“The great thing is it’s just riffs. It’s wall to wall riffs,” Swervedriver‘s Adam Franklin says of the band’s 1991 debut album, Raise. “And it’s really good fun to play.”
That’s good as Swervedriver are about to embark on the ‘Raise at 35’ tour — which is presented by BrooklynVegan — celebrating that debut album which features many heavy shoegaze classics including “Sun of a Mustang Ford,” “Rave Down,” and “Sandblasted.”
We talked to Adam and Swervedriver guitarist Jimmy Hartridge on this week’s episode of BV Interviews and our wide ranging discussion got into the band’s beginnings in the mid-’80s Oxford scene that also gave us Ride and Radiohead, and how they ended up on legendary British indie label Creation Records. They also tell us about touring with Soundgarden in the US in the ’90s, touring with Failure in the 2019, the current shoegaze revival and how that term went from one of derision to being one they’re happy to be a part of.
“I was at an airport with Mick, our bass player, recently,” Hartridge told us. “We were flying over to do some gigs in the States. I had to open my guitar to show the customs guy. A guy came over with his family and said, ‘I’ve got a couple of rockers here.’ I said, yeah, we’re going to play some gigs. He asked what kind of music we played and Mick just immediately said, shoegaze. I thought it was really funny. Because I never would have said that myself. But he just jumped straight in.”
Adam and Jimmy also tell us what we can expect at the ‘Raise at 35’ tour, five albums they think everyone should hear, and lots more.
Listen to our whole conversation on the July 13 episode of BV Interviews, which is available wherever you get your podcasts. Listen and subscribe HERE and below.
The Raise at 35 tour hits the NYC area at Jersey City’s White Eagle Hall on August 28 and Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on August 29 and both are with tourmates Slow Fiction plus NYC band The Still Out who are coming out of hibernation for these shows. All dates:
Swervedriver – Raise at 35 Tour
Aug 18, 2026 – Cambridge, MA – The Sinclair * (tickets)
Aug 19, 2026 – Montreal, QC – Bar le Ritz * (tickets)
Aug 20, 2026 – Ottawa, ON – The Bronson * (tickets)
Aug 21, 2026 – Toronto, ON – Phoenix Concert Theatre * (tickets)
Aug 22, 2026 – Detroit, MI – El Club * (tickets)
Aug 23, 2026 – Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall *^ (tickets)
Aug 25, 2026 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop * (tickets)
Aug 26, 2026 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis * (tickets)
Aug 27, 2026 – Philadelphia, PA – Underground Arts * (tickets)
Aug 28, 2026 – Jersey City, NJ – White Eagle Hall *# (tickets)
Aug 29, 2026 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg *# (tickets)
Dec 10, 2026 – Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s (tickets)
Dec 11, 2026 – San Diego, CA – Casbah (tickets)
Dec 12, 2026 – Los Angeles, CA – Teragram Ballroom (tickets)
Dec 13, 2026 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent (tickets)
Dec 15, 2026 – Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios (tickets)
Dec 16, 2026 – Seattle, WA – Neumos (tickets)
* w/ Slow Fiction
^ w/ The Life and Times
# w/ The Still Out