Michael Gira

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Michael Gira
Gira performing in Glasgow, 2010
Gira performing in Glasgow, 2010
Background information
Birth nameMichael Rolfe Gira
Born (1954-02-19) February 19, 1954 (age 67)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
  • producer
  • author
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • bass
  • keyboards
Years active1979–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websiteyounggodrecords.com

Michael Rolfe Gira (/dʒəˈrɑː/;[5] born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronted Angels of Light. He is also the founder of Young God Records.

Biography[]

Early life[]

Michael Rolfe Gira was born February 19, 1954 in Los Angeles, California[6] to Alice (née Shulte), originally from Iowa, and Robert Pierre Gira. His mother was an alcoholic, and Gira spent much of his early life caring for his younger brother.[7] Gira has commented that his parents were "not around much" during his early childhood.[7]

As an adolescent, Gira was arrested in California several times for petty crimes.[7] Facing the risk of being incarcerated in a juvenile hall, he relocated with his father to Germany[7] following a short stay in South Bend, Indiana.[8] While in Germany, Gira ran away and hitchhiked across Europe, lived in Israel for a year, and spent four and a half months in an adult jail in Jerusalem for selling hashish.[9] He turned 16 when in jail.[10]

Returning to California around age seventeen, Gira worked at a bakery on Redondo Beach Pier, completed his GED, went to community college, and then attended Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.[7] He moved to New York in 1979, where he played in a band called Circus Mort, before forming the band Swans.[11][12] In Manhattan, Gira found employment as a construction worker, doing demolition, sheetrock installation, and plastering.[13]

Swans[]

Main article: Swans (band)

Initially, Swans' focus was raw rhythm and abrasive textures, usually eschewing melody for visceral power, becoming known for their abrasive experimental and post-industrial sound. Their commercial success was limited, but Swans earned critical notice and had a devoted following.

The band's lineup and sound evolved over time, and their music became somewhat more conventional. A marked shift in Swans' music came with inclusion of Gira's partner, Jarboe, who added her ethereal voice and synthesizers to the group in 1985. Gira and Swans spent the next twelve years releasing studio, live, and side-project albums. Gira's frustration with various record labels grew over time, and he disbanded Swans in 1997.

However, in 2010, Gira decided to revive the band, with members new and old. They released a new album titled My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky. A second post-revival album, The Seer, was released in 2012. A third, To Be Kind, was released in 2014. All three were met with increasing critical acclaim. The Glowing Man followed and was released in June 2016. The band's latest album, Leaving Meaning, was released in 2019.[14]

Solo career and Angels of Light[]

Michael Gira performing at The Doug Fir Lounge in Portland, Oregon on March 3, 2009

After dissolving Swans in 1997 Gira released a solo album under his own name and began a new musical direction with Angels of Light, which are a quieter, more acoustic-based group than Swans.

Gira also spent time experimenting with soundscapes, found sound, and loops with The Body Lovers / The Body Haters project. He has also released several albums under his own name including Drainland (1995), a spoken word album called The Somniloquist (2000), and What We Did (2001), a collaboration with Windsor for the Derby's frontman Dan Matz.

Gira founded his own record label, Young God Records, which has released albums from such artists as Devendra Banhart, Mi and L'au, and Akron/Family as well as Swans, The Angels of Light and The Body Lovers' back catalogues.

Akron/Family served as Gira's backing band during the recording of and touring for The Angels of Light's 2005 album, The Angels of Light Sing 'Other People'.

Gira has spoken of his decision to shift his focus from The Angels of Light back to Swans as a move based on impassivity. He has stated, "I had been doing this band Angels of Light for thirteen years, and had reached a kind of impassivity with that, sorta like I had reached an impassivity with Swans when I initially stopped it."[15]

Writings[]

Gira's first short story collection The Consumer (ISBN 1-880985-26-8) was published in 1995 by Henry Rollins's 2.13.61 publications. It is divided into two parts, the first being "The Consumer", a series of short stories from the early 1990s, the second, "Various Traps, Some Weaknesses", made up mostly of prose-poems and vignettes, all dating from 1983–1986. (Many of these earlier stories had previously been published by SST Records as Selfishness, with illustrations by Raymond Pettibon.) The stories contain many disturbing images and scenes including incest, identity loss, murder, self-hatred, rape, and both mental and physical decay.

