The Skinny On... swim school

swim school have been on our radar for some time now. In fact, the Edinburgh outfit were meant to play our stage at Kelburn Garden Party in 2020 until you know what happened. Since then they’ve released an EP every year, they’ve been nominated for a SAMA, they’ve toured with Inhaler and The Amazons, and before this year even came into focus, they landed on Dork’s 2024 Hype list and were announced in the first wave of the lineup for Madrid’s Mad Cool festival. It looks like 2024 could be their year, so frontwoman Alice Johnson takes on our January Q&A, with answers just as punchy as swim school's music.

What’s your favourite place to visit? 
Brighton. Every show we have played there has been amazing, it feels like we’ve been in Brighton more than Edinburgh this year. The whole vibe is so cool but also quite chill, I wouldn’t be surprised if we moved there in the future. 

What’s your favourite food?
Italian food – every time we're on tour we make sure we find a good Italian. We recently had one in Manchester and of course had one when we toured Italy with Inhaler. 

What’s your favourite colour?
Red. I feel like that is a running theme throughout swim school which I love. 

Who was your hero growing up?
Beyoncé and Taylor Swift – two very strong and powerful women who never let men hold them back or tell them what to do. They are both still heroes to me with the amount of challenges they have had to overcome. 

Whose work inspires you now?
My Bloody Valentine, Smashing Pumpkins and Slowdive – I love how timeless their music is and the guitar tones have massively inspired the newer swim school songs.

What three people would you invite to your dinner party and what are you cooking?
Taylor, Beyoncé and Stevie Nicks – would love to get the gossip from them all. I’d order in an Italian. 

What’s your all-time favourite album?
It’s a newer album by Slow Pulp, but it’s insane, it’s called Yard. The tunes are so so good and everyone needs to listen to it. 

What’s the worst film you’ve ever seen?
We aren’t a big film-loving band so we don’t really watch films, and not a fan of musicals ironically – can’t stand them, far too cringey. 

What book would you take to a desert island?
Just Kids by Patti Smith – that book destroyed me. 

Who’s the worst?
Old male sound engineers (majority of them).

When did you last cry?
Probably the last night of the [latest] tour [with The Amazons]. It was so much fun and I was gutted it was over.

What are you most scared of?
Spiders. 

When did you last vomit?
Probably when I was hungover.

Tell us a secret?
New music and tour coming soon.

Which celebrity could you take in a fight?
I’m a lover not a fighter :) 

If you could be reincarnated as an animal, which animal would it be and why?
A bird or a dog; bird would be fun to fly but dogs are my fave animal.

You’ve been announced for the Mad Cool lineup next year. Beyond that, what does the rest of your 2024 look like?
It's gonna be a big year – lots of touring, including a headline UK tour and lots of new music.