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Interview with
ANDREW SWIFT

(23rd October 2025)

Interview by Dave Bruce

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Have you always wanted to be an artist? When did you get the song writing bug?
I first started songwriting when I was 16, I had a lot of teen angst I wanted to get out. It was actually a great way for me to deal with depression, it gave me a outlet to express myself and to and something to work towards.
It wasn’t until I was playing in a band with some friends from school that I decided I wanted to be an artist though, I remember trying to work out what to do after finishing school and the only thing that appealed to me was music.

Briefly describe your journey to date.
I was a guitarist in a pop punk band with some friends from school for several years, before branching out with a solo EP. I feel like I spent the next few years trying to find my sound and audience. In 2015 I co hosted a community radio show at Tamworth Country Music Festival and had a crash course in the Australian country music scene, realising it’s exactly where I belong. Since then I’ve released 4 albums (including this latest one), which have seen me take home 3 Golden Guitar Awards and have just signed on with Canadian management team, Strut Entertainment as I look to expand internationally.

How would you describe your sound? Why do you think fans resonate with your music?
I feel like my sound is a gateway drug to country music. I’ve definitely got some traditional country sounds in my songs, but having grown up listening to pop music that Mum would have playing in the car, several years of being in a pop punk band and years of working in a record store I feel like there’s a bunch of other influences that creep into the music I make.
I think fans resonate with my music because I write from my own experiences, I’ve found that country fans love to feel like they’re part of the journey, they like getting to know the artist through the songs and being able to find common ground in their own lives.

Your latest EP/Album ‘Lucky Stars’ has just been released! What’s it all about? Describe its origin and evolution. 
This album is titled ‘Lucky Stars’ because over the last few years I feel like everything has aligned for me, I get to do what I love for a living instead of fixing caravans, I’ve got a loving and supportive partner that I have a home and a beautiful baby daughter with. The overall tone of this album captures that. With an alternative track order it pretty much tells a story of who I used to be and thought I was, of when I met Simone and where we are at now.

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What are the signature tracks on the album, and which are your favorites to play live?
‘Nothing Better’ is probably the song that sums up the tone of the album, but my favourite on the album would have to be ‘Oh Valentine’, not only is it a song that Simone and I wrote, with Phil Barton, for our daughter but it’s also a duet with Sim, it’s like a little letter from Mum & Dad.
I’ve only just started playing most of these tracks live, but there are a couple of early stand outs for me, ‘Get Lost’ is very fun to play live, it’s been a crowd favourite from day one and ‘See You At The Bottom’ just feels great to play live.

What tours and events are coming up? What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
‘The Lucky Stars Tour’ has just kicked off, there’s a great mix of full band shows and stripped back storyteller shows. I’m really looking forward to performing these new songs to folks in their different versions. I’m also really looking forward to playing some great festivals included on the tour including Savannah In The Round, Tamworth Country Music Festival, Boyup Brook Music Muster and Echuca Country Music Festival.

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why? 
This is one of the hardest questions to answer, there are so many! You could ask me this 100 times and I’d probably have 100 different answers for you. Today my answer is Neil Finn. I’ve always loved his songwriting, melody choices and his voice.

What are your long-term aspirations as a music artist and how are you progressing towards them?
My goal posts are always moving, current aspirations involve building my profile in Canada, ideally with some touring and the release of an EP full of Canadian collaborations. Of course I’m always continuing to work on building things here at home though too.

With that in mind, what piece of advice would you give to an artist starting out? 
The best piece of advice I can give is that you should always find motivation in the smallest of wins. The music industry is tough, there’s a lot of rejection and a lot of closed doors, whenever you do get a win, not matter how small, let that fuel your fire to push on.

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What is the best thing about performing to a live audience? What’s been the career highlight so far?
The best thing about performing live is connecting with an audience, I particularly love the intimate storyteller shows for that reason. It’s always great to hear which songs people relate to and what it means to them.
There’s been many career highlights, but one of my favourites was the first festival after the Covid lockdowns. It was an very long couple of years to be a Melbournian, and I was doing my best to continue to release music whilst stuck at home. It was extremely reassuring to walk on stage at the Gippsland Country Music Festival and hear people singing along to the new songs I’d been releasing. Knowing that they’d been heard and that folks had connected with them meant the world to me.

Now for some quickfire questions to get a little personal:
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done? I organised my own exchange student trip to Japan when I was 14. I travelled there on my own and went to school for 3 weeks while I stayed with a host family.
What is the one topic you can talk about for hours? Thanks to recent events, I can now talk about babies for hours… and hours.
What is the thing you like most about yourself? My sense of humour, I try not to take anything too seriously.

Finally, let’s find out what your current (or all time) favorites are –
FAVOURITE:
Album –  Bleed American by Jimmy Eat World
Artist –  The Steeldrivers
Movie –  Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder version)
Place to visit – Gimmelwald, Switzerland
Venue to play – Oodies Cafe, Bundaberg QLD
Food –  Chocolate
Drink – Jack Daniels
Person in History –  Billy The Kid
Tattoo –  my dancing cowboy and lady

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SHOW DATES:

17th October – Noojee Hotel – Noojee VIC
18th October – Welshpool Hotel – Welshpool VIC
7th November – Astor Hotel – Goulburn NSW
8th November – Heritage Hotel – Bulli NSW
9th November – The Savoy Bar – Long Jetty NSW
13th November – Little Alberts at the Vic – Bathurst NSW
14th November – Smith’s Alternative – Canberra ACT
15th November – Nautical Country – Hawkesbury River NSW
16th November – Camden Hotel – Camden NSW
21st November – St Andrews Hotel – St Andrews VIC
22nd November – Bellarine Estate – Bellarine VIC
23rd November – Kindred Bandroom – Footscray VIC
24th January – Blazes Showroom – Tamworth Country Music Festival NSW
5th February – Mt Gambier Bowls Club – Mt Gambier SA
6th February – Wheatsheaf Hotel – Adelaide SA
7th February – Quorn Hall – Quorn SA
8th February – Murray Delta Juke Joint – Goolwa SA
14th February – Boyup Brook Country Music Muster – Boyup Brook WA
28th March – Echuca Country Music Festival – Echuca VIC

**Tickets on sale now HERE 

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LUCKY STARS
Track List:

1. Nothing Better
2. Get Lost
3. Neon Queen
4. Kickin’ Tires
5. Oh Valentine feat. Simone Sordello
6. Ramble & Roam
7. Livin’ Live We’re Loaded
8. See You At The Bottom
9. (Hot Damn) It’s Been A Minute
10. Works For Us
11. Change A Man

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Follow ANDREW SWIFT
Website – Instagram – Facebook – TikTok

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Press Release 17th October 2025 (below) HERE

Multi-award winning
ANDREW SWIFT
releases his
fourth studio album
LUCKY STARS
and shares new single
‘KICKIN’ TIRES’

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AMNPLIFY – DB