Anti-Swag prepares for Rhino's

Seniors Elie Abraham and Thomas Frick — or, as you may know them, C. DeL and Fricktion — make all their own beats and have performed across Bloomington as Anti-Swag Fiend Party.

Yet, surpisingly, C. DeL can count all the hip-hop-style shows he’s played on one hand.

“We’re known for our experimental nature,” he said. “We’re not accepted by the hip-hop scene.”

This weekend, Anti-Swag will have a release party for its album “We’re Your Age.”
The show begins at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Rhino’s All Ages Music Club. All proceeds from the entrance fee, which is $5, will go to the Humane Society, according to the event poster.

Anti-Swag will be joined by Fly Painted Feathers and Charlie Patton’s War.
C. DeL said he loves Fly Painted Feathers’ energy, which he described as “rowdy rock.”

“Fly Painted Feathers has a very punk element and definitely an indie element,” Fricktion said.

As for Charlie Patton’s War, he said he met the band’s drummer at Hip Hop Congress and learned his band is not at all hip-hop.

“(Charlie Patton’s War) is a bluesy rock band with energy, which makes for an energy-packed show,” Fricktion said.

Anti-Swag spits lyrics about a number of topics: gremlins, crocodiles, animal cruelty and anti-swag.

“Our anthem ‘anti-swag’ is why we started,” C. DeL said. “It’s how we feel about radio rap.”

Certain rap and hip-hop artists perform for money and fame and even admit to it in their music, he said.

Anti-Swag, however, is “sonically and lyrically diverse,” C. DeL said.

The song “Crocodile Deathroll,” inspired by a song about bears by the band HORSE, is named after “a move crocodiles use to incapacitate their prey,” Fricktion said.

“They bite into their prey while rolling it into the water and drowning it,” Fricktion explained. “It’s one of the most terrifying ways you could perish.”
C. DeL added that it is a serious song.

“It’s a very vivid description of crocodiles,” he said. “Who normally talks about that?”    

Anti-Swag’s ability to address such obscure topics in its songs isn’t surprising to those who know the musicians personally, though.

“Their music shows a lot of their personalities,” sophomore Lia Snyderman said.
“They’re a lot of fun to watch, and their lyrics have a lot of meaning.”

As a friend and fan of the band, Snyderman used her artwork to assist Anti-Swag’s fundraising efforts for its album production.

For the band’s Kickstarter page, a website that allows people to pledge money to projects, she painted portraits for people who donated a certain amount.

“I wanted to help out more than just donating money,” Snyderman said.

The duo said it’s been rewarding to receive so much support from friends and fans who genuinely appreciate the music.

“We don’t have to feel like we’re dragging our friends to shows,” Fricktion said. “We can tell when it’s sincere.”

He added that being in the band is surreal for him.

While he had been involved in music during high school, he said he never escaped the crowd he knew. Now, people he doesn’t know come up to compliment his music.
“It’s foreign and out of this world to me,” Fricktion said.

C. DeL said the band has received great support from friends and classmates, from promotion and poster design to people who wish to help with videos.

“I like that some of their songs are completely ridiculous, while other tracks have underlying emotional content,” Snyderman said.    

The album’s love song, “Squidlings,” follows the “rowdiest, heaviest song” on the album, “Grem,” Frickman said. It also precedes the song he said has the most controversial lyrics, “It Tastes So Good (But Now I Know).”

“It keeps things fresh,” he said. “We wanted the contrast, for it to hit hard, out of the blue.”

This hard-hitting song is about animal cruelty, and as vegans and animal lovers, C. DeL said they were set on including it.

“There’s a difference between animal lovers and pet lovers,” C. DeL said. “If people truly love animals, they would not slaughter them.”

“Grem,” based on the film “Gremlins,” is in a more lighthearted vein.

“It’s a fun song, but it’s a creepy narrative.,” C. DeL said. “We wrote it as if we were taking it really seriously.”

The band went to Manhattan, N.Y., to work on the album and have it mixed and mastered professionally.

“There’s a world of difference,” Fricktion said of the raw material and finished product.
Both he and C. DeL said the price tag was completely worth it, and even if they still have some to pay off, they’re dedicated to having the show to benefit the Humane Society.

After graduation, C. DeL will return to Finland, where he has citizenship.

While he doesn’t know how long he’ll be there, he said he looks forward to spending time with his family and godson, but Anti-Swag Fiend Party won’t cease to exist.
With graduation nearing, and this the last show for a while, the band intends to go out with a bang.

“I feel strongly that this will be one of the best shows, beyond other years,” C. DeL said.