Tell us about your music – how did you develop your sound?

Swiss is danceable, emotive, pop music. The music is simple and catchy, but the vocals are passionate, delicate and are the driving force behind the songs. Swiss is for the happy and for the sad, for the groovers, the shakers and for the candlestick makers. Every member of Swiss is influenced by different genres of music, which is great because when we begin working on a song, we never know how the final product of the song will sound. We always try to surprise ourselves, coming up with new and exciting sounds. We usually work on chords as a basis and this gives the girls heaps of scope to experiment with melodies and lyrics. Collectively we draw influences from: Bat for Lashes, Phoenix, M83, The Knife and Hot Chip.

Tell us about your live show.

Pop. Music. Props. Flowers. Fairy lights. Vocal mayhem: "Out of breath i went too fast, i went too fast, i went too fast, jungles and the deserts are innocent, innocent..." Phoebe: "it's like a forest, plants everywhere, we want everyone to have fun, to go to another world - bringing nature inside"

How did you form the band – what were you doing before this?

Swiss have been playing live together for two months, but songs have been bubbling away for the last couple of years - it's been our little secret. Phoebe and Lou have known each other since school. Three and a half years has passed and we are all old friends now, and this is what makes Swiss so fun to be part of. It's refreshing every time we play together. Currently, five of us are at various stages of studying music/film/media/design, and Ryan studies birds & trees...

What’s coming up in the future?

Hopefully heaps of summer festivals. We have all grown up as festival goers, and it would be a dream come true for us all. Swiss' music is to be shared with everyone, we want people to feel a part of what we've created. We like playing to big audiences - it's the best feeling in the world, you go from the crowd onto the stage and it's mind blowing - for the first time you get to have another perspective of live music. We'll also be playing live again around Melbourne in mid June, once a few members are back from overseas.

Australian music is?

Really great to be a part of. We feel we are in a time that will be looked back upon fondly in years to come, there are so many good bands playing around at the moment, who all look after and promote each other. It's a very supportive industry that's welcoming to newcomers. In 2009, Australia is an advanced country in terms of accessibility to music in other countries. This has encouraged Australian artists to produce music to stand out on a global scale.