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

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, wit ...

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 Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band The Gunga Din, which was founded in 1998. The band released two studio album, ''Introducing'' (1999) and ''Glitterati'' (2000). He also puts out solo music under the name We Owe. He performed with Flux Information Sciences on

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

, 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 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 A bartender (also known as a barkeep or barman or barmaid or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the Bar (establishment), bar, usually in a licensed bar (establishment), establishment as ...

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 ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

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 The Fender Precision Bass (or "P-Bass") is a model of bass guitar, electric bass guitar manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument ...

with a pick, accompanied mainly by a

distortion In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...

pedal (Fulltone GT-500) and an Ampeg head and cabinet. He also occasionally performed on

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and

Jew's harp The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, juice harp, or mouth harp, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame. Despite the colloquial name, the Jew's harp most likely originated in ...

on Swans recordings.

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 * '' My Father Will Guide Me up a Rope to the Sky'' (2010) * '' 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 Gate'' (2015) * '' The Glowing Man'' (2016) * '' Leaving Meaning'' (2019) * '' The Beggar'' (2023) * '' Birthing'' (2025) ;Guest contributions * The Vanity Set – ''The Vanity Set'' (2000) –

fuzz bass Fuzz bass is a style of playing the electric bass or modifying its signal that produces a buzzy, distorted, overdriven sound. Overdriving a bass signal significantly changes the timbre, adds higher overtones (harmonics), increases the susta ...

, guitar, banjo,

* The Vanity Set / Sally Norvell – "Jump in the Grave"/" Exit Music (For a Film)" (2001) – guitar

References

External links

Young God Records official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pravdica, Christopher American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American rock songwriters American male songwriters Noise rock musicians American experimental musicians Swans (band) members Alternative rock bass guitarists Living people Guitarists from New York City American male guitarists Human Impact members 1975 births