Christopher Pravdica

Christopher Pravdica
250px Pravdica performing with Swans in 2014
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Noise rock, experimental rock, post-rock, art rock, indie rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, bartender
Instruments	Bass guitar, electronics, guitar, Jew's harp
Labels	Young God
Associated acts	The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, Services, Swans
Notable instruments
Fender Precision Bass

Christopher Pravdica is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the current bass guitarist of American experimental rock band Swans.

Biography

Pravdica 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). He performed with Flux Information Sciences 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. In 2010, Pravdica joined Swans, which reunited that year. After the reunion, Swans released three studio albums with Pravdica: My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky (2010), The Seer (2012) and To Be Kind (2014).

Pravdica is also a bartender.

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. 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. 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.

For his live performances for Swans, Pravdica uses a Fender Precision Bass with a pick, accompanied mainly by a distortion pedal and an Ampeg head and cabinet. He also occasionally performed on acoustic guitar and Jew's harp on Swans recordings.

Discography

With The Gunga Din

• Introducing (1999)
• Glitterati (2000)

With Services

• Your Desire Is My Business (2005)

With Swans

See also: Swans discography

• My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky (2011)
• We Rose from Your Bed with the Sun in Our Head (2012)
• The Seer (2012)
• Not Here / Not Now (2013)
• To Be Kind (2014)
• The Glowing Man (2016)

Guest contributions

• The Vanity Set – The Vanity Set (2000) – fuzz bass, guitar, banjo, Jew's harp
• The Vanity Set / Sally Norvell – "Jump in the Grave"/"Exit Music (For a Film)" (2001) – guitar

External links

• Young God Records official website