In February 2018, Gira released his second short story collection, The Egg. Limited to 2,500 hand-signed copies, The Egg compiles seventeen stories written over 2016. Included with the release is a disc containing narrations of a handful of stories from The Egg as well as a few from The Consumer.[16]

Equipment[]

Michael Gira is known for using a Guild antique burst electro acoustic guitar, and a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier during his solo concerts. With Swans, Gira has used a variety of instruments including Ovation acoustic guitars and a Westbury Track II bass guitar during early performances. During the Soundtracks for the Blind and Swans are Dead era, Gira can be seen with a Gibson Lucille (which has since become his main guitar for the Swans reunion) and a Gibson Les Paul. Recent shows have seen Gira using Orange amplifiers and cabinets, as well as Mesa Boogie cabinets.

Solo discography[]

Michael Gira on stage at Stylus, Leeds University, 5 April 2013
Year Title Label
1985 A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse (compilation) Giorno Poetry Systems
1988 Shame, Humility, Revenge
1995 Drainland Sub Rosa/Alternative Tentacles
1999 Jarboe Emergency Medical Fund (live)
2000 Somniloquist Young God Records
2001 What We Did (with Dan Matz) Young God Records
2001 Solo Recordings at Home Young God Records
2002 Living '02 Young God Records
2004 I Am Singing To You from My Room Young God Records
2006 Songs for a Dog
2010 I Am Not Insane Young God Records
2016 I Am Not This Young God Records

References[]

  1. ^ "Listen to Swans frontman Michael Gira's guest mix on BBC 6 Music". Fact. March 13, 2015. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  2. ^ Essner, Dean (August 26, 2014). "Cold Specks – Neuroplasticity". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  3. ^ Stosuy, Brandon (May 8, 2014). "Interviews: Swans". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  4. ^ Nasrallah, Dimitri (October 24, 2010). "Michael Gira: From Uncompromising Swans to Ethereal Angels of Light". Exclaim!. Retrieved July 27, 2015.
  5. ^ "Spinning on Air: The Angels of Light". WNYC. New York Public Radio. October 23, 2005. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  6. ^ "The Birth of Michael Rolfe Gira". California Birth Index. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Lipez, Zachary. "In Search of the Real Michael Gira, From Prison Stays and Madonna Sightings to Swans' Second Coming". Self-Titled. Archived from the original on March 24, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  8. ^ Gladstone, Neil (April 23, 2001). "Angels of Light | Press Clippings | Series 1". CMJ New Music Report. Young God Records. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2013.
  9. ^ Pattison, Louis (October 19, 2010). "Waxing lyrical: Swans' Michael Gira on his love of words". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  10. ^ Clark, Jeff. "Swans – Interview/Stomp and Stammer". swans.pair.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2012.
  11. ^ Ratliff, Ben (September 3, 2010). "Michael Gira and Swans Re-Form for Tour". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2010.
  12. ^ "Circus Mort". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved March 13, 2011.
  13. ^ Grow, Kory (May 26, 2015). "Why Swans Whipped Sheet Metal and Licked CBGB's Floor to Make 'Filth'". Rolling Stone.
  14. ^ "Swans Announce New Album 'Leaving Meaning,' Release "It's Coming It's Real"". Spin. September 5, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  15. ^ "Michael Gira". CrasierFrane.com. October 20, 2010. Archived from the original on September 6, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  16. ^ Gira, Michael. "THE EGG: STORIES BY MICHAEL GIRA". younggodrecords.com. Young God Records. Retrieved February 5, 2018.

Further reading[]

External links[]

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