ask for records and streaming of Lighthouse’s classic hits along with ‘extras’ that provide personal and historical perspective,” said Hoffert. “This anniversary edition provides both. In 1970, producer Jimmy Ienner and lead singer Bob McBride helped focus our music, lyrics and orchestral rock into a more broadcast-friendly format that attracted a much wider fan base. We hope listeners enjoy hearing these songs and demos as much as we loved making them.” The anniversary edition includes a remixed and remastered version of the original album, as well as unreleased material such as “All God’s Children,” a previously unheard song from the 1970 sessions co-written by Larry Smith and Academy Award-winning composer Howard Shore. Other highlights include demo versions of “One Fine Morning” and “Sing, Sing, Sing” with drummer Skip Prokop on lead vocals, a CBC live performance of “World’s Biggest Rock & Roll Band,” and several early takes of songs that would later define the Lighthouse sound. Each track captures the band’s creative momentum at a time when Lighthouse was redefining the scope of progressive rock. In recognition of their lasting impact on Canadian music, Skip Prokop, Paul Hoffert, Ralph Cole and Bob McBride were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022. The following year, Lighthouse was added to Canada’s Walk of Fame. More than 50 years after their breakthrough, the band continues to tour across the country, with upcoming shows scheduled in Guelph on Feb. 5, Pickering on Feb. 21 alongside the Five Man Electrical Band, and St. Catharines on April 1. Formed in 1969 by Prokop and Hoffert, Lighthouse became known as a “rock orchestra” for its fusion of genres and large ensemble performances. The multi-JUNO Award-winning group earned international acclaim with hits including “One Fine Morning,” “Sunny Days,” “Pretty Lady,” and “Hats Off (To the Stranger).” With One Fine Morning (Anniversary Edition), Lighthouse continues to celebrate its enduring legacy and the timeless energy that first brought its music to audiences more than five decades ago. Follow the band at https://www.lighthouserockson.com/.

30 min
NOV 20

Kula Shaker's Crispian Mills on new album 'Wormslayer' due out in January

Kula Shaker, the psychedelic rock band that once stood apart from Britpop’s swagger with its mystical flair and sitar-laced guitar work, is preparing to release its eighth studio album, Wormslayer, on Jan. 30, 2026. SWOMP caught up with vocalist and guitarist Crispian Mills to discuss the record. The band, still made up of its original lineup of Mills, Alonza Bevan, Paul Winterhart and Jay Darlington, recently marked the announcement with a new single, 'Good Money'. The track blends ’60s psychedelia, soul and funk, while its video takes a decidedly modern turn. “Our last video was all in camera, real stunts, real props and epic battle scenes which people assumed was all AI,” Mills said in a statement. “So we’ve taken a different approach with Good Money. The whole video is entirely AI generated by two monkeys, we gave them the song and the lyrics and this is what they came up with. It’s kind of mind blowing.” Mills said the song is built on a “classic Faustian pact” and forms part of a larger psychedelic opera unfolding across the record. He described the narrative as one about “a boy in a small community, who grows wings and how the local people come to treat him. Some think he's a freak, some think he's a cherub, others cynically see him as an opportunity to make money… Is it a metaphor for the music business? I’d say it’s a metaphor for life.” The upcoming album has already been previewed with 'Charge of the Light Brigade' and 'Broke as Folk', which showcase the band’s trademark harmonies and sweeping technicolour sound. Other tracks explore new territory, including pastoral folk on Dust, gothic crooning on Little Darling, and the cinematic, mantra-driven metal of the title track. “I hope people enjoy the twists and turns that this new record takes you on,” Mills said. “We always loved those psychedelic records that had great songs, great production, great storytelling, and took you on a journey… Kula Shaker has a life of its own. We’re just passengers, watching it happen in real time.” The band says Wormslayer captures its live energy more fully than past releases. Visit https://kulashaker.co.uk/ for more details.

16 min
NOV 7

Thunder Queens on closing out VENUExVENUE 2025 in their hometown of London, Ontario

Thunder Queens, one of Canada’s most exciting young rock bands, headline a hometown all-ages show as part of VENUExVENUE 2025, joined by a powerhouse lineup of rising acts. SWOMP caught up with Lola Hayman (drums, vocals), Violet Bruneel (guitar, vocals), and Clara Magnan (bass, vocals) for an interview to discuss the show and their career. Set for Saturday, Nov. 8 at Lazer Quest (149 Carling St.), the bill includes Altered by Mom, Feura and Avro Project, a mix of alt-rock, punk and grunge energy that showcases London’s next wave. "Thunder Queens represent where London’s scene is right now... loud, smart, and undeniable," said Darryl Hurs, founder of Indie Week and VENUExVENUE. "This bill is stacked with artists who are about to level up." The London trio have honed a songwriting style that blends cinematic storytelling with raw melodic power. Their latest single, Birds On A Wire, channels pop-punk urgency into an anthem about breaking free from expectations. "We wrote this song about feeling underestimated and boxed in and the rush that comes with breaking free,” the band said. Formed after meeting under the pinball machines at Call The Office, Thunder Queens have since shared stages with The Beaches, Billy Talent, Metz, Sloan, and OMBIIGIZI, with festival stops at Pop Montreal, Up Here Festival, and Bitchfest. Follow the band at https://www.thunderqueens.com/. Photo credit: Bravo Foto

12 min
NOV 4

Vancouver's The Unfaithful Servants on sophomore album 'Fallen Angel'

Folk and Americana band The Unfaithful Servants released their long-awaited second album Fallen Angel on October 17, 2025. Hailed as “Canada’s most exciting Newgrass band” by Seaside Music Festival, the Vancouver Island group has built a reputation for captivating live performances, rich storytelling, and masterful musicianship. Their sound blends elements of bluegrass, traditional folk, and Americana into an energetic and infectious acoustic style that has earned them acclaim across British Columbia and beyond. The band features mandolinist Jesse Cobb, a Grammy-nominated founding member of The Infamous Stringdusters who has shared stages with Béla Fleck and Lee Ann Womack, and singer-songwriter Dylan Stone, a modern troubadour known for performances alongside Keith Urban and Lou Reed. They are joined by fiddle virtuoso Quin Etheridge-Pedden and bassist Mark Johnson. SWOMP caught up with Stone for an interview. The Servants’ 2019 debut, produced by Grammy winner Steve Smith, introduced their dynamic mix of bluegrass, folk, and rock, establishing them as innovators in Canada’s roots scene. With Fallen Angel, the group continues to expand their sound and explore new creative territory while maintaining the high-energy performances that have earned them spots at Vancouver Island MusicFest, Salmon Arm Roots & Blues, and a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination. More information about The Unfaithful Servants and their upcoming release can be found at unfaithfulservants.com.

16 min

SWOMP’s podcast is your unfiltered backstage pass to the music world. Rooted in Canada and raging worldwide, we bring raw artist interviews, behind-the-scenes chaos, and deep dives into the bands shaping the scene. From legends to rising stars, it’s all about the energy, passion, and stories that make music unforgettable. Plug in and enjoy.

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SWOMP
Years Active

2K
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100
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Explicit
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