Alex (he/him) is a web developer, multi-instrumentalist, amateur hardware technician, and another light-and-sound-obsessed freak stationed in between the metro parks of Madison, WI. Find him down stage right catching crowd surfers, or holding down stage left in the likes of .zipbomb, Drive Like I Do, luvrcode, and Rottú Kúreki. Alex has contributed a few words in the past, but more recently has worked on designs and custom code to the Swim Into The Sound site over the years. If you ask real nice, though, he has some DIY horror stories to share.

Trapped in the clutches of Minneapolis, Aly (they/she) is a writer, editor, musician, podcaster, and mother of rats. Her work has appeared on- and off-line in various contexts, such as Pitchfork, Post Trash, Aquarium Drunkard, Portable Model, Swim Into The Sound (duh), and more. She makes weird music as purity olympics, tweets a lot, and infrequently puts letters into the news. Her rats are named Aeronautics and Ecology, Aero and Eco to friends. Fix your hearts or die.

Braden is a data enthusiast and midwest emo enjoyer from small-town Kansas. He’s currently a graduate student studying Higgs to Tau Tau decays. When he’s not working on his thesis, he’s either making some ridiculous playlist or running. You can find more of his music writing on Substack, and more of him generally on Instagram and Bluesky.

Britta is a composer, classical pianist, teacher, and journalist from northern California. She is a lover of all things emo and post-hardcore, and in particular will talk your ear off about Pile, Touché Amoré, and her local DIY scene. More often than not, she has her nose in a book (preferably dystopian fiction or existential philosophy). Britta can be found online on Instagram and Bluesky and she is committed to finding joy and community wherever she can find it. 

Caleb Doyle (Kansas City, MO) is a music writer and dive bar enthusiast. He would love to talk to you about pro wrestling, your favorite cheeseburger, and your top 10 American rock bands. Caleb’s writing has been featured in Post-Trash and UPROXX. You can find Caleb on most social media @ ClassicDoyle, or subscribe to his new music Substack, Nightswimming, HERE. (nightswimmingblog.substack.com)

Caro (she/her) takes the band Wednesday very seriously. She’s from New Orleans, Louisiana and lives in Washington D.C. Yes, she has met Ian MacKaye and he was nice. She also runs Jackass World, a blog where she writes essays about Bam Margera. If she could be anyone in The Simpsons, she would be Milhouse.

Caroline is a Washington D.C. area radio host of the show DIY Not on WOWD-LP Takoma Park,music writer, kind of okay bass player in thisdogllhunt, bike nerd, and hot dog enthusiast. Most of her work focuses on exploring the DIY ethos and why more women should be in hardcore (listen to Destiny Bond). She can be found on substack writing about D.C. area DIY music or on instagram @diynotshow. Despite being straight edge she loves her PBR tanktop and she is unwilling to do the work to unpack that. 

Cassidy is a culture writer and researcher currently based in Brooklyn. She loves many things, including but not limited to internet rabbit holes, Caroline Polachek, blueberry pancakes, her cat Seamus, and adding to her record collection. Alongside Swim into the Sound, her writing has been featured in Dazed, Polyester, and The Line of Best Fit. When she’s not writing about her various forms of media consumption on her Substack, Who Invited Her?, she can be found tweeting about Charli XCX or in the midst of a Real Housewives of Beverly Hills marathon.

Ciara is a pathological music lover writing out of a nebulous location somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, fueled by far too much caffeine and always within close proximity of her two cats. By day, she slings coffee and in her free time she pursues her passion for band promotion and management. Ciara has a deep love for her friends and building community everywhere, particularly in DIY music spaces. She consistently appears on most socials as @rhiannon_comma, and you can read more of her earlier works over at rhiannoncomma.substack.com.

David is a Chicago-based multi-dimensional artist who works as a writer, journalist, and photographer. David’s writing and photography have been featured in Stereogum, Spotify, Under The Radar, Northern Transmissions, Swim Into The Sound, and The Ugly Hug. His hidden talent is that he has seen every Leprechaun film at least two times minimum. You can get in touch with David on social media Instagram: @davidmwill89 Twitter: @Cobretti24 or E-Mail david0824wms@gmail.com 

Southern California born and raised, Elias can often be found at the local gig, be it screamo, emo, hardcore or whatever. Their time in the scene is patchwork but their dedication to it and the music that makes it has made up the last few years of their life. They love this shit with the whole of their heart and will talk your ear off about it if you let them. Screamo for fucking ever.

Love your friends. Die laughing.

Joe is an all-purpose creative from Brooklyn, NY. He loves reading, writing, and playing the bass almost as much as he loves his dog. Every now and then, he discovers another reason to love Jimmy Eat World more deeply. Check out all of his work here.

Katie is a music writer and karaoke superstar in Austin, Texas. She is from there, but between 2010 and now, also lived in Lubbock, TX and Portland, OR. Her life is a movie in which her bearded dragon Pancake is the star. You can check out her Substack here. She’s writing a book about growing up alongside her favorite band, Paramore.

Lillian Weber is a fake librarian in New York, originally hailing from the Midwest. Yes, like all your favorite emo music. She’s like a deadhead but for Fugazi. Ask her what her favorite “Suggestion” bootleg is, and you’ll get six competing answers spilling from her at once. She blogs about her experience with this whole gender thing and thoughts on music at all my selves aligned. Lillian’s secret talent is that she's really good at riding a unicycle. 

Logan Archer Mounts hates writing about himself and would much prefer to write about KISS, which he does semi-regularly for the I Still Love You newsletter. You can find him talking more about music on his vinyl collection YouTube channel or concert document Instagram feed. He occasionally makes jokes jokes on Bluesky to tens of followers and lives with his partner and cat, whom he loves very much. The cat mostly just loves french fries and Mortician.

Noëlle Midnight is a photographer, podcaster, and theater technician in Seattle, WA. E can often be caught talking about King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, the subject of er podcast Midnights With the Lizard Wizard that e makes with er wife, Yael. E can also be spotted around Seattle doing photography for local bands and theater companies, audio engineering at the Skinner Theater, and practicing improv with local drop-in groups. E can be found on Bluesky and Instagram.

Ryan is a designer and photographer based out of the Boston-metro area. He currently lives in New Hampshire. You’re most likely to find him on the rail with his camera in hand at any given Metallica show across North America, where he is currently working on a years-long project documenting their most recent tour. Check out the progress of the project on his website and Instagram. When he’s not busy following Metallica around, he likes to kick back and relax with an ice-cold Miller High Life.

Born in Portland, Oregon, Taylor is a lifelong music nerd who has run Swim Into The Sound since it was just a bunch of Google Docs being thrown onto a Tumblr page. When he’s not waxing poetic about his latest obsession on this site, you can find him posting music esoterica online, managing his unwieldy offline music library, or going for a run. After a couple of years in Detroit, a stint in Denver, and an era out in North Carolina, Taylor has recently relocated to the emo mecca of Philadelphia. You can peep his last.fm account or find even more of his nerd shit here.