The Switch (Interview)

by Richard Brown on 4.02.10

Having only formed 6 months ago, The Switch are already gaining quite a respectable following. 4Q meets up with the trip hop, atmospheric, electronic band to find out how they began and where they are planning on going.

Consisting of Caroline Sterling on Vocals, Anthony Grantham on Guitars and Colin Dunkerley on synths/programming along with Tom Harris on programming, The Switch are the epitome of what it is to be a Fresh Meat band. With only one show under their belt, you may be quick to question the hype. However when I tell you their first gig was in front of a packed out crowd at The Ruby Lounge for In The City 2009, a festival that many bands wait years to be involved in, then you may actually want to check these out for yourself.

The Switch have gathered their influences from bands such as Massive Attack, Portishead, Unkle, Moby, The YYYs and Elbow so you can imagine they aren’t too shy to be experimental. Their main influences however are from each other, as Caroline explains: “Colin and Tom will bring this totally weird and wonderfully synth or string sound to the studio or Tony will show us this beautiful guitar riff that will influence me to write a vocal straight away. Although it doesn’t always happen that way, sometimes I’ll have a vocal melody that inspires them too.”

The earliest memory of The Switch being born for Caroline was when she and Tony were writing acoustically just before all the members got together. The pair had been in an indie/rock band and had known each other for about 6 years. They had already established a good writing partnership and when this band had finished they realised they wanted to do something totally different, something electronic and fresh sounding; the start of The Switch.

Caroline: “We wrote a bunch of songs that even in their most stripped down form we could see some potential, we had tons of ideas as we always do when we write together, but something was missing. We knew that to get to where we wanted to go musically, we had to get musicians in that already wrote that kind of music. Once Colin and Tom were involved it all started. We gave them the acoustic tracks just to test the water and they totally transformed them, making things very exciting suddenly. We soon found that we all had a great writing relationship and each member was bringing their own ingredients to the mix. I’ve never been in a band like this before; it means we’re writing new and bigger songs all the time.”

So as the songs evolve and the band members reach their comfort zone where writing together is concerned, are the themes they cover in their music evolving too? Who’s writing what at this stage?

Caroline: “Hmm… Well, the boys write the music but if I don’t like something I make them drop it! They tease me for being a princess in the band but someone’s got to lead, right? I write the vocal melodies and the lyrics and usually, if the music comes together first, I stick it on my iPod, listen to it over and over, in the car, walking to the shop or on my way home from work and totally get into the emotion of the music. I’m ruled by my emotions so I think this reflects in the melodies and lyrics. ‘See The Light’ is about that moment when you fall in love with someone but you still have that sense of self preservation and mentally you kind of go, “Whoops!” On the other hand, ‘Cold City’ is about a superhero! I have a wild imagination too, so the songs can end up being about something close to the heart, or just a story I dreamed up. They have a different meaning to each listener.”

One of the major issues for any brand new band is simply finding the time and space to get together and work. If any band needs to incorporate more than one voice and an acoustic guitar, then rehearsal space, and later recording time, is a premium concern. The Switch, as seems to be their wont, have been very fortunate on that score.

Caroline: “We’ve been fortunate enough to get free rehearsal and studio time at SSR in Manchester since we formed. We’re so lucky because their new studio is one of the best in Manchester and we’re using it at no cost. It’s amazing!”

So, with such a seemingly good, strong hand being dealt The Switch so far, the obvious question is what’s next?

Caroline: “Well naturally we want to be successful. It’s healthy, it drives you to work harder and produce better songs. As we’re going to be writing and recording until the New Year, our next gig is 27th January 2010 at the new Manchester venue, Sound Control. We’re buzzing about doing our next gig there because everyone’s talking about the place. We’re all having such a good time at the moment and the best, hopefully, is yet to come.”

Great music borne of good fortune, contentment and optimism.

How’s that for a Switch?