Will Swan (musician)

Will Swan (born December 5, 1985)^[3] is an American musician, A&R, and guitarist. He is most prominently known as the lead guitarist and founder of post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance and as the founder of his record label Blue Swan Records.^[4][5] He also is the guitarist for the bands Sianvar and Secret Band.^[6] He is known occasionally as a rapper.^[7]

Career

Farewell Unknown (2003–2005)

Will Swan began his music career as the founder and lead guitarist for the post-hardcore band Farewell Unknown with vocalist Joel Rabara, percussionist Drew Ochwat, guitarist Alvaro Alcaca, and bass guitarist Eric Lodge.^[8] The band released one studio album, The 40 Day Fake Out, on October 19, 2004.^[9] After disbanding in 2005, Swan and Lodge both recruited drummer Matt Mingus and vocalists Jon Mess and Jonny Craig to form the post-hardcore band Dance Gavin Dance in 2005.^[10]

Dance Gavin Dance (2005–present)

Dance Gavin Dance formed in Sacramento, California with members Jonny Craig, Jon Mess, Sean O'Sullivan, Eric Lodge, and Matthew Mingus, along with Swan. The band released their debut EP, Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean on November 14, 2006, later signing a recording contract with Rise Records. They released the singles "And I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman" and "Lemon Meringue Tie", subsequently releasing their debut full-length studio album, Downtown Battle Mountain on May 15, 2007 through Rise and charted at No. 46 on the U.S. Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums chart.^[11] In 2008, Craig and O'Sullivan departed from the band and were later replaced by vocalist Kurt Travis and guitarist Zac Garren, releasing their sophomore self-titled studio album, Dance Gavin Dance, on August 19, 2008. In 2008, vocalist Jon Mess and bass guitarist Eric Lodge left the band. Swan pursued both lead and rhythm guitar along with unclean vocals and Lodge was replaced by Jason Ellis. Happiness was released as the band's third studio album on June 9, 2009 and was lead by the singles "Don't Tell Dave" and "NASA." In 2010, original vocalists Jonny Craig and Jon Mess and bass guitarist Eric Lodge rejoined the band, therefor Travis, Garren, and Ellis left the band, and recorded their fourth studio album Downtown Battle Mountain II, a follow-up sequel to the band's debut studio album. The album was released on March 8, 2011 and charted at No. 82 on the Billboard 200, No. 13 on the Independent Albums chart, and No. 4 on the Hot Rock Albums chart.^[11]

Craig and Lodge each left the band throughout 2012, leading to vocalist Tilian Pearson, bass guitarist Tim Feerick, and guitarist Josh Benton joining the band. The band released their fifth studio album, Acceptance Speech on October 8, 2013 peaking at No. 42 on the Billboard 200, No. 13 on the Alternative Albums chart, No. 7 on the Independent Albums chart, and No. 6 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart. With Benton leaving the band following the album's release, Dance Gavin Dance released their sixth studio album, Instant Gratification, on April 14, 2015 charting at No. 32 on the Billboard 200, becoming their best-selling album to date. In celebration of the band's 10-year anniversary, they embarked on their 10 Year Anniversary North American Tour with supporting acts Slaves, A Lot Like Birds, Strawberry Girls, and Dayshell.^[12] The tour took place from November 13 to December 19, 2015.^[13]

Secret Band and Sianvar (2011–present)

Along with other Dance Gavin Dance members Eric Lodge, Matthew Mingus, and Jon Mess, Will Swan formed the band Secret Band in 2011. The name of the band derives from the idea of keeping it a secret from other members of Dance Gavin Dance, more so from vocalist Jonny Craig. The band released their self-titled debut EP on June 2014^[14] and later released their self-titled debut full-length album, SECRETBAND LP, in July 2014. They have toured with other bands such as Dance Gavin Dance, Tilian Pearson, Stolas, SECRETS, Hail the Sun, and Sianvar.

Sianvar is a post-hardcore supergroup founded by Will Swan with Hail the Sun's Donovan Melero (vocals), Stolas' Sergio Medina (guitar), A Lot Like Birds' Joseph Arrington (drums, percussion), and A Lot Like Birds' Michael Franzino (bass guitar). On November 8, 2013, the band released their full-length studio album, Sick Machine through Blue Swan Records.^[15] They released the Sianvar EP on January 5, 2014.^[16] According to a post on Facebook, the band finished tracking for sophomore studio album and is set to be released in 2016.^[17]

Blue Swan Records (2013–present)

Will Swan founded and launched his own independent record label, named Blue Swan Records, in early 2013. Swan has signed several bands since the label's formation including Wolf and Bear, Adventurer, Eidola, Icarus the Owl, Kurt Travis of A Lot Like Birds, Oranges, and Stolas, including Swan's own bands Sianvar and Secret Band.^[18] Blue Swan Records has collaborated with other music corporations and record labels such as Melero Group, Artery Recordings, Ego Death, MerchNow, Equal Vision Records, Rise Records, among others, to launch tours.^[19]

Influence and musical style

Will Swan has noted several musical artists and groups that influenced his musicianship throughout his career. He has cited The Mars Volta, Temptations, Deftones, Earth, Wind & Fire, Glassjaw, among numerous others as inspirations. Throughout the recording process of Dance Gavin Dance's third studio album, Happiness (2009), Swan debuted his unclean vocal prowess after the band's primary screaming vocalist Jon Mess parted ways, however since Mess rejoined in 2011, Swan now only pursues screaming vocals during live performances, most prominently in songs from the album Happiness.

Swan has also been known to experiment with rap and hip hop in Dance Gavin Dance's music. He first made a rap appearance in the song "Powder to the People", the final track on the album Happiness. He has since rapped occasionally on every album since. In an interview with Substream Magazine,^[7] Swan spoke about his rap influences after being asked about his rap verse in the song "Eagle Vs. Crows", from the album Instant Gratification (2015), stating:

It literally came out of nowhere. I started on Happiness with a rap kind of inspired by TV on the Radio. Then after I proved that it would sound cool, it became something that would pop up here and there on the records. We never really plan for a rap going into the studio. There will just be a part where I feel a rap would fit best. I write it, show it to everyone and then record.

As far as his musical style, Swan has incorporated elements of math rock, progressive rock, post-hardcore, experimental rock, Avant-garde music, funk, and jazz-fusion into all of his musical projects, most eminently in Dance Gavin Dance.

Discography

with Farewell Unknown

• The 40 Day Fake Out (2004)

with Dance Gavin Dance

• Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean (Rise, 2006)
• Downtown Battle Mountain (Rise, 2007)
• Dance Gavin Dance (Rise, 2008)
• Happiness (Rise, 2009)
• Downtown Battle Mountain II (Rise, 2011)
• Acceptance Speech (Rise, 2013)
• Instant Gratification (Rise, 2015)
• TBA (Rise, 2016)^[20]

with Sianvar

• Sick Machine (Blue Swan, 2013)
• Sianvar EP (Blue Swan, 2014)

with Secret Band

• SECRETBAND EP (Blue Swan, 2014)
• Secret Band LP (Blue Swan, 2014)

References