Dog On A Swing Q&A

Name: 

Ed Ritchie.

Where are you from? 

Edinburgh, Scotland.

Name of band:

I play music under the name of Dog On A Swing.

Who else is in your band? 

Well, it's sort of a cross between a solo project and a band. I write the songs and sing them, then other musicians come and go on a fluid and flexible basis. If you like my music and I like what you play, odds are good that you can join the band!

How would you describe yourselves? 

This is simultaneously the most useful question to ask and the hardest to answer! I've settled on saying we play three-minute(ish) pop(ish) songs. There's a mild folky streak because I came up through the heavily-acoustic songwriter open mic community, but it really depends on the song and instrumentation.

Who are your main influences musically? 

I've figured out that I can include many of my musical influences by drawing a huge triangle between Aereogramme, Jeff Buckley, and the Dismemberment Plan. It's also important to point out that I've been influenced almost as much by what I don't like (and thus aim away from) as well as art/literature/GIFs.

What do you hope to achieve in music?

Like many musicians, I would love to write songs and perform full-time. I'm fond of the phrase 'jam econo' and direct influences in this would be RM Hubbert and Jonah Matranga.

What has been the highlight of your career so far, and why? 

Last year, I released my first studio EP digitally and on CD (see the link below). I've only been actually finishing songs for the last three years, so to have a tangible result from that is wonderful. I also completed my first proper tour this month!

And what's the moment you want to forget?

I wouldn't say 'forget' so much as 'never experience again', but trying to navigate London with a guitar during a Tube strike is about a third of the fun you'd expect.

If you had to pick just one of your songs to represent your music, what would it be and why? 

Based on popularity, it'd be 'In The Morning'. However, I write a whole range of songs, and 'The Romance Of Love' is probably the midpoint and thus a good starting place.

Where can we listen to it? 

Both songs are part of On Love, which you can stream (and buy) at dogonaswing.co.uk (Bandcamp page).

Where can we find out more about your music? 

The above website is the best place as it has links to our other sites. For reference, here's some of them:

Soundcloud (a few songs from different releases, as well as demos and alternate takes)- soundcloud.com/dogonaswing

Noisetrade (free download of the very first release)- noisetrade.com/dogonaswing

Tumblr- dogonaswing.tumblr.com

Twitter- @dogonaswing (for the Tumblr feed and band news) and @Ed_Ritchie (personal account which covers everything I do)

Facebook (I post setlists here)- facebook.com/dogonaswing

Anything else you'd like to say? 

I want to play my songs as far and as often as I can. If you hear my music and like it, get in touch by emailing dogonaswing@gmail.com. Anything you can do will probably be a huge help, so let me know. Cheers!