Swiss Lips

Biography

Swiss Lips were a five-piece electropop band from Manchester in the U.K. that came into being in 2011, playing an eclectic style reminiscent of the booming 80s and 90s indie dance scene. They're perhaps best known for their catchy debut single " U Got the Power", which has become an underground musical sensation. Previously known as "Ten Bears", they've described themselves on Facebook as being "pop sorcerers, going straight to hell," Band members describe their sound as heavily influenced by t...

Swiss Lips were a five-piece electropop band from Manchester in the U.K. that came into being in 2011, playing an eclectic style reminiscent of the booming 80s and 90s indie dance scene. They're perhaps best known for their catchy debut single "
U Got the Power", which has become an underground musical sensation. Previously known as "Ten Bears", they've described themselves on Facebook as being "pop sorcerers, going straight to hell,"

Band members describe their sound as heavily influenced by the Manchester music scene. "Finding the middle ground between guitar music and dance music has been something Manchester has always been good at, and we hope to carry on that tradition.” They draw inspiration from a wide ranging array of artists: “...we take influences from all kinds of music. At the moment we are listening to Prince, Sebastian, Def Leppard, The Weeknd, The Beach Boys, Joe Goddard.”

Swiss Lips signed a four album deal with Epic Sony at the end of 2011. As a new band they were asked how it felt to be signed to a major record label, the band were able to point out that while Swiss Lips are a new band, they themselves are not novices to the music industry. “We are a new band but have all been playing in different bands for as long as we can remember so it doesn't seem like an overnight thing. It's feels amazing to have the support and belief of a team like Epic behind what we are doing and being Michael Jackson's label mates is something to brag to girls about.”

NME said “Think Foster The People with the stylish pop-perfection poise of Franz” when describing the band.

Shortly after signing a deal with Sony Music, in March 2012 Swiss Lips became BBC Radio 1’s introducing act, where their debut track "U Got The Power" was played every day on Radio 1 for a week.

In August the band were featured on Channel 4's 4play, where they performed "U Got the Power", "Books" and "Danz".

Swiss Lips played a number of festivals and gigs including Camden Crawl, The Great Escape and Dot to Dot Festival, Lovebox Festival and Live at Leeds festival in 2012.

Swiss Lips supported Bastille on nine dates of their sold out UK tour, including a show at Koko in Camden. The band then went on to support Ladyhawke on her Blue Eyes UK tour.

The Union
In November 2012 the band moved from their home in Manchester to The Union in East London, for a month. Throughout the month Swiss Lips held several free gigs for their fans and were joined by Bastille, The Horrors, Seasfire, DJ Mr Paul, Lois & The Love, YADi and Fenech-Soler.


In January 2013 Swiss Lips released a cover of Frank Ocean's track 'Lost', as a free download. The cover was received well online, gaining over 90,000 views on YouTube and Nylon said "If 2012 was the year of Frank Ocean, then 2013 might just be the year of Swiss Lips."

In February the band released their first official single 'Danz'. The track received support from Radio 1 earning a daytime play from Sara Cox. The Guardian said "...it's hard not to indulge in light toe-tapping once Danz gets into full swing. Mixing elements of MGMT, Friendly Fires and The Rapture it shifts from percussive verses to a sky-scraping chorus." Also in February the band joined Neon Trees on tour in Manchester, Glasgow and London.

Swiss Lips will release their second official single 'U Got the Power' on 28th April 2013. The track has again won the support of Radio 1 as Scott Mills named it his Record of the Week.
'U Got the Power' has been remixed by Silverclub, Monsieur Adi and Bastille. Gigwise said "...the Bastille remix is a mellow take on one of the coolest pop tracks of the year so far..."

On 17th August 2015 the band announced that they had split up citing "the thing we loved the most became a drag, it's pretty gruesome out there for a small band in 2015". The band members are believed to be working on new projects individually. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.