I never wrote poetry, just prose. I don't really consider songwriting a form of poetry either. The words are important, of course,… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
The music takes you. It has to be alive. It's like you hammer something, and the way it happens to bleed leads… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I really wanted to get to the animal core of rock music and eliminate anything that wasn't necessary. — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I'm the band leader. That's not to say that the other people are my minions - they all put in a tremendous… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
Nina Simone was an entertainer. Bob Dylan was an entertainer. Anyone that can occupy a piece of music and make the air… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I went to art school and never thought I'd be a musician, but then punk rock came along in the late 70s… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I am definitely less and less interested in music made by people that exist today, people that are living. I just see… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I'm more interested in pulling out strands of joy from both myself and the audience. I'm not saying the music or songs… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
It's good that people come to the shows because there's nothing fashionable about Swans. Never has been, really. We've never been part… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I'm always trying to push myself into unfamiliar places with the music, sometimes without success, I have to admit. But I'd rather… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
The goal is ecstasy, but I don't want to make some sort of saccharine pop music. I want to make something that's… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
“It was a kind of sado-masochism. I would take the things that were painful to me and elevate them and, through the… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I have my own record company. I have to answer to God, basically. I'm not young, so I want to make the best possible… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
It's good that people come to the shows because there's nothing fashionable about Swans. Never has been, really. We've never been part of a… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
The sexuality of children - there's a lot friction there. That tension interests me a lot. — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I wanted to challenge myself and move into something new. I felt that using the name Swans and the sonic attitude that that engenders… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
When I walk around New York now, there are so many ghosts. I find it very uncomfortable. There were many hard years, and I… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I'm just as comfortable performing solo with just my acoustic guitar and vocal as I am with a band. The main thing for me… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I'm a producer in the old-school way - not just some slacker working on Pro Tools. — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I like loud electric guitars because I like how you can just lose your entire being in the sound. But I can't find myself… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
“An oiled young stud does sit-ups on his Soloflex machine, eviscerates himself with an impossibly honed and gleaming kitchen knife, flings his dangling intestines… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
“I never could read Foucault. I find philosophy tedious. All of my knowledge comes from reading novels and some history. I read Being and… — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
“I like Sade. I’m re-reading Juliette. I skip the philosophy and read the salacious bits. His descriptive imagination is incredible.” — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
I don't throw my body down on the stage at all anymore because I'm sure I'd snap like a twig. — Michael Gira Copy Share Image
