Omega Swan Beats the System
Nashville locals Marcus Garceau, Will Burgess, and Aaron Westine live a life of alternative-blues and metal, better known as Omega Swan. Influenced by different genres, styles, and decades on a song-by-song basis, front-man Marcus Garceau sites AC//DC, Jack White, and Led Zeppelin as personal favorites.
“I love Jimmy Page because he’s extremely talented with musical arrangements, like in ‘Kashmir’ and stuff,” said Garceau. “I’m definitely a music first person. It’s more difficult for me to tap into the part of my brain needed to write lyrics; I’m visual and attach to sonics. The only way I can write lyrics is if I sit down with an arrangement.”
The band formed about a year and a half ago after its original members attended and graduated from Belmont University, playing house shows as they went. They are currently working towards an album that will encompass their classic rock influences while incorporating the sounds of Nile Rodgers, the disco era, and the 1980s.
“Our new stuff is about the fundamental root of rock and roll, which is being against the system. It’s about passion and fire and missed opportunities to follow dreams,” said Garceau. “The new stuff comes from the idea of knowing your worth and knowing what you want and then working really fucking hard to make it happen.”
Omega Swan produces their own music out of a home studio, lived in by Garceau and Burgess, and are currently working towards perfecting their upcoming EP. The band will play this Friday, July 10th at Soulshine Pizza Factory, and their new song “Hate Love” is out now.
“We do want to say something,” said Garceau. “We make music, and some of it is for fun, but some of it has a message.”
WRITTEN BY AZIZA CUNNINGHAM