Mute Swan

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The earliest known lineup of Swans comprised Gira on bass guitar and vocals, Jonathan Kane on drums, Sue Hanel on guitar, Mojo on percussion and tape loops and Thurston Moore, Dan Braun or Jonathan Tessler on the second bass guitar. Kane stated that 'Sue was the most fearsome guitarist we'd ever heard in New York. She was unbelievable.' Their early music was typified by slow and grinding guitar noise, and pounding drums, punctuated by Gira's morbid and violent lyrics (inspired by Jean Genet and Marquis de Sade), usually barked or shouted. Critics have described Swans' early recordings as 'aggressive beyond words'. One of the trademarks of Swans' early period was playing at painfully loud volumes during concerts, sometimes leading to police stopping shows. Gira was also notably confrontational with the audience, such as stepping on people's fingers resting on the stage, pulling people's hair and, notably, physically assaulting anyone caught in the crowd headbanging, something Gira detested.

In Their Own Story

In 1986, Swans released 'Greed', which was not as brutal or noisy as their previous releases, while still being an extremely ominous and dark record. It saw two new and significant musicians join the group: new bassist Algis Kizys and new vocalist/keyboardist Jarboe (who had joined the band a month before the release of the 1985 'Time Is Money (Bastard)' 12-inch, on which she had been credited simply with 'scream'). Her presence began a slow thawing in the overt brutality and energy of Swans' early work. 'Children of God' (1987) further expanded Jarboe's role, acting as a foil to Michael Gira's tales of suffering, torture and humiliation. Gira considers this to be the band's major turning point, saying by 1986/7 Swans 'had run its course with the physical assault of sound that they had employed previously for the most part. I wanted to move on to other things and didn't want to get stuck in some style, which in our case had the potential of becoming cartoonish if we'd continued in that direction.'

Reader's Guide

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. Since Swans' re-formation, Gira has made a point of maintaining the intensity of their live show, stating that it is at once 'soul-uplifting and body-destroying'. He has also sometimes turned off the air conditioning before Swans performed and compared the experience to a Native American sweat lodge.

Did You Know?

• Swans were formed in 1981 by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira.
• The earliest known lineup included Thurston Moore on second bass guitar.
• Their early concerts were played at painfully loud volumes, sometimes leading to police stopping shows.
• Jarboe joined Swans in 1986 and was initially credited simply with 'scream' on the 'Time Is Money (Bastard)' 12-inch.
• Since 1990, all Swans records have been released through Gira's own label, Young God Records.