Swimming With Dolphins (band)

Swimming With Dolphins is an American electronica band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. The band formed in 2008 by Austin Tofte and Owl City frontman Adam Young.[1] The name of the band was derived, according to Tofte, from "some old Jacques Cousteau documentaries from the 80s".[2] The group is fronted by Tofte, while Young performed synths and programming for the act and additionally served as the producer of the group.[3]

Swimming With Dolphins
Tofte of Swimming With Dolphins performing live in 2009
Tofte of Swimming With Dolphins performing live in 2009
Background information
OriginMinneapolis, Minnesota, United States
Genres
Years active2008–present
LabelsTooth & Nail
Members
  • Austin Tofte
Past membersAdam Young

For the act, Tofte and Young created trademark outfits. Tofte took on the appearance of a submariner wearing a classic scuba suit and Young donned a pilot's mask (which would later become Sky Sailing's trademark look).[1]

History

The band made its debut with the release of their 2008 EP, Ambient Blue.[4] The EP was produced by Young and sold over 9,000 digital copies.[5] The song "Silhouettes", off the release, featured Breanne Düren.[6] In addition to the main release, the band also put out a cover version of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" as B-sides single to the EP.[7]

Young departed the band in late 2008 as Owl City's popularity began to increase.[8] Alone, Tofte signed Swimming With Dolphins on to Tooth & Nail Records in June 2010.[9] Recording for the album began in the summer of 2010 where it was produced by Aaron Sprinkle in Seattle.[10][5] The album finished production in Atlanta with help from producers Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount.[11][5] The debut album titled, Water Colours was set to be released in March 2011 but was pushed two months back.[12] It was officially released on May 17, 2011.[13] On August 5, 2011, Swimming With Dolphins uploaded the official music video for the first single off the record, "Sleep To Dream", via YouTube.[14]

After Young's departure, Tofte was joined by Sarah Beintker and Torrie James as part of his live band.[15] Beinker contributed her vocals to the songs "Holiday" and "Sleep To Dream" off Water Colours. The release also featured the artists Sunsun and Mod Sun.[16] Swimming With Dolphins joined Abandon Kansas on a Spring Tour that began in March 2011.[17] In support of his album, Water Colours, he joined Family Force 5 for the Tourantula tour during April and May 2011.[18]

After the release of his debut album, Tofte had parted ways with Tooth & Nail and started to release music independently.[19] In August 2013, Tofte launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the project's upcoming album, Catharsis.[19] The funding needed $12,000 in mixing and mastering the album, as well as creating an album cover art, among many more.[19] In September 2013, Tofte announced that the campaign had been successful and would begin working on the album.[20][21] That same month, Tofte did an interview with Chris Herlihy's weekly syndicated radio show and talked about the release.[22] In a separate interview with Blue Freedom, Tofte stated that, "Catharsis is a cleansing and redemptive effort." He also believed he had "missed the mark" with his previous album release.[23] Also in September, Swimming With Dolphins released a preview of the new album in the form of a single instrumental track, entitled "Tromsø", via SoundCloud.[24] Swimming With Dolphins also posted a video for "Tromsø" via Vimeo around the same time.[25]

According to Tofte in 2014, the album was very near completion.[26] On August 21, Tofte stated that the track listing for the album would be revealed shortly.[27] On August 29, Tofte released the raw rough draft of the track listing for the album as well as the cover art for a single entitled "Summer Skin", which is to be on the album.[28][29] On September 23, "Summer Skin" was released to Swimming With Dolphins' SoundCloud.[30] On December 18, Tofte announced that a big update on Catharsis was to be released soon.[31] On May 1, 2015, Tofte revealed the album art for Catharsis as well as its release date of August 4, 2015.[32] Tofte instead released the single "Iron Lungs" instead,[33] saying he needed to "take a step back to recalibrate and determine a new release date" due to the premature announcement.[34]

On January 11, 2016, to celebrate "Iron Lungs" hitting 5,000 streams on SoundCloud, Tofte released a reworked version of "Summer Skin" for the final version of Catharsis.[35] On May 6, he released a new single, "Let You Love."[36] On April 1, 2018, after an over year-long hiatus from making music, Tofte released a sample of "Roller Dancer", which will be released on Catharsis.[37][38] As of January 2023, the album still has no release date.

Besides Swimming With Dolphins, Tofte was also a member of Owl City's live touring band in 2008.[10]

Musical style and influences

Swimming with Dolphins' music has been described as ambient,[9] electropop,[10] indie-pop[39] and synth-pop.[16] Their debut EP, Ambient Blue is a lot more experimental as the group works with synthesizers and features upbeat dance songs.[4] Their debut studio album, Water Colours, was influenced by 80s' synth-pop music.[13]

Accolades

Cross Rhythms named Water Colours as one of the 20 best albums of 2011.[40]

Band members

Current members

  • Austin Tofte – lead vocals, keyboards, piano, drums, synthesizers, programming

Former members

Former touring musicians

  • Sarah Beintker – vocals, keyboards
  • Torrie James – backing vocals, keyboards

