With new album in tow, experimental rock band Swans to perform at Metro in Chicago

Photo illustration by Phil Puleo

By ERIC SCHELKOPF

It seems that experimental rock band Swans breaks new musical ground with every album it makes.

Such is the case with its latest album, "The Beggar."

Swans will perform May 11 at the Metro, 3730 Clark St., Chicago. Also on the bill is Kristof Hahn.

The show starts at 9 p.m. and tickets are $32 in advance, $37 the day of the show, available at Metro's website at metrochicago.com.

I had the chance to talk to Swans frontman Michael Gira about the album and upcoming show.

Q – Great talking to you again. How has the tour been going? You must be pleased

that several of the shows sold out.

 

This tour has been going for over a year so it’s hard to judge how it’s been going. It’s like being inside a very warm, red dream at this point… I’m happy to see people at the shows, particularly very young people. 

 

It’s heartening that the music continues to percolate through the culture.

 

Q – Along with performing new songs on the tour, I understand you are performing reworked versions of songs you performed on last year's tour. What made you want to do that and how do you think the new versions compare to the previous versions?

 

With us, the music changes gradually from night to night. The pieces are always evolving. Even the new pieces are evolving from where they were when we first started playing them recently. The original songs are just a starting point.

 

Q – Is there a meaning behind the name of the album "The Beggar"?

 

Well, that’s the name of one of the pieces on the album, and it seemed the most appropriate to use as an album title. The song itself grew out of thinking about abjection and its potential as food for strength.

 

Q – In sitting down to make the album, what were your goals and do you think you accomplished them? How do you think it compares to your previous efforts?

 

It’s one long continuous stream of music from the very beginning in 1982/3 until now. The music evolves slowly and naturally according to its own dictates.

 

I’m just an animated puppet following its directives, allowing it to sing through me and by extension through the people with whom I work. So I don’t really have any goals and I don’t compare one album to another.

 

It’s all one living creature that’s constantly re-birthing itself in new forms.

 

Q – I understand that when you were writing the songs for "The Beggar," you took the approach that these could be your last songs. But after playing again live, I understand that you have written some new songs and feel 15 years younger. What changed your mind?

 

COVID-19 and isolation had the effect of a wet pillow expanding inside the confines of the skull and possibility and imagination seemed to shrink accordingly.

 

Thankfully, I managed to write the songs, the basic premise for the album, and through getting out in the world again new possibilities presented themselves and fed my starved blood and mind with a replenishing life force once again. 

 

Q – Is it an honor to be called the world's loudest experimental band? What goals do you have for your live shows?

That seems silly, thanks anyway. The goal of the live shows is to get out of the way and to let the sound and music take over, both us and the audience, completely.

Q – Are there any songs that you especially love playing live?

At this point performing is like breathing to me, so I don’t have a preference for one breath over another. Our live set is really one long piece now. 

 

Photo by Nicole Oike

Q – What was your approach in making the song "The Beggar Lover (Three)"? Was it easier or harder to make a song of such length?

There was a huge amount of material to consider while making this piece, and the task was to dive into the whirlpool and attempt somehow to wrestle the competing elements that were attacking me into a cohesive shape. The length of the piece was determined by the moment when time and energy ran out. 

 

It could have continued much longer. In fact I wish that it had. 

Q – You have said that when music is successful, "it’s an unfolding presence, a warm ocean of stars, or a river of blood, urine, and semen in which the listener floats eternally, bathed in the salve of sound and love. Swim!"

Yes, I suppose I said that. Seems like a decent goal to me.

Q – What kinds of things have people told you after listening to your music?

I regularly speak with people after the shows and I’m most heartened when people tell me that the music has been a positive force in their lives.