Interview with Michael Gira of Swans

This week we're interviewing Michael Gira: leader, vocalist, guitarist, and main songwriter for the legendary Swans. Swans' latest album, entitled Birthing, releases on May 30 and is reported by Gira to be the band's final large-sounding, expansive album. Michael was generous enough to have a phone conversation with Mike and Tom to talk all about it, as well as his creative process as a whole. Swans are a band like no other and if you haven't already, check out all of our episodes chronicling each of their studio albums.   Episode 150: Swans (Pt. 1) https://youtu.be/R5ltWzL0vI8 Episode 160: Swans (Pt. 2) https://youtu.be/J4dbhdpO84Y Episode 170: Swans (Pt. 3) https://youtu.be/QEQmqFQ-rbE   Intro 00:00 Interview Start 1:27 The Initial Songwriting Process 5:58 Michael's Lyrical Themes and Motifs 8:20 Outside Influences on Birthing 11:58 Why Michael Chose Music Instead of Art 17:41 Swans' Live Performances 18:57 Percussion Choices on Birthing 25:13 Composing Birthing's Songs In-Studio 26:36 Did Michael Plan for This To Be the Last Big Swans Album? 30:06 The New Direction for Swans 31:40 2025 Touring Plans, Birthing Release 32:25 Closing Words with Michael 35:25 Outro 36:05   ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Patreon https://www.patreon.com/everyalbumever   Merch https://pandermonkey.creator-spring.com/   Mike's EP: Pander Monkey on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple,   Mike on Instagram @pandermonkey Alex on Bluesky @octatron3030 Tom on Instagram @tomosmansounds   History Tom's stuff: Music on Spotify, Apple Podcast on Spotify, YouTube Substack Website