barry can't swim

On the cusp of a breakout year, Joshua Mainnie talks trusting his instincts, how he finds true originality, and why dance music needs to take itself less seriously

- WILL RICHARDS

FOR YEARS BEFORE he became Barry Can't Swim, Joshua Mainnie couldn't decide what he wanted. The Edinburgh-raised, London-based musician played every role in multiple indie bands while sharing his love of jazz and electronic music across a host of projects, before he made one of them stick.

"I get very bored very quickly," the Scotsman chuckles over video call from Montreal, where he's heading towards the end of a sold-out tour of North America. Straight afterwards, he'll be into rehearsals for a new live show that will hit London's Roundhouse, Coachella and more. "If I ever started a project and it didn't go in the direction that I wanted within six or nine months, I'd often drop it," he admits now, even saying that "the Barry thing" didn't have much conscious thought put into it at the outset. "When you start this shit, you don't think it's going to become your whole life!" he laughs. "I thought the name was a bit of a funny joke and just ran with it."

Against his natural instincts, it looks like Mainnie will have to remain as Barry Can't Swim for a long time. In the few years since the project's inception, Mainnie has become one of the most buzzy and in-demand figures on the UK's dance music scene, propelled by his eclectic and dazzling debut album When Will We Land?, released via Ninja Tune in late 2023. On it, he traverses jazz, club music and beyond with astonishing attention to detail. His live show, meanwhile, has packed rooms at home and abroad, as well as at Glastonbury and beyond.

"What I've been doing has fortunately resonated with people in a certain way, and it's made it easier for me to stay enthused by it," he says. "You want people to enjoy what you do, and if you say you don't, you're kidding yourself. Why are you making music and releasing it outside of your bedroom then?"