Barry Can’t Swim
When: 9th November 2024 and 10th November 2024
Location: Barrowland
Barry Can’t Swim is the in-demand Scottish producer creating euphoric, jazzy house ear-worms to dance the night away. Coming to Glasgow’s Barrowland on 9th & 10th November 2024.
Few artists have enjoyed such a quick and impactful breakthrough in the dance world in recent years than Edinburgh’s Barry Can’t Swim.
Learning to play piano at the age of nine, music remained an unshakeable focus throughout Joshua Mainnee’s teenage years, working in jazz bars and eventually going on to study music at Edinburgh Napier University. A broad interest in music influenced Mainnee’s hunger to learn other instruments and production skills, and his taste in electronic music specifically was cemented while interning at SOMA Records in Glasgow.
After graduating, Mainnee moved to London and absorbed himself in the rich and dynamic dance scene the capital had to offer. Inspired by the likes of Jai Paul, Oneothrix Point Never and Aleksandir, he began writing and releasing his own electronic music productions in 2019 using the moniker Barry Can’t Swim, releasing his first single ‘Because I Wanted You to Know’ later that year. 2020 singles ‘Sunday At Glasto’ and ‘Someday I Will’ revealed Mainnee’s talent for creating bouncy, vibrant and euphoric ear-worms with an accessible and addictive groove. These traits culminated in his debut EP, Amor Fati, released in 2021 on the Bristol-based record label Shall Not Move.
2022
Featuring the tracks ‘El Layali’ and ‘Jazz Club After Hours’, Amor Fati was a resounding success that lead dance fans and music execs wanting more, and soon after signed to the Ninja Tune label, releasing his second EP More Content on their imprint Technicolour in 2022. The release added a more emotive aspect to Mainnee’s sound, notably on the atmospheric opener ‘Sonder’, and Barry Can’t Swim began collecting more and more mainstream radio plays.
In October 2023 Mainnee released his awaited debut Barry Can’t Swim album When Will We Land?, which within a month or two landed its way onto every respected Best Albums of 2023 end of year list. Featuring the jazzy house cut ‘How It Feels’ and the driving piano anthem ‘Sunsleeper’, When Will We Land? was heralded as “Something quite magical” by CLASH magazine and earnt him the Breakthrough Producer DJ Mag Award and a nomination for Best Dance Act at the 2024 Brit Awards.
In 2024 Barry Can’t Swim surprised fans at Coachella festival with a B2B with Bonobo. As part of a European tour, in November 2024 he will play three back-to-back nights at London’s O2 Academy Brixton before a return to Scotland at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom.
