"Iroha"
"Iroha"
Andy Swan - born in Birmingham, England. At the age of 12 Andy became interested in the punk and post-punk music scene of the late 70’s and early 80’s. At the age of 16 Andy met Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Jesu) and, discovering their mutual love of bands as diverse as Throbbing Gristle, Joy Division, Crass and Swans, formed the experimental electronics outfit, Final. With an eye on the burgeoning Power Electronics scene they based their sound around harsh tones, twisted tape loops, structured noise and recorded samples. Another chance meeting led to Nic Bullen (Napalm Death, Scorn) joining Final for several recording sessions. With a growing library of recorded material, Andy and Justin created Post Mortem Rekordings as an outlet for Final’s material. Based around the DIY ethic of punk, this tape-only label not only released all of Final’s early output but also material by other like-minded groups such as Un-Kommunity (featuring Tim Gain now of Stereolab), Con Dom and Grey Wolves. Final played their first gig during the summer of 1984 at the now legendary Mermaid public house in Birmingham and played various other venues around the city over the following months before being joined by third member, Guy Pearce. After leaving Final, Andy joined the more dance-orientated DKZ on guitar and Justin went on to join Nic in Napalm Death. Throughout the late 80’s and 90’s, Andy’s musical output was firmly dance based releasing material under various pseudonyms on labels such as Cleveland City, Smokin’ Beats and Soul Central. Andy’s last dance release in 2001, ‘Let There Be Light’ garnered both local and national Radio 1 airplay and was licensed to both US and UK compilations. After gradually becoming creatively dis-illusioned with the dance scene it was only after meeting up again with Justin Broadrick and Nic Bullen in 2007 that Andy decided to return to a more experimental, guitar-based sound. Combining his love of shoe-gaze with the melancholic 80's sound of New Order, Andy created Iroha, naming his new project after a Japanese poem. When live dates were offered Andy approached, after a suggestion by Justin Broadrick, Diarmuid Dalton (Cable Regime, Godflesh Sound System and, currently, Jesu and Council Estate Electronics) to play bass with Dominic Crane (The Boaty Man, Rumblefish & Low Art Thrill) completing the live line-up. To date, Iroha have played alongside the likes of Faust, Mono, Nadja, Transitional, Constants and Einstellung.