| Christopher Pravdica | |
| Birth Date: | October 2, 1975 (age 48) New York City, United States |
| Occupation: | Musician, songwriter, bartender |
| Instrument: | Bass guitar, electronics, guitar, Jew's harp |
| Label: | Young God |
| Past Member Of: | Xiu Xiu, The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, Services, Swans |
Christopher Pravdica (born October 2, 1975) is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the bass guitarist of American experimental rock band Swans.
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 band The Gunga Din, which was founded in 1998. The band released two studio album, Introducing (1999) and Glitterati (2000).[1] He also puts out solo music under the name We Owe. 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.[2] In 2010, Pravdica joined Swans, which reunited that year.[3] 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.[4]
Pravdica's rhythmic bass playing for Swans is characterized for its simple grooves, which takes up an important role in the band's music.[5] 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.[5] 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.[6]
For his live performances for Swans, Pravdica uses a Fender Precision Bass with a pick, accompanied mainly by a distortion pedal (Fulltone GT-500) and an Ampeg head and cabinet.[5] He also occasionally performed on acoustic guitar and Jew's harp on Swans recordings.[7]
See also: Swans discography.