Swan Dive

Swan Dive on Best Friends Forever

Bill — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 21:11:55 +0000

Our song “Slowly” will be featured on next week’s episode of the new NBC sitcom Best Friends Forever. Tune in April 25th, 7:30 CST to check it out!

When an Eagle meets a Swan

Bill — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 17:00:46 +0000

Exciting news!! This past week, Molly sang background vocals on four songs for Don Henley’s upcoming solo album! Don heard Swan Dive on XM Sirius radio show The Loft (thanks Mike Marrone!), became a fan and sought out Molly for the sessions.

The record, which is being produced by ex-Heartbreaker Stan Lynch, is due for a summer release. Other guest vocalists include The Dixie Chicks, Sheryl Crow and Alison Krauss. Our hats off to Don Henley for having such good taste to choose Molly. We’re excited to have him as a fan!

Extended Stay EP!!

Bill — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:55:38 +0000

Bill DeMain’s first-ever solo EP is now out on iTunes US. Here’s the link:

Bill DeMain – Extended Stay

On February 20th, it will be released in the UK & Europe by the Lojinx label, home to such artists as
Fountains of Wayne, Brendan Benson and Bleu.

Please spread the word!

Facebook Page

Bill — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:27:27 +0000

Ahn yung ha sayo, Konnichiwa, Sbydee mai and Hello to all my Swan Dive friends and fans! Next month, I’m releasing my first-ever solo EP. Don’t worry, Swan Dive is still alive and well, and planning a new record for later this year. In the meantime, if you’re interested in Liking me . . . here’s the link:

Bill DeMain

Instant December

Bill — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:03:48 +0000

Tired of the same ole Christmas songs about snowmen, sleigh bells and Santas? David Mead’s Instant December EP serves up five fresh and festive new tunes to add to the classic holiday songbook. With subjects ranging from annual office parties to Black Friday madness to romantic Manhattan memories, it’s a collection with a warm heart and a wicked sense of humor. All songs are co-written by David Mead & Bill DeMain. So if you’d like to help two hard-working songwriters get some presents for their families this year, please make a small contribution of $5 and download your Instant December EP
instantly at:

Instant December

No One Roxx This Town No More

Bill — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:40:50 +0000

After writing songs for twenty years, I’ve received my first Explicit warning. The song is called “No One Roxx This Town No More,” and it’s featured on my friend David Mead’s excellent new album, Dudes (out November 15th on iTunes, Amazon and so on).

David and I didn’t set out to write an explicit song. Here’s what happened. Two years ago, after he recorded Almost & Always (a record which I had a hand in writing), we collaborated on a follow-up, a concept album, called 1908 Division. It’s about an apartment building in Nashville where David lived after he and his wife divorced. David’s idea was to make each song about and from the point of view of a particular person who lived in this complex. A college exchange student from Zimbabwe, a hairdresser, a girl who worked at a record store, an exotic dancer, a gay couple. It was really an interesting bunch of people, and from a songwriting perspective, a fun challenge to have the music and lyrics reflect their different personalities. The album may still get recorded and released at some point (I hope it does, as they are some of my favorite songs I’ve ever been involved in), but for now, “No One Roxx” provides a titillating sneak preview. The clever spelling in the title should tip you off that the apartment dweller singing this song is an ‘80s hair metal guy. He’s looking back at a vanished rock (rok?) scene in Nashville, lamenting the glory days of the Scorchers and when he was pounding brews at all-night parties on the roof of 1908. It’s not just one objectionable word that earns us the Explicit warning. It’s pretty much the whole song, which by the way, David knocks out of the park, as usual.

One friend who heard it said she couldn’t believe that I’d co-written it. Of course she only knows me as the soft-spoken, mild-mannered songwriter of Swan Dive. She has no idea I can swear like a fucking champ. I did grow up in New Jersey, after all.

Sample lyric:

I balled the ladies down on Elliston Place
High heels came off deep in the dawn
They looked so bitchin’ with their tits in your face
Tattoos inside a Lycra thong

Upcoming Shows!

Bill — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:00:07 +0000

We’re taking our round on the road! Swan Dive, David Mead, Mindy Smith and Jason White will be performing together -

October 14, 8pm – Magnolia Room, Decatur, AL
October 15, 8pm & 10pm – Eddie’s Attic, Atlanta, GA

People in Order

Bill — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 16:31:07 +0000

People from ages 1 to 100 bang the drum. A beautiful short film.

People In Order

Danse With Me George

Bill — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:47:10 +0000

I’ve been revisiting Ambrosia’s second album, Somewhere I’ve Never Traveled. Back before they became west coast MOR yacht rockers with hits like “The Biggest Part Of Me” and “How Much I Feel,” Ambrosia were a full-on art rock group. There’s one song on Somewhere that I’ve always loved, and it’s knocking me out anew. It’s called “Danse With Me George.” It is a tour de force, an 8-minute romp that takes in Aaron Copeland, classical, lounge, mariachi, Brubeck, Queen, and West Side Story all through its Cinemascope lens. Like a lot of art-rock songs, it changes feel and tempo about every 8 measures or so. But unlike a lot of art-rock songs, it’s melodic as hell, and emotionally engaging. And fun. The George in the title is George Sand, the French authoress (real name Amandine Dupin) who wrote under a male pseudonym. The song (which is subtitled Chopin’s Plea) is sung from the viewpoint of her lover, who happened to be the composer Frederic Chopin. It’s a pretty heady concept for a song, right? But Ambrosia make it work. There’s a kind of kitchen sink approach to the thing that I love because it flies in the face of everything pop music is today. It would be near impossible to program this song or put it on a grid. And I can’t help thinking when I listen to it that if the guys in Ambrosia had had cell phones and laptops and Twitter accounts and ProTools back in 1976, they would’ve never come up with “Danse With Me George.” It’s not that they wouldn’t have had the idea, but I’d imagine that it took intense concentration and long, uninterrupted rehearsals to hone the song into shape. With no distractions. And amazingly, for all its overdubs and complexity, they could play the song live. I saw them do it at the Capitol Theater back in the day. These guys were monster musicians. If you don’t know this song or the album Somewhere I’ve Never Traveled, you should seek it out.

“Last Train Home” in The Protector

Bill — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:52:02 +0000

“Last Train Home,” a song I co-wrote with my pal David Mead, will be featured in next Monday’s (August 1st)
episode of The Protector. The show airs on Lifetime at 9pm CST. The episode synopsis reads:

Gloria and Michelle are surprised when the murder of a young woman found floating in a downtown lake leads them into a world of kinky sex parties. Meanwhile, Gloria and Davey’s lives are complicated by an unexpected visit from their mother (guest star Patty Duke).

Kinky sex parties and Patty Duke. Now that sounds like some good TV!