Michael Gira
Encyclopedia
Michael Rolfe Gira (born February 19, 1954) is an American musician, author, and artist. He is the main force behind the recently reformed New York City
musical group Swans
and fronts the Angels of Light
. He is also the founder of Young God Records
.
though they divorced when he was a young teenager. After staying with his alcoholic
mother for much of his youth, he was sent to live with his father in Indiana
and then Paris
.
He ran away from home and hitch-hiked across Europe, and was finally arrested for selling drugs in Israel
. Although he was only a teenager at the time, he was placed in an adult prison for four and a half months. His father found Gira with the aid of Interpol
and sent him back to the United States.
alumni Fredrik Nilsen and Tom Recchion) and enrolled in art school
and imagined that he would someday be a visual artist (Gira sketched obsessively); however, he soon became disillusioned with the elitism and academia surrounding the art world and dropped out. However, Gira's interest in art is known to have affected his music; The Angels of Light song "Inner Female" is a study of Francis Bacon.
In 1979 Gira moved to New York City in order to start a band; he was influenced by No Wave
and noise artists like Suicide
and Glenn Branca
. He played with the band Circus Mort
before forming Swans. Before achieving success with his music, Gira worked many jobs in construction and demolition. He also began a short-lived art magazine, No.
and post-industrial sound. Their commercial success was limited, but Swans earned much 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 the various record labels grew over time, and he disbanded Swans in 1997. However, in 2010, Gira decided to revive Swans, with members new and old, and have recently released and are touring the LP: My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
.
, which are a quieter, more acoustic-based group than Swans. Nonetheless, The Angels of Light retain much of the intensity of Gira's former project.
Gira also spent time experimenting with soundscapes, found sound, and loops with The Body Lovers project. He has also released several albums under his own name including Drainland (1995), The Somniloquist (2000, a spoken word album), 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
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."
'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.
antique burst electro acoustic guitar, and a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier during his solo concerts. In recent Swans performances, he has been using a modified Gibson Lucille through Orange amplifiers.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
musical group Swans
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
and fronts the Angels of Light
The Angels of Light
Angels of Light are an experimental group that was formed circa 1998 by singer/guitarist Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982...
. He is also the founder of Young God Records
Young God Records
Young God Records is an independent record label formed by Michael Gira in 1990 that specializes in experimental, avant-garde and often non genre-specific releases...
.
Early life
Gira lived with his parents in a relatively affluent suburb of Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
though they divorced when he was a young teenager. After staying with his alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
mother for much of his youth, he was sent to live with his father in Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
and then Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
He ran away from home and hitch-hiked across Europe, and was finally arrested for selling drugs in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Although he was only a teenager at the time, he was placed in an adult prison for four and a half months. His father found Gira with the aid of Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
and sent him back to the United States.
Early musical career
Back in Los Angeles, he played in a band called Little Cripples (later to become Bpeople with LAFMSLos Angeles Free Music Society
The Los Angeles Free Music Society has been, since the early 1970s, the banner heading of a loose collective of experimental musicians in Los Angeles, California who were joined by an aesthetic based around radicalism and playfulness...
alumni Fredrik Nilsen and Tom Recchion) and enrolled in art school
Art school
Art school is a general term for any educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. The term applies to institutions with elementary, secondary, post-secondary or undergraduate, or graduate or...
and imagined that he would someday be a visual artist (Gira sketched obsessively); however, he soon became disillusioned with the elitism and academia surrounding the art world and dropped out. However, Gira's interest in art is known to have affected his music; The Angels of Light song "Inner Female" is a study of Francis Bacon.
In 1979 Gira moved to New York City in order to start a band; he was influenced by No Wave
No Wave
No Wave was a short-lived but influential underground music, film, performance art, video, and contemporary art scene that had its beginnings during the mid-1970s in New York City. The term No Wave is in part satirical word play rejecting the commercial elements of the then-popular New Wave genre...
and noise artists like Suicide
Suicide (band)
Suicide is an American electronic protopunk musical duo, intermittently active since 1970 and composed of vocalist Alan Vega and Martin Rev on synthesizers and drum machines. They are an early synthesizer/vocal musical duo....
and Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca
Glenn Branca is an American avant-garde composer and guitarist known for his use of volume, alternative guitar tunings, repetition, droning, and the harmonic series. In 2008 he was awarded an unrestricted grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.-Beginnings: 1960s and early 1970s:Branca...
. He played with the band Circus Mort
Circus Mort
Circus Mort was a post-punk band from new York. Formed in 1979, the band included future Swans leader Michael Gira on vocals, guitarist Rick Oller, bassist Dan Braun, Josh Braun on keyboards and Angelo Pudignano on drums. Jonathan Kane, also of Swans, would become the third drummer for the group...
before forming Swans. Before achieving success with his music, Gira worked many jobs in construction and demolition. He also began a short-lived art magazine, No.
Swans
Initially, Swans' focus was raw rhythm and abrasive textures, usually eschewing melody for visceral power. They became known for their abrasive experimentalExperimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
and post-industrial sound. Their commercial success was limited, but Swans earned much 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
Jarboe
Jarboe is an American singer, songwriter, and keyboardist.Jarboe is a solo artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with the New York City based group Swans. With founder Michael Gira, the duo was the core of Swans until the group broke up in 1998...
