Last year, East LA’s favorite duo, SWIMM, launched the Love You Down Festival as a way to integrate the different artistic communities that may normally exist outside of each other. Love You Down, or LYD as they often refer to it, was a way to pay homage to their peers who inspire the band and to give something back to the fans that have become family in their adopted hometown. The initial incarnation of LYD attracted over 350 attendees and included performances from SWIMM, The Gloomies, Thumpasorious, Goldensuns, LA Font & Vs Colour, as well as DJ sets from Warpaint, Gardens & Villa and Aaron Byrd.
This year, SWIMM will take their celebration of Los Angeles to the next level.
For Round 2 of LYD, SWIMM will be partnering with Spaceland Presents for an indoor/outdoor festival to take place at The Echo + Echo Patio on February 2nd. The two stages of musical performances, for which the band has created a Spotify playlist to help fans get familiar with the lineup, will be joined by live art installations, zine tables with multiple contributors, a photo booth provided by Marcella Ambriz, tarot card readers and a laser light show providing a carnival for the senses. You can purchase your tickets for Love You Down now. It is a good idea to grab your tickets early as the event is likely to sell out.
In celebration of this announcement, SWIMM have released a beautiful reimagining of the INOJ cover of the Ready For The World classic that serves as the festival’s namesake. Listen to the cover below.
Here is a piece singer Chris Hess wrote about their decision to cover “Love You Down”:
“I was 14. Sun bleached hair whisked about my shoulders just around 5 feet above the ground. My 100 pound body was tan from surfing. However, resentful to the natural progression of my pubescence, I was still years away from any growth spurt that would halt the notes in class being addressed to me as “Q.T. Pie or Squirt”. So to get attention from the girls that were incessantly asking if my taller friends equipped with budding armpit hair liked them, I started learning how to shake my ass. It’s true. Every Friday night the majority of our Junior High went to a dance club called the Teen Zone. And every Friday night I would enter the dance contest. One of my all time favorite jams was “Love You Down” done by INOJ. The idea of covering that song and even starting a mini-festival in LA called ‘Love You Down’ is totally an homage to those formative years of poppin’ and lockin’. Of which that poppin’ and of which that lockin’ earned me $30 every week when I won that shit! Sadly the notes remained inquiries about my studly friends and I was still referred to as ‘Lil Chris’ or ‘Squirt’ for the remainder of Middle School. But I felt like a giant when that song played! I tell ya, I felt a whopping 5’7″ on that dance floor!”