Swim Out came about around 2016 over a three chord jam with flute at the old Lokal bar in Bulabog. I confess I forget the guy on acoustic’s name, he worked at back beach. A couple years passed and I realized this was one of the songs that stayed with me, so we recorded it in May, 2019, with Ian Joseph and Sharif Haddadin at Strawberry Jams.
This was several months after a season of seclusion with storm, waves, and destruction during Boracay closure. It was directly after a couple months chasing waves and no longer daring to venture in the deep in Bocas del Toro, Panama.
I think it was both of these capable musicians’ first times to hear the song. Soul Diver was something that came to me in Vancouver in late 2018, waiting for the rains… it’s got a Bob Marley influence, though I’m not sure anyone would pick up on that.
The gravy is Maria’s first-take backing vocals, Novel’s keyboard, and the bass and 1960 Gibson lines I added at Room Eleven in Cebu, April, 2020.
The end result I hope is something that takes listeners to a watery place.