artists » Denny Scott of Swirl360

Is it true that two heads are better than one? Maybe it is; as brothers Kenny and Denny Scott make up the duo masterminding the creative forces behind the band Swirl360.  

They grew up together in Jacksonville, Florida, fondly referring to themselves as “navy brats,” and spent time either surfing or playing music. Kenny jokes, “High school and college were pretty much a wash because we were at the beach most of the time surfing. Some times I wonder how we ended up with diplomas.”

Surfing later became an inspiration to their music, as Denny explains, “Swirl360 is from a surfing term, and it just stuck with us.” They made their way through the Florida club circuit, and after moving to LA in 1997, the pair was signed to Mercury/Polygram shortly thereafter.

As brothers, they have an advantage, they make up half the band! Of course, there are good and bad aspects to this partnership as well. Denny explains, “The brother dynamic makes it bad, because you are always together, and sometimes it is hard to get along. But our creative friction forces something great to happen.”

For their most recent album, California Blur, the Scott brothers relied heavily on VOX amps for their sound, which is influenced by ‘80s rock greats like U2, INXS and Tears for Fears. They’ve been using VOX gear since their first album was released in 1998, and their arsenal includes the Valvetronix AD15VT, a VBM1 Brian May Special, and the TonelabSE. According to Kenny, “VOX is just a classic sound. You just can’t go wrong in the studio with anything VOX. The smaller amps you can throw a mic in front of them and crank them up and get such cool tones. The Brian May Special kicks ass! We used the TonelabSE for coloring. It’s all over our new album.” Denny adds, “The TonelabSE just has so many options to choose from. Not to mention a real tube sound to it. Having a real tube, you could actually get that great tube compression that you get from a real tube amp. Plus, with the effects, it gave us so many options. We were trying to capture a U2 kind of sound, so VOX was naturally the way to go.”

Typical brothers, they can’t agree on one favorite piece of equipment! Kenny’s favorite? “Right now it’s the AD15VT. I love how VOX has captured that warm tube sound.” Denny doesn’t agree, “I love the AC30. It sounds great and so simple. You can run pedals through it and with any guitar you can sound like a million bucks.”

Still sticking together, the brothers are working on some new projects. This includes a record release through the Indie label, The Orphanage, affiliated with Universal. When Denny went up to see producer Sylvia Massy, he said that when he arrived, “It was funny, because when I got to her studio, she was cutting guitars with an old AC30. It sounded killer. She had a few VOX amps. We are excited to get up there.” They anticipate a release in October.

In the meantime, you can find out more about this musical tag-team and sample some of their latest songs off their album, California Blur at http://www.swirl360.com/ or www.myspace.com/swirl360. But stay with them, as they have a new website coming soon, too!