Swifts And Sparrows

Swifts and Sparrows is a four-piece progressive rock band situated in Wellington, New Zealand. Their sound can best be described as a blend between ambient and heavy; in a similar vein to bands like Thrice, My Epic and Secret & Whisper. The band was formed by frontman Blake Reade and guitarist Shem Phillips. The pair decided to focus on writing and recording songs until, after recording their second demo, Matt Galloway was recruited to take up bass duties. This was soon followed by the entry of Sam Macdonald onto drums. The band made their live debut in October 2010. Since then have played alongside great NZ and International bands such as: All Left Out, Ascend The Hill, The Ember Days, Sleeping Giant, For This Cause, Delaware Wolves, Saving Grace and Anberlin. Swifts have also played at several New Zealand festivals: Parachute in Hamilton, Carnival in Hawke’s Bay, Samstock in Dunedin and Onesound in Waikanae. January 2012 brought about their debut release, The Pelorus of Light. This was the first half of a two-part release. Part-two, The Calamus of Sound was released in August 2013. Calamus was the band's first chance to truely focus on capturing their live sound. They recorded, mixed and produced the entire project on their own. The boys continue working hard amidst work and family life to keep writing, recording and are always pushing themselves to develop their sound. Swifts and Sparrows plan to release their first full length in Jan 2015. Acclaim for their debut release, The Pelorus of Light: “You quickly realise these guys work the dynamics, not being afraid to strip things right back to reverbed guitars and ride chimes, and always stepping it up again with raw energy. If you like your music heavy but thoughtful, energetic but arty, spiritually deep but not cheese definitely check out this fresh Kiwi debut.” Measures - Available now at www.swiftsandsparrows.com