, 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 the various record labels grew over time, and he disbanded Swans in 1997. However, in 2010, Gira decided to revive Swans, with members new and old, and have recently released and are touring the LP: My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky
My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky
My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky is a studio album by Swans released on September 23, 2010; it is their first studio recording in 14 years...
.
Solo career and Angels of Light
After dissolving Swans in 1997 Gira released a solo album under his own name and began a new musical direction with The Angels of LightThe Angels of Light
Angels of Light are an experimental group that was formed circa 1998 by singer/guitarist Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982...
, which are a quieter, more acoustic-based group than Swans. Nonetheless, The Angels of Light retain much of the intensity of Gira's former project.
Gira also spent time experimenting with soundscapes, found sound, and loops with The Body Lovers project. He has also released several albums under his own name including Drainland (1995), The Somniloquist (2000, a spoken word album), and What We Did (2001), a collaboration with Windsor for the Derby
Windsor for the Derby
Windsor for the Derby are an American post-rock band based in Austin, Texas, whose members are originally from Tampa, Florida.Their debut album was released in 1996 on Trance Syndicate, and was produced by Adam Wiltzie, who then joined the group after the release of the album...
's frontman Dan Matz.
Gira founded his own record label, Young God Records
Young God Records
Young God Records is an independent record label formed by Michael Gira in 1990 that specializes in experimental, avant-garde and often non genre-specific releases...
, which has released albums from such artists as Devendra Banhart
Devendra Banhart
Devendra Obi Banhart is a singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Houston, Texas and was raised by his mother in Venezuela, until he moved to California as a teenager. He began to study at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1998, but dropped out to perform music in Europe, San...
, Mi and L'au, and Akron/Family
Akron/Family
Akron/Family is a folk-influenced experimental rock band that formed in 2002, and its members currently live in Portland, Oregon , Tucson, Arizona and New York City, New York.-Music and history:...
as well as Swans, The Angels of Light and The Body Lovers' back catalogues.
Akron/Family
Akron/Family
Akron/Family is a folk-influenced experimental rock band that formed in 2002, and its members currently live in Portland, Oregon , Tucson, Arizona and New York City, New York.-Music and history:...
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
The Angels of Light
Angels of Light are an experimental group that was formed circa 1998 by singer/guitarist Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982...
to Swans
Swans (band)
Swans are an influential American post-punk band initially active from 1982 to 1997, led by singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Michael Gira. The band was one of the few groups to emerge from the early 1980s New York No Wave scene and stay intact into the next decade. Formed by Gira in...
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."
Writings
Gira's short story collection The Consumer (ISBN 1-880985-26-8) was published in 1995 by Henry RollinsHenry Rollins
Henry Rollins is an American singer-songwriter, spoken word artist, writer, comedian, publisher, actor, and radio DJ....
's 2.13.61
2.13.61
2.13.61, Inc. is a publisher and record company founded by musician Henry Rollins and named after his birthday . The company has released albums by the Rollins Band, all of Rollins's spoken-word work, and numerous books....
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
SST Records
SST Records is an American independent record label formed in 1978 in Long Beach, California by musician Greg Ginn. The company was initially called Solid State Transmitters through which Ginn sold electronics equipment...
as Selfishness, with illustrations by Raymond Pettibon
Raymond Pettibon
Raymond Pettibon is an American artist who currently lives and works in Venice Beach, California.-Early life:...
.) The stories contain many disturbing images and scenes including incest, identity loss, murder, self-hatred, rape, and both mental and physical decay.
Equipment
Michael Gira is known for using a GuildGuild Guitar Company
The Guild Guitar Company is a USA-based guitar manufacturer founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge, a guitarist and music-store owner, and George Mann, a former executive with the Epiphone Guitar Company...
antique burst electro acoustic guitar, and a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus Guitar Amplifier during his solo concerts. In recent Swans performances, he has been using a modified Gibson Lucille through Orange amplifiers.
Solo discography
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse A Diamond Hidden in the Mouth of a Corpse is a 1985 compilation released on the Giorno Poetry Systems label.-Track listing:... (compilation) |
Giorno Poetry Systems Giorno Poetry Systems Founded in 1965, Giorno Poetry Systems was an American artist collective, record label, and non-profit organisation founded by poet and performance artist John Giorno with the direct aim to connect poetry and related art forms to a larger audience using innovative ideas, such as communication... |
| 1988 | Shame, Humility, Revenge | Product Inc. |
| 1995 | Drainland | Sub Rosa Sub Rosa (label) Sub Rosa is a record label based in Brussels. The label was established at the end of the ‘80s, and expanded its catalogue in the mid-‘90s through the release of electronic music. Directed by Guy Marc Hinant and Frédéric Walheer, the label has released over 250 titles... |
| 1999 | Jarboe Emergency Medical Fund (live) | |
| 2000 | Somniloquist | Young God Records Young God Records Young God Records is an independent record label formed by Michael Gira in 1990 that specializes in experimental, avant-garde and often non genre-specific releases... |
| 2001 | What We Did (With Dan Matz) | Young God Records |
| 2001 | Solo Recording 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 | Lumberton Trading Co. |
| 2010 | I Am Not Insane I Am Not Insane I Am Not Insane is a 2010 album by Michael Gira. The release consists of a CD of new material, and a DVD of two live shows that includes a 16 minute "mini-doc" on Gira's new material in acoustic demo form, shot and edited by Francisco Macias. Several songs were considered, and eventually revised,... |
Young God Records |