Bay Faction have shared their new single Swan Dive. Watch the lyric video for the track via YouTube below.
Born out of an online message board looking for bandmates, Bay Faction emerged in the Boston DIY scene in 2015 performing at house shows and small venues in the neighborhood of Allston.
Comprised of James McDermott, Kris Roman, and drummer Alex Agresti (who replaced original drummer Connor Godfrey) the band released two EPs, an album entitled Florida Guilt, embarked on a series of tours that helped them develop a cult-like following around the US playing with artists such as Japanese Breakfast, Long Beard and Mister Goblin.
The trio’s earlier releases were songs that McDermott had begun demoing while still in high school, but their debut album was a transitional release for Bay Faction. McDermott publicly came out as bisexual while working on the record, and the album was the first body of work that the group felt truly embodied the ethos the band had been trying to define for years.
After months of touring in support of the record, the band decamped to suburban new jersey where they found themselves embedded by a community that felt foreign after living in isolation while on the road. Despite the generally warm reception they couldn’t avoid feeling like outsiders.“We’re the only 20 somethings in a family-friendly neighborhood,” explains McDermott. “No one was particularly thrilled that we were sunbathing on our roof and shooting off fireworks in our backyard at night. Neighbors know our names and invite us over for dinner but also call the township to complain when our grass hasn’t been cut in weeks… we deserved it; we were pests in an otherwise quaint neighborhood.”
For a young band who have only just begun to make a full time living from their art, their new environment led them to examine their position in the community and the contrast of their lives with the day to day experience of their neighbors, which is the subject of their new single Swan Dive.
“In a lot of ways, we’re antithetical to the traditional American values that drive the town”, says McDermott. “Everyone here has real jobs with kids and social obligations. The thought of pursuing music as a career can be seen as hedonistic and selfish. There is a moral dilemma inherent in creating art as a job…no amount of hours spent in front of a computer can build community.”
“Our “Swan dive into hell” is an attempt at balancing the privilege of our vocation within the context of suburban New Jersey, while bearing in mind the only skill we really have requires us to be alone for 8 hours a day.”
Swan Dive is out to coincide with the start of a North American tour that Bay Faction are on with Epitaph signees Hunny that will begin March 14th. Full details can be found below.
Tour dates
2.28 – Springfield, MO @ Outland Ballroom
2.29 – Kansas City, MO @ Encore
3.1 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb
3.3 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s Fun House
Supporting Hunny on tour:
3.14 Washington, DC @ Songbyrd
3.15 Philadelphia, PA @ Foundry at Fillmore
3.17 Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere Zone One
3.18 Boston, MA @ Great Scott
3.20 Toronto, ON @ Rivoli
3.21 Columbus, OH @ Basement
3.22 Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
3.23 Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
3.25 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
3.27 Boise, ID @ Treefort Fest
3.28 Seattle, WA @ Chop Suey
3.29 Portland, OR @ Holocene
3.31 San Fransisco, CA @ Bottom of the Hill
4.2 Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge
4.5 Austin, TX @ Stubb’s BBQ
4.6 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
