News Tour Diary: Swim Deep In South East Asia

Swim Deep’s 2013 wasn’t too shabby. They released a debut album, visited huge festivals and won over thousands of new fans. But then arrived 2014. Tonight Swim Deep play in more conventional surroundings at London Koko, but back in February they were given the prospect of going way out of their comfort zone for a trip to South East Asia. Over to live keyboardist James Balmont - who joined the band on their big trip - to look back on the whole tour.

‘We thought that the 40-odd summer festivals, the two weeks around the U.K., and the full month in Europe were massive, but when we heard about the prospect of hitting Asia to play a handful of shows we were blown away. After months of excitement, on 2nd February 2014 we travelled 6,000 miles out of London towards three uniquely striking cities on the other side of the world for three sold out shows, to audiences that we’d barely known to exist before’.

Tokyo, Japan

‘We left straight from a ludicrously fun gig in Manchester to catch our flights, and by the time we’d landed the time difference meant we’d essentially missed an entire night. At 10am in Tokyo we’d already been awake for a good 16 hours, and we had a whole day still to go. No surprise then, that Higgy immediately lost his wallet upon landing. Our first encounters with the mad metropolis of Tokyo, though, were only made more hysterical by this muddled condition. ‘The cars are so tech’, Zach had observed - ‘they look like Transformers’.

With a full day off and a night’s worth of jetlag, we decided we needed some pampering immediately, so we went along to one of Tokyo’s infamous “cat cafes”. That’s literally a café… inhabited by cats. We spent a full two hours rejuvenating in deep therapy amongst forty-odd feline friends, which was as bizarre an introduction to the city as we could have hoped.

Feeling a lot sprightlier, we then headed to Meiji Jingu, a colossal shrine dedicated to the deity of Emperor Meiji. A holy space located in the centre of a dense forest, we paid our respects (you are supposed to drink the holy water, right?) as we marvelled at this slightly embodiment of Japanese culture and architecture, before hitting up the streets of fashionable Harajuku. The restaurant windows lined with plastic food threw us off a bit, and the manga-influenced fashion choices were peculiar to say the least – “it’s like being in the future”, observed Cav – but it was pleasantly different from the likes of home. Shinjuku was our last stop – home of overwhelming neon lights, bustling streets full of clubs and bars, and best of all, a robot restaurant that had us in all in fits of bemused laughter.’

‘The toilets were a subject of perpetual fascination in Tokyo, and one that we couldn’t decline mention in this diary. One notable feature was the “ass spray”, as Zach put it – a powerful jet stream of water that aids the aftermath of one’s visit at the touch of a button, with frightening accuracy. Austin was insistant - “You’ve got to try it!”. But nothing quite compared to the concept of “warm toilet seat”. Our translator, Shiho, told us that we weren’t the only band to have been so vocal about our appreciation for this ingenious contraption. Blur’s Alex James, apparently, had enjoyed the experience so much that he bought his own self-warming toilet seat to take home with him!

Our headline gig was at Shibuya O-Nest the following day, and amidst an afternoon of interviews and photo shoots we were shocked to discover that it’s illegal to dance in clubs in Japan. As ridiculous as that sounds, it is actually enforced by law – there have been numerous cases of police storming clubs to crack down on jiving youths, so the promoter tells us. “I’m gonna write a song about how you’re not allowed to dance in Japan”, Austin said, as he took to the stage in a Japanese dressing gown (“it’s a robe!”) and we stormed through our set before meeting the crowd after, where we were showered in gifts as we shared photos with the fans.

We topped it all off with a full Japanese dinner of sashimi, along with some other, much odder foods. Zach wasn’t too pleased about having to eat raw horse meat and fried chicken knee ligaments; Austin was more optimistic - ‘That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever had in my mouth. Ever.’ It was, at least, more appeasing than one of Higgy’s slapdash vegetarian creations earlier that day - peanut butter on toast with a slice of processed cheese on top. Disgusting. We washed that all down with a bit of karaoke. Until 5am in the morning. No wonder Austin could barely sing the next day. Cav annihilated The Strokes’ ‘Last Nite’, but it was an emphatic rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ that really brought the house down. We staggered off to our next destination.’

