SWANS

WHERE DOES A BODY END?

PRESS RELEASE

‘WHERE DOES A BODY END?” is the first-ever authorized documentary about the band Swans.

A Kickstarter fundraising effort is being launched to raise production funds and help see the project to fruition.

 

The film will not only focus on the various historical stages of the band’s career but also investigate band founder/leader Michael Gira’s life. Gira’s vision and determination have been the powerhouse that has fueled this group’s run of unprecedented, explosive art for 35 years, a burden shouldered by him for better or worse the whole time.

 

The aim of the documentary is not to be just a traditional music documentary about a band but more of an artistic piece to help put the band and its music in their rightful place in the annals of cultural history. Marco Porsia, the filmmaker, has gained great personal insight into the band by filming them live since 2010.

 

Porsia has filmed countless hours of concert footage from 2010 to the present and collected hundreds of hours of never before seen archival video and photographic documentation of Swans from 1982 to 1997.  This will capture the intensity of the band throughout the years and will be supported with interviews from past and present band members and journalists, as well as important musical figures of the music industry – Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo, JG “Foetus” Thirwell, Karen O, Amanda Palmer, Kid Congo Powers, Jehnny Beth, Daniel Miller,  and Jarboe among them.

 

Consistently at the vanguard of music, as Swans in its current incarnation approaches its ‘end’ with a final album and tour, it is important to capture one of the most influential, unique and powerful bands in history at its peak.

 

35 years of perseverance, creativity and self reliance has seen the band Swans maintain a unique position in modern music. From its inception as a NYC 'noise experience' to its current maelstroms and intensely focused grooves, Swans have not only survived the music industry, they have transcended musical preconceptions by consistently delving into new musical territory. This is a band of collaborators, linked by one man, its leader, Michael Gira.