How he first got interested in poetry was by listening to spoken word recordings of Jim Morrison as a teenager. It inspired him to write and perform. Writing and performing poems are a therapeutic release for him. Some influences are Charles Baudelaire, Jim Morrison and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. After moving from Boston to Seattle in the Fall of 1991, he wanted to make friends by publishing a free 30-35 page xeroxed art & literary zine called The Arm's Extent. It had a logo of a "metaphysical" arm reaching out to its readers on every cover. The Arm's Extent's motto was "Rest Welcome & Be Welcome." "It was kinda like a Star Trek type of mission, to see who's out there in the writing and art universe," describes Chuck. The Arm's Extent lasted from December 1991 to April 2000. It had a humble circulation of 150 to 600 copies, mostly published on a quarterly basis. Chuck eventually moved to Olympia, WA in November 2000 where resides today. He hooked up with an experimental music group The Dead Air Fresheners in early 2001. After hearing his spoken word performances around town, they asked him to collaborate with them. The DAF provided a wall of sound with Chuck's poetry. Three albums were released Verses of Echo (2001), Bastard Customer (2001) and Pleasures Is Where All Labors End (2004). All theses albums have been reissued on youtube.com in 2014. He's also collaborated with other local Olympia music artists in various recordings since then. In the Fall 2013 his first poetry book Of Silent Freedom was published. 

Radio DJ KAOS 89.3FM Olympia, WA 2005-2006, Radio DJ at Free Radio Olympia 98.5FM Olympia, WA (a now defunct station) 2006-2012; As an actor in films The Squeegee Murders (1999), Love At First Sight (2001), Sunlake's rock video "Dimmer" (2001). Documentary - Chuck Swaim With The Dead Air Fresheners: In Front Of The Music (2002).