How to Swim were formed at Glasgow School of Art in late 2000 by Gregor Barclay (vocals and guitar), then a 1st year architecture student.

The band began as a six piece, comprising Barclay and fellow undergraduates: bassist Tang Chi Meng, percussionist Michael Bates, drummer Benedict Radcliffe, guitarist Mark Chapman and multi-instrumentalist Anna Webster.

The material from this period was recorded and performed by Barclay, with violinist Pauline McMullen and bassist Tang Chi Meng (by this point the only surviving member from the 'classic' line-up.)

The release found some limited radioplay; the band were interviewed on Jim Gellatly's Beatbreakers programme on the now-defunct XFM Scotland (then Beat 106).

More ambitious than previous recordings, the EP included a string quartet (arranged by Ross McCrae, then of The Poppadoms), brass, timpani and clarinet.

and The List, with Channel 4's Teletext service Planet Sound making it their 'Demo of the Week', stating that "Of the released CDs we receive, 98% are nowhere near this imaginative."

Adding keyboard player Jenny Wan (formerly of My Legendary Girlfriend), cellist Patrick Johnson, violinist Mhairi Ross, flautist Heather North (replacing a departing Fiona Burns) and Ross McCrae on trombone, the band played at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in July 2005 for the first time as an eleven-piece; a line-up that would remain intact for another year.

Planning a debut album, to be titled A Little Orgasm of Disappointment, the band began recording, again with Gav Thomson, at Berkeley 2, Glasgow, in September 2005.

Shortly afterwards, time and money restrictions brought about the decision to release the record as a six-track mini-album, rather than the full 15 tracks planned.

Around this time a consistent lineup began to solidify, including Glasgow band regulars Paul Joseph Kelly (The Martial Arts, Carla J. Easton, BMX Bandits), Dave Gillies (Dirty Keys, Colin's Godson) and Ian Cronan (Mother and the Addicts).

With the recruitment in 2014 of tenor saxophonist Alexander Lambton the band's lineup would finally settle as a six-piece, a configuration and company that would remain consistent for over ten years.

In March 2024 the band released Bars 'n' Loners, a compilation album bringing together all three Barcelona EPs in one volume, completing the 'Barcelona project'.

Over the years the band have shared bills with established acts including Sons and Daughters, Errors, HENGE, Loki, Dananananaykroyd, Gravenhurst, The Phantom Band, Broken Records, The Twilight Sad, The Low Miffs, Dawn of the Replicants, Misty's Big Adventure, Wild Beasts, Kimya Dawson, My Life Story, Amusement Parks on Fire, The Fire Engines, The Twistettes, The Bluebells and Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players.