Bangkok, Thailand

‘Amidst political disruption and violent public protests, we were admittedly wary of travelling to Bangkok. Fortunately, the promoters did much to put our minds at ease, largely by booking us into a posh hotel with a rooftop pool. It’s a far cry from having three to a bed at Stafford services’ Travelodge, or slumming it at European hostels where you have to pay extra to use the towels. Austin and Cav even got room upgrades for some reason… with en suite jacuzzis! The bastards.

We were eager to see the sights, though, and in an action-packed day we managed to see the Grand Palace, the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, and a 43 metre-long reclining golden Buddha (that looks just like Cav). Our Thai guide’s relaying of the Buddhist history behind them also raised questions - ‘there wasn’t actually a monkey king, was there?’ Austin asked. We got lost in a seemingly endless bamboozle of street markets afterwards, where the lads demonstrated a canny talent for haggling, despite having no idea of the Thai currency’s value, amongst stalls selling everything from fake sunnies to wooden phalluses.

The Bangkok show at Mongkol RCA Studio, then, was out of this world. I was late because I managed to find myself lost in the backstreets, pursued by a pack of rabid dogs (seriously, I was shitting myself), but never before had we played to such a wild audience - they even had to call in extra security to escort us around the venue! One of the crew had the inspired idea of pouring multi-coloured paints down the backdrop behind us as we played, as well, creating a kind of real-time tie-dye (or Thai-dye?) screen that made the show an even more beautiful experience. Austin was fortunate to escape a major Spinal Tap moment when he accidentally addressed the audience as Tokyo (he managed to pass it off as a joke, luckily), but then later described the post-show DJ set at the Cosmic Café as Swim Deep’s “most Beatles moment ever to date”. There are few greater highs than when a whole club screams as you arrive on its doorstep.’

Hong Kong

‘Hungover, we touched down in Hong Kong the following day, where the Western influences were quite obvious – British road signs, European food outlets and a much-welcomed fluency in the English language marked our arrival. Despite the comparatively diluted Eastern culture, though, Hong Kong was geographically mind-boggling. The city-state is a group of islands barely above sea level, featuring thickly forested, mountainous land dotted with suspension bridges and snaking, elevated roads. With one of the largest populations per square km in the world, the resultant landscape is one of endless skyscrapers reaching into the clouds, emerging in tight space from the seas and foliage below.

Within the jungle-like parks on ground level we found open-air zoos and walk-through aviaries, and by night the streets were brightly lit with flashing signs and bustling crowds. One minute we were walking through Jurassic Park, as Cav put it, and the next it felt like we were in Blade Runner. We took a tram to the peak of the island, atop a great mountain where usually you’d find a panoramic view of the vast skyline, but it was too foggy to see anything when we got there, so we just bought some ice creams and headed off.

We made way to the venue, passing several of the tallest buildings in the world including the iconic, triangular Bank of China Tower along the coast of Hong Kong Island. We were enthused as we prepared for our last gig of the East – Grappa’s Cellar, by day, is a fully functioning Italian Restaurant, and the unique layout of the venue (complete with numerous dining booths, a bar-balcony, and a stage that barely obscures the kitchen behind it) made for a particular memorable performance. The show hit a magnificent peak, though, thanks to one particularly excitable audience member who would not stop stagediving, despite the fact that nobody was willing to catch him. We barely made it through ‘King City’ for all our laughter – Austin all but gave up on the words by the end of it!

And then we came home. Exhausted and enlightened, our trip was over, and we couldn’t have enjoyed it any more. For all the striking scenery and exotic culture, though, above all it was simply magical to travel to play to some of the most vibrant crowds in places that none of us had ever been to – let alone performed in – before. It was something very special. Thanks to everyone who made it happen.’

Tonight (17th February), Swim Deep headline London Koko. Debut album ‘Where The Heaven Are We’ is out now.