Christopher Pravdica

Christopher Pravdica
Pravdica performing with Swans in 2014
Background information
BornOctober 2, 1975 (age 48) New York City, United States
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, bartender
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, electronics, guitar, Jew's harp
LabelsYoung God
Formerly ofXiu Xiu, The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, Services, Swans

Christopher Pravdica (born October 2, 1975) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bass guitarist of American experimental rock band Swans.

Biography

Pravdica is a member of the band Human Impact, along with former members of NYC based bands Cop Shoot Cop and Unsane. Ipecac Records released their first full-length album in March 2020. He was a member of New York-based indie rock band The Gunga Din, which was founded in 1998. The band released two studio album, Introducing (1999) and Glitterati (2000).[1] He also puts out solo music under the name We Owe. He performed with Flux Information Sciences[2] on electronics, alongside fellow The Gunga Gin member Siobhan Duffy. After the break-up of Flux Information Sciences, Pravdica and former member Tristan Bechet founded the band Services, which released its debut album Your Desire Is My Business in 2005.[3] In 2010, Pravdica joined Swans, which reunited that year.[2] After the reunion, Swans released six studio albums with Pravdica: My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky (2010), The Seer (2012), To Be Kind (2014), The Glowing Man (2016), Leaving Meaning (2019) and The Beggar (2023).

Pravdica was once also a bartender.[4]

Artistry and equipment

Pravdica's rhythmic bass playing for Swans is characterized for its simple grooves, which takes up an important role in the band's music.[5][6] The minimalist grooves are exemplified on the track "A Little God in My Hands" from To Be Kind, with its 3 note bass line. His basslines are also noted for their "texture and loudness," which cut through the mix.[5] Brice Ezell of PopMatters described bassline of the track "She Loves Us" (To Be Kind) as a "gut-punch of a bassline" while stating: "Pravdica sounds like he could lead an army in a triumphant battle march." Ezell also similarly categorized the basslines of the tracks "Oxygen" (To Be Kind) and "Jim" (My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky) as "infectious" and "catchy," respectively.[6]

For his live performances for Swans, Pravdica uses a Fender Precision Bass with a pick, accompanied mainly by a distortion pedal (Fulltone GT-500) and an Ampeg head and cabinet.[5] He also occasionally performed on acoustic guitar and Jew's harp on Swans recordings.[7]

Discography

We Owe
  • Small Truth (2021)
  • Major Inconvenience (2023)
With The Gunga Din
  • Introducing (1999)
  • Glitterati (2000)
With Services
  • Your Desire Is My Business (2005)
With Swans
See also: Swans discography
Guest contributions

References

  1. ^ Wilson, MacKenzie. "The Gunga Din". Allmusic. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Bre,han, Tom (January 11, 2010). "Swans to Reunite". Pitchfork. Retrieved September 5, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ Posell, Alexander (February 2, 2006). "Services: Disruption and Destruction". XLR8R. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  4. ^ Vallis, Alexandra (November 19, 2008). "Christopher Pravdica Gets Dirty at Hank's and Serves Ski Water at Café Select". Grub Street. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  5. ^ a b c Emiliani, Mike (July 30, 2014). "Anti-funk: How Chris Pravdica brings groove to Swans". Smartbassguitar.com. Retrieved September 5, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Ezell, Brice (May 14, 2014). "The Seer Guides Us to Be Kind: Ten Great Songs by Swans 2.0". PopMatters. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  7. ^ "Christopher Pravdica". Allmusic. Retrieved September 6, 2014.