Swiss Lips

Swiss Lips
Origin	Manchester, United Kingdom
Genres	Electro-pop
Years active	2011 – present
Labels	Sony Music
Associated acts	Foster the People, Fleetwood Mac, New Order, Friendly Fires, Beach Boys, Bastille
Website	www.swisslips.com

Members	Sam Hammond (vocals) Tim Estherby (keyboards) Luke Daniel (guitar) Nic Kozubik (drums) Tom White (bass)

Swiss Lips are a five-piece dance-electro-pop band from Manchester.^[1]^[2]

Musical career

Originally known as Ten Bears until 2011 , the band describe their sound as heavily influenced by the Manchester music scene. "Finding the middle ground between guitar music and dance music has been something Manchester has always been good at, and we hope to carry on that tradition."^[3] They draw inspiration from a wide ranging array of artists: "...we take influences from all kinds of music. At the moment we are listening to Prince, Sebastian, Def Leppard, The Weeknd, the Beach Boys, Joe Goddard."^[4]

History

Early Years (2011-13)

Swiss Lips signed a four album deal with Epic Sony at the end of 2011.^[5]

As a new band they were asked how it felt to be signed to a major record label, the band were able to point out that while Swiss Lips are a new band, they themselves are not novices to the music industry. "We are a new band but have all been playing in different bands for as long as we can remember so it doesn't seem like an overnight thing. It's feels amazing to have the support and belief of a team like Epic behind what we are doing and being Michael Jackson's label mates is something to brag to girls about."^[6]

NME said "Think Foster The People with the stylish pop-perfection poise of Franz" when describing the band.^[7]

Shortly after signing a deal with Sony Music, in March 2012 Swiss Lips became BBC Radio 1’s introducing act, where their debut track "U Got The Power" was played every day on Radio 1 for a week.^[8]

In August the band were featured on Channel 4's 4play, where they performed "U Got the Power", "Books" and "Danz".^[9]

Swiss Lips played a number of festivals and gigs including Camden Crawl, The Great Escape and Dot to Dot festival,^[10] Lovebox^[11] and Live at Leeds ^[12] in 2012.^[13]

Swiss Lips supported Bastille on nine dates of their sold out UK tour, including a show at Koko in Camden.^[14] The band then went on to support Ladyhawke on her Blue Eyes UK tour ^[15]

First Successes (2013-14)

In January 2013 Swiss Lips released a cover of Frank Ocean's track "Lost", as a free download. The cover was received well online, gaining over 90,000 views on YouTube and Nylon said "If 2012 was the year of Frank Ocean, then 2013 might just be the year of Swiss Lips."^[16]

In February the band released their first official single 'Danz'. The track received support from BBC Radio 1 earning a daytime play from Sara Cox. The Guardian said "...it's hard not to indulge in light toe-tapping once Danz gets into full swing. Mixing elements of MGMT, Friendly Fires and The Rapture it shifts from percussive verses to a sky-scraping chorus." ^[17] Also in February the band joined Neon Trees on tour in Manchester, Glasgow and London.

Swiss Lips released their second official single 'U Got the Power' on 28 April 2013. The track again won the support of Radio 1 as Scott Mills named it his Record of the Week. ^[18] 'U Got the Power' has been remixed by Silverclub, Monsieur Adi and Bastille. Gigwise said "...the Bastille remix is a mellow take on one of the coolest pop tracks of the year so far..." ^[19]

Swiss Lips (2015-present)

On 6 February 2015, Swiss Lips announced via Twitter that they were going to release their self-titled album, Swiss Lips on 16 March 2015. ^[20] On 16 March 2015, the album was released for digital download and on vinyl, but there was no physical CD release. A video for 'Books' was released as Q Magazine's 'Track of The Day' on 3rd March 2015, directed by Charlie Leek.^[21]

The Union

In November 2012 the band moved from their home in Manchester to The Union in East London, for a month.^[22] Throughout the month Swiss Lips held several free gigs for their fans and were joined by Bastille, The Horrors, Seasfire, DJ Mr Paul, Lois & The Love, YADi and Fenech Soler.^[23]

Discography

List of albums, with year released
Title	Album details
Swiss Lips	Released: March 16, 2015 Format: Vinyl, Digital download

Notable Live Appearances

Fuji Rock Festival (July 2012)
Converse: Represent (August 2012)
Boardmasters (August 2012)
The 100 Club, supporting Blur (August 2012)
KOKO, supporting Bastille (October 2012)
HMV Forum, supporting Ladyhawke (November 2012)