Nasty, beautiful, Swervedrivery

The 1990s shoegaze band Swervedriver may have reformed in 2008, but it took them seven years to pull together a record.

“I think it was Jimmy [Hartridge, guitarist] and Steve [George, bass player] that initially said if we’re going to do more touring we should do some new material. I have put out a bunch of things since Swervedriver has been back together, but they haven’t had that outlet. It just felt like the right time,” Swervedriver head honcho Adam Franklin explained to the Reader via phone.

Since Swervedriver called it quits in 1998, Franklin has satisfied his creative urges with bands such as Toshack Highway and Magnetic Morning.

After a couple of false starts, Franklin finally mined some gold with a track called “Deep Wound.”

“The lyrics were lying around from another song,” Franklin said. “I just did this demo in the middle of the night and sent it to Jimmy and Steve back in England. They emailed me the next morning. Jimmy said ‘nasty’ and Steve said ‘beautiful,’ so I figured that was a good starting point. After that, as is often the case, the songs flowed a bit more. Suddenly the floodgates opened and I started picturing a whole collection of songs together.”

The new album, I Wasn’t Born to Lose You, will be released on Cobraside on March 3. Franklin feels that it’s “probably their best album.” It’s also probably coming out at a better time as well.

“[When] we stopped, music had moved on to something else. But then [shoegaze] definitely started to come around again. Now there are lots of bands doing what you would call ‘shoegaze,’ as well as in other fields that just have elements of it in a way. You can even hear if you are watching TV,” Franklin said.

Adam Franklin is no stranger to San Diego. He has performed here solo and as part of Swervedriver several times. Plus, both Swervedriver and Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody records have been released via local label Hi-Speed Soul.

When he thinks of his time spent in San Diego, though, one of his most endearing memories is of one afternoon in the sun.

“We were over at someone’s place hanging out, and me, Pall Jenkins [Black Heart Procession], and Jimmy [LaVelle of the Album Leaf] just had this game of badminton going...I probably hadn’t played since I was 11.”