As told by founder Anna Fitzgerald:
The story behind Swarm Wave Records started when I was a teenager. I was 17 ordering records from a mail-order catalog. I’d spend hours flipping through them soaking in album art, merch, and reading blurbs about each band. Culturally, it felt like a zine at the time. I remember feeling really special and that I’d get the catalog and could spend time with it as an artifact. This was before the internet dampened the gradual, deliberate personal discovery with sterile “searches” on a screen. It always felt special because you had to work for and intentionally explore the musical landscape for a sound, a voice, and music that spoke to you. Before I would order something I’d ask my friends about the bands in the catalog…if they had seen them or heard them, or if anybody had one of those records. I spent time understanding what their music was about and deciding, “Do I really want to buy it?”, and “When can I see the band live?” I was working my own job and very independent at an early age, so I wanted to see how far my money could go while still enjoying and benefitting from music…I was playing cello and in drum line at the time and music is what I needed in my life.
These catalogs really made an impression on me because they were a mix of a zine and a visual treasure map. This was before I started studying art, music history and concert posters. I ended up studying music subcultures academically two times during different degrees. (I’m still shocked that somehow I was paid to study music and the artists who create concert posters!) During my studies I was very interested in the culture of concert posters, live shows, scenes, and creative life. I had a deep curiosity to understand how art, music taste, and exposure to both are integral in forming identity.
Looking back, I actually wrote down on a note when I was 17, that if I had a record label, it would be called this XXXX, and it’ll give back to nonprofits and just be super FUN! I dreamt of it encompassing all the things you dream about when you’re young. Fast forward to many years of playing music, organizing groups of people to play music, founding an arts nonprofit specifically for music creation , and I felt it was time to make it real. When I was in Tennessee, I got to play cello on different projects and did a ton of songwriting. I played out mostly me and a guitar and developed my voice during that time. Living in Nashville and Austin and working industry jobs, it became clear that a record can change your life. A record can carry you, be a companion on dark days, and even revive you – especially when you’re in a pivotal, crucial time or major life events happen and you just NEED music. Music becomes medicine…
The dream stuck with me through many of life’s twists and turns, and this year I decided it was time to make the dream real!
Starting Shower Cry revived me after taking 15 yrs away from making music and after losing my dad in a tragic way 6 years ago. When it came time to release music with Shower Cry—this comes after ~ four years of writing with my writing partner, Cheyne, and finding two lovely, talented souls (Josh and Jordan) who were willing to make this record.
It came down to: How do we do this with limited resources? But also, How do we retain ownership over the art that we’ve spent so much time creating and emitting this energy at every single performance? Up until now, you couldn’t experience our music outside of a few clips on Instagram. You had to come to the shows (like the days before social media. You had to be there! This time of only live performances has been really special for us and for the people who stumbled upon us. So…now it’s time to put out our music and I said, “You know what!? I’m just gonna make my own record label! and enjoy the process and enjoy the full ownership of this creation.”
This is how Swarm Wave Records came to be. A dreamer seeking, fumbling, getting back up, and continuing on…It’s exciting and scary, but that’s the point. If life were a breeze, I don’t think we’d have the character, satisfaction, or peace that’s possible through the obstacles we endure, the growth we experience, and the challenges along the way.
For ALL of this, I’m grateful to be in this special time of newness and another dream I get to follow through on. I’m stoked to see where it takes me…. -Anna