Discography

Studio albums
List of studio albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak chart positions
US
Christ
[41]		 US
Heat.
[42]
Water Colours 4031

Extended plays
List of extended plays, with sales figures
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales
US
Christ
[41]		 US
Heat.
[42]
Ambient Blue
  • Released: September 2, 2008
  • Format: CD, digital download
 ——
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles
Title Year Album
"Fast Car" (cover) 2008 Non-album single
"Sleep To Dream" 2011 Water Colours
"Tromsø" 2013 Catharsis
"Iron Lungs" 2015
"Summer Skin" 2016
"Let You Love"

References
  1. Paul Gibson (June 22, 2010). "Tooth & Nail signs Swimming With Dolphins". Thechristianrock20.com. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  2. "An Evening with Austin Tofte - Swimming With Dolphins". Tumblr. Archived from the original on May 20, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  3. "Swimming with Dolphins Prepare For Full Length Debut Water Colors". louderthanthemusic.com. December 29, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  4. "Ambient Blue EP review on Jesusfreakhideout.com". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  5. "Swimming with Dolphins". louderthanthemusic.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  6. Shahlin Graves (November 26, 2011). "Interview: An Exclusive Indoor-Picnic Date With Breanne Düren". Coupdemainmagazine.com. Archived from the original on February 7, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  7. "Swimming With Dolphins' cover of "Fast Car" on SoundCloud". SoundCloud. Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  8. Rich Smith. "Swimming With Dolphins - Water Colours". louderthanthemusic.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  9. Doug Van Pelt (June 23, 2010). "T&N signs Swimming With Dolphins". HM. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  10. "Tooth & Nail sign electronica pop band Swimming With Dolphins". Cross Rhythms. June 29, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  11. "Electronica's Swimming With Dolphins releases debut album". Cross Rhythms. April 24, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  12. "Swimming with Dolphins Set to Release Water Colors". louderthanthemusic.com. May 13, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  13. Scott Fryberger (May 14, 2011). "Water Colours review on Jesusfreakhideout.com". Jesus Freak Hideout. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  14. "'Sleep To Dream' Official Music Video". Retrieved May 9, 2014 – via YouTube.
  15. "Swimming With Dolphins bio on Jesusfreakhideout.com". Jesusfreakhideout.com. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  16. William Ruhlmann. "Water Colours Review by William Ruhlmann". AllMusic. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  17. "April Artist Update: Tooth & Nail Records, BEC Recordings, Solid State Records". Jesus Freak Hideout. April 7, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  18. "Abandon Kansas Kicks Off Dates With Swimming With Dolphins on March 8". Jesus Freak Hideout. February 8, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  19. "Swimming With Dolphins Launch IndieGoGo Campaign For Catharsis". Jesus Freak Hideout. August 21, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2014.
  20. @SWDmusic (September 16, 2013). "YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING! WE DID IT!!!!! #CATHARSIS WILL HAPPEN!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. "Swimming With Dolphins To Release New Album". November 2, 2013. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. "Austin Tofte (Swimming With Dolphins) on Chris Herlihy". Retrieved May 19, 2014 – via YouTube.
  23. Katie Emmons (September 12, 2013). "Blue Freedom interview with Austin Tofte about Catharsis". Bluefreedomblog.org. Archived from the original on May 13, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  24. ""Tromsø" on SoundCloud". SoundCloud. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  25. ""Tromsø" video on Vimeo". Retrieved June 17, 2014 – via Vimeo.
  26. @SWDmusic (July 24, 2014). "Hang in there friends, we're almost there!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. "Austin Tofte on Catharsis track listing". Facebook. Retrieved August 26, 2014.
  28. "Tentative track listing for Catharsis on Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  29. "New activity on Catharsis". Indiegogo.com. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  30. "As promised, I am excited to share with you all, the first single #summerskin off of my forthcoming album, #Catharsis". Facebook. September 23, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  31. "Hello everyone! A big Christmas update is in the works regarding #Catharsis but in the meantime..." Facebook. December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 30, 2014.
  32. "As promised: Catharsis, 8.4.15". Facebook. May 1, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  33. @SWDmusic (August 5, 2015). "Sadly, no #Catharsis today. Still mixing. New release date soon. Here's a new track to hold you over #ironlungs:" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  34. "I'm at war with myself this evening". Facebook. August 4, 2015. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  35. @SWDmusic (January 11, 2016). "You gone done it! Here's another song off #Catharsis - Have a listen to the new and improved, #SummerSkin" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  36. @SWDmusic (May 6, 2016). "Oh Hi. I'm just gonna leave this here..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  37. "Hello out there". Facebook. December 18, 2017. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  38. "SNEAK PEEK/LISTEN HERE. SONG AND VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON". Facebook. April 1, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
  39. Phil Freeman. "Water Colours - Swimming With Dolphins Review". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on May 15, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  40. "The 20 Best Albums Of 2011". Cross Rhythms. December 16, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  41. "Top Christian Albums: Week of June 4, 2011". Billboard. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  42. "Swimming With Dolphins Chart History – Top Heakseekers Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 1, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
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