Thor Harris (born February 7, 1965) is an artist, sculptor, musician, painter, carpenter and handyman. He was the percussionist for

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

(2010–2016). He has performed with

Shearwater Shearwaters are medium-sized long-winged seabirds in the petrel family Procellariidae. They have a global marine distribution, but are most common in temperate and cold waters, and are pelagic outside the breeding season. Description These tub ...

(2001–2010), Bill Callahan, The Angels of Light,

Lisa Germano Lisa Ruth Germano (born June 27, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Indiana. Her album '' Geek the Girl'' (1994) was chosen as a top album of the 1990s by ''Spin'' magazine. She began her career as a violinist ...

Yonatan Gat Yonatan Gat is an Israeli music producer, producer, guitarist, and composer based in New York City. His cross-genre work has been called "a vital new music form" by a "legendary live performer" by ''Magnet (magazine), Magnet'' magazine, "melding ...

Gretchen Phillips Gretchen Phillips (born