What do you name a band when you are an awesome male model…. Swimsuit Issue! Dave Gagliardi of Trash Talk and Miles Garber of the modeling world joined powers in 2014 to create Swimsuit Issue. They are on their first tour and coming to Seattle’s Sunset Tavern on May 20, 2018. They are joined by Cat Power! Get more info and tickets here.
Check out our interview below:
Earle Dutton (ED): Could you tell me about the show you are bringing to Seattle?
Miles Garber (MG): It is our first tour. It is our first time in Seattle. I personally love Seattle. I have been there a couple of times. The first tour is supporting an EP and album coming out. We will just be touring our lives away.
Miles Garber and Dave Gagliardi of Swimsuit Issue
ED: Are you excited about the tour?
MG: Yes! I mean I am excited to play. Tour is stressful like moving though. I have just decided that the rest of my life will be spent in a van. I guess that is cool.
ED: How did you get the name Swimsuit Issue for the band?
MG: I have been a model for a long time. At the time we signed our record deal and were figuring out exactly what we wanted to be, I felt like it was really uncool to be a model/musician. I felt super insecure about it. I have seen it happen before. You just in Vogue and never went anywhere musically. A lot of these bands have all of this hype and never tour or the things I want to do. So the name is pretty much just me making fun of myself and being a model. It also has a nice ring to it. I like that you can’t really tell exactly what type of music we will play just from the name.
ED: You are described as sort of a modern day Oasis type band. What do you think of that description?
MG: Yes, we get that a lot. I think right now with music, maybe it is not that popular which is fine. I think because of that you are going to get a lot of comparisons. It is cool because they were such a huge success. I have heard we sound like Beck. I have heard we sound like Oasis. I even heard we sound like Björk, one time. That last one just makes no sense at all. I don’t really pay attention to it all. We are a band with a bunch of guitars. If you like it, cool!
BG: Why did you decide to quit modeling and start the band?
ED: I still model occasionally. I want to do music full time though. I got my first guitar when I was eleven. I was always the dorky kid that knew every band fact. I was super dory about music. I was obsessed. I think it is just always what I wanted to do. Growing up like I did, you always had to have a job. I couldn’t afford to go to school, so modeling was amazing. It gave me a really good life and platform to do what I want to do.
ED: Who were your musical influences growing up?
MG: I was obsessed with hardcore stuff. I am from LA and always loved the hardcore bands there. I like Black Flag, Minuteman and all these LA bands that started this DIY thing. I guess my taste grew I think I realized that Jeff Buckley is probably my favorite singer of all time. I am weirdly obsessed with Fiona Apple too. So, I would say my influences were hardcore and Fiona Apple (laughter).
ED: Who would you like to collaborate with musically?
MG: I would really like to do something with a soul singer. I would love to collaborate with D’Angelo but I know that is never going to happen.
Swimsuit Issue is coming to Seattle’s Sunset Tavern on May 20, 2018. Get more info here.
