By Jenny Dean
Cover image by: Adam Kennedy
Article images by: Kieran Whitfield
Sunderland-based art-pop band Swindled have been announced as one of the local acts playing the upcoming BBC Big Weekend. Revealed just today, the 5-piece have cemented their place in Sunderland history, with the iconic festival returning to the city for the first time since 2005.
Having already been on the BBC’s radar through plays on BBC North East Introducing hosted by Shakk, as well as being named on their top ten ones to watch out for in 2026, playing the BBC festival seems like a natural step in the bands’ progression, being made even more special by the whole thing happening right in Sunderland itself.
This year’s iteration of the Big Weekend will be spread out over three days in Herrington Park (22nd-24th May) and will be headlined by Zara Larsson – and as always, the BBC Introducing stage will showcase some incredible emerging talent from all over the country, including some of our very own.
The band tells Gan On about the surprise reveal of being told they were going to be playing the festival.
“We found out through Shakk from BBC Introducing. We were rehearsing at Sunderland College…he came in with a camera, so we were like ‘something’s going on here’…he joined us on the stage…and we got the hint by then.”
Support from BBC Introducing has helped launch the careers of some of the countries’ top artists, with this years’ main headliner being a surprise addition to the Introducing stage back in 2023 in Dundee, the same year local lad Tom A. Smith performed as the penultimate act of the day on the same stage, and with Caity Baser following.
Swindled’s first single of 2026, Endless Depression and Sexual Fantasies, was released last Friday, and signals a new era of songwriting and sound for the band. The song signifies the teenage dramaticism of certain emotions, and how, as frontman Jonny explains, “everything feels like the end of the world when you’re that age.” He explains that the song title “summed up being a teenager in the most exaggerated, over-the-top way possible”.
With a packed schedule of live gigs approaching, the band certainly isn’t letting the excitement of the Big Weekend consume their identity – between their support slots at Think Tank Newcastle on 1st March, and The Social Room in Stockton on 6th March, as well as performing an Industry Showcase Headline in London on 24th March, they certainly have a busy time ahead of them, and we, along with the rest of Sunderland, are wishing them the best of luck with it all, and are looking forward to seeing them shine at the Big Weekend (if we’re lucky enough to get tickets).
You can follow Swindled journey over on their Instagram
And you can listen to their tunes here:
