Group

Swans

US art rock/post‐punk band

From: New York, United States
Since: 1982–present
Rating: ★ 4.4 (8 votes)
Releases: 73

noise rock
post-punk
experimental
industrial rock
no wave
post-rock
experimental rock
gothic rock

About

Swans are an American experimental rock band formed in 1981 by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. One of the few acts to emerge from the New York City–based no wave scene and stay intact into the next decade, Swans have become recognized for an ever-changing sound, exploring genres such as noise rock, post-punk, industrial and post-rock. Initially, their music was known for its sonic brutality and misanthropic lyrics. Following the addition of singer, songwriter and keyboardist Jarboe in 1986, Swans began to incorporate melody and intricacy into their music. Jarboe remained the band's only constant member with Gira and semi-constant guitarist Norman Westberg until their dissolution in 1997.

In 2010, Gira re-formed the band without Jarboe, establishing a stable lineup of musicians which toured worldwide and released several albums to critical acclaim. This iteration of the group performed its last shows in November 2017, ending the tour in support of its then most recent album The Glowing Man. Since 2019, Gira has been touring and recording with Swans as "a revolving cast of contributors". The band's latest album, Birthing, was released on May 30, 2025. Since 1990, all Swans records have been released through Gira's own label, Young God Records.

From Swans (band) on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members

Michael Gira 1982–1997, 2010–now · original member lead vocals, piano, guitar, keyboard, bass guitar
Norman Westberg 1983–1990, 1993–1995, 2010–2017, 2024–now guitar
Kristof Hahn 1988–1992, 2010–2017, 2019–now background vocals, guitar, lap steel guitar
Larry Mullins 1995–1996, 2019–now percussion, drums (drum set), mellotron, vibraphone
Phil Puleo 1997–1997, 2010–2017, 2019–now background vocals, percussion, drums (drum set)
Christopher Pravdica 2010–2017, 2019–now keyboard, bass guitar
Dana Schechter 2019–now electric bass guitar, keyboard, lap steel guitar
Lary Seven now
Daniel Galli‐Duani 1981–1982 · former saxophone
Jonathan Kane 1981–1983 · former percussion, drums (drum set)
Dan Braun 1982–1982 · former bass guitar
Sue Hanel 1982–1982 · former guitar
Thurston Moore 1982–1982 · former bass guitar
Jonathan Tessler 1982–1982 · former percussion, bass guitar
Bob Pezzola 1982–1983 · former guitar
Roli Mosimann 1982–1984 · former percussion, drums (drum set)
Harry Crosby 1983–1986 · former bass guitar
John Hood 1984–1984 · former drums (drum set)
Ivan Nahem 1984–1985 · former drums (drum set)
Ronaldo Gonzalez 1985–1987 · former drums (drum set)
Ted Parsons 1985–1987, 1991–1991, 1993–1995 · former percussion, drums (drum set)
Algis Kizys 1986–1988, 1991–1995 · former bass guitar
Jarboe 1986–1997 · former lead vocals, organ, keyboard
Sami Kumpulainen 1988–1988 · former bass guitar
Jason Asnes 1989–1989 · former bass guitar
Virgil Moorefield 1989–1989 · former drums (drum set)
Vinnie Signorelli 1989–1992 · former percussion, drums (drum set)
Anton Fier 1990–1991 · former drums (drum set)
Jenny Wade 1990–1991 · former bass guitar
Clint Steele 1990–1998 · former acoustic guitar, electric guitar
Bill Rieflin 1993–1996 · former drums (drum set)
Joe Goldring 1995–1996 · former guitar, bass guitar
Vudi 1995–1996 · former guitar, keyboard
Bill Bronson 1997–1997 · former bass guitar
Thor Harris 2010–2016, 2017–2017 · former percussion, drums (drum set), vibraphone, keyboard
Paul Wallfisch 2016–2017 · former keyboard
Yoyo Röhm 2019–2019 · former double bass, keyboard, bass guitar
Ben Frost 2020–2020 · former synthesizer, mellotron, guitar