
SWIDT Drop 'The Most Electrifying' EP + Interview
Onehunga rap titans SWIDT are back with The Most Electrifying, their first standalone collection since last year's breakthrough album Stoneyhunga. The powerful team of Spycc, INF, Smokey, JAMAL, Boomer and AZA gave audiences a sneak preview their six-track collection last night while playing Fortnite, and will be presenting The Most Electrifying pop-up shop at Auckland's Strange Haven on Karangahape Road today from noon until 10pm, featuring a selection of limited edition merchandise for you to cop in a flash. You can wrap your lucky ears around the new EP below, and read on for Chris Cudby's chat with Spycc about how the collection came together, his thoughts on the recent cancellation of the iconic 312 bus (from Onehunga to Central Auckland) and more...
Before we get started, what do you reckon about how Auckland Transport cancelled the 312 bus?
I reckon that’s trash aye. I remember someone hit me up, I think it was on Twitter, and they were like “have you heard about the 312 bus getting cancelled?” and I was like “What?!” Coz man that bus is so iconic. I dunno, it’s real funny seeing different people from all walks of life rallying together, trying to get it back, reinstate it and everything. It just shows how important the 312 bus is to Onehunga.
It just seems like a really stupid idea that they cancelled such a popular thing, that there’s literally songs about.
Yeah, yeah, I dunno, its weird man. I seen someone trying to rally together to get it reinstated, but I don’t know how you go about that, I dunno if that’s possible. But yeah, sucks man.
Is there gonna be an Auckland Transport diss track coming out?
Yeah, I’ve got one in the vault. [laughs] I’m waiting for the right opportunity to drop it.
How did The Most Electrifying EP come together? I like how you said on Twitter that your marketing plan was "to make good music."
I feel like some people get too focused on promotion and marketing and stuff like that and it’s like - G, at the end of the day, the main thing that you should always be making sure is right is the music, y'know? That’s your product right there. You can do all the marketing in the world and stuff like that but at the end of the day, if the music isn't solid and it isn't good, then what’s the point?
Yeah, that’s 100% true. How long have you been working on the EP for?
I think just over a month. It came together relatively quick. We were just doing our usual sessions. It's like when you get in that zone, I know other artists and creatives will understand, but when you get in that zone and everything just flows. It’s never like an uphill battle or anything like that. Everything just flows smoothly and that’s pretty much how it came together.
Is there any kind of unifying theme behind it? How’d you choose the six songs?
It’s not really a theme, but definitely sound-wise, it’s a real cohesive project. It just flows smoothly. I think the main thing, one word I could say is “bounce.”
What’s happening with Friday’s pop-up shop?
We just thought, “why not do a pop-up shop?” It’s definitely gonna be the most electrifying pop-up shop [laughs]. We’re selling a hundred of each item so it’ll be a hundred SWIDT caps, a hundred SWIDT beanies, a hundred SWIDT hoodies, a hundred SWIDT t-shirts and a hundred EPs. We thought we’d just do a limited edition, limited run, one day pop up on K Rd.
How do you feel when you look back at what the band has achieved over the last couple of years?
It’s crazy aye. It’s been a crazy two years man. We’re always moving and always trying to do better and create more music. We’re never really focused at each point on what’s going on around us, cause we’re just so tunnel-vision with what were doing in the creative process, that when we finally do look back it’s like “damn, we actually did that?” I think one thing for me is, y'know the Facebook, when it’s done a year and you get that notification? Things will pop up and I was like “damn, was that a year ago?” I dunno, it’s just crazy to me. It’s been a fun ride.
When are we gonna see you guys play next?
We’ve got a tour in the works for the EP, and just for our other music in general really. We’re trying to make our show not just another gig but a real real experience. We’ll probably share that information sooner than later.
What’s on the cards for yourself and SWIDT for the rest of this year?
One of our main things this year was the whole no rules kind of thing. Dropping stuff when we felt like it and putting more content out. I think you can just expect the unexpected from us. You never know, we might drop a video, music, album, whatever. We’re just gonna stay busy and stay electrifying.
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