Bio

Swallow the Rat formed in late 2017 when guitarists Brian Purington and Sam Vercoe began jamming with drummer Hayden Fritchley. Will Waters (Kerretta) was recruited on bass and in early 2018 the band recorded 3 songs with acclaimed engineer Nick Abbott at Auckland's Northwestern Recorders, all of which charted on New Zealand's Alt Charts and Student Radio, along with receiving air play on KOOP (Austin, TX) and DKFM (CAN). Mid 2018 saw Stephen Horsley take over bass duties and a NZ tour commenced.

In 2019 a self-titled 7" was released which coincided with several showcase performances at SXSW in Austin, TX. A string of shows across New Zealand followed, including opening for No Age, Gang Of Four and Sebadoh. Subsequently, they signed to US label Shifting Sounds.

March 2020 they performed at New Colossus Festival in NYC as part of a US tour. Meanwhile back in NZ the singles Bird of Ill and Cold Moon both went to #1 on the 95bFM Top Ten. 24 April 2020 saw the global release of the LP Leaving Room.

May 2021 saw the release of a spilt LP with Clone from NYC. The LP features 4 tracks which were recorded by Fred Weaver (Mono, Maserati) at his studio in Pennsylvania during the band's 2020 US tour. The LP was mastered in London by James Aparicio (Liars, Spiritualized).

Band Members:
Brian Purington
Hayden Fritchley
Stephen Horsley
Sam Vercoe
Will Waters

Links

• Facebook Page
• Twitter Page
• Youtube Page
• Instagram Page
• Bandcamp Page
• SoundCloud Page