American indie band Swell was not playing in the studio, but on the stage of Muziekgieterij, in front of an audience. Swell’s music is elusive. The band navigates between punk, psychedelic and folk and lards its music with cinematic elements. Exactly one year ago, singer and guitarist David Freel passed away, and now his fellow band members are on the road in tribute to their late comrade.

Earlier that month, Monte Vallier (drums) and Sean Kirkpatrick (bass) stopped by the Muziekgieterij studio. There they spoke with Heaven Magazine’s Ludo Diels about the rise of grunge, the origin of the cinematic elements in their music and, of course, about Davd Freel. And whether Swell will go further in the future? They’re not quite slamming that door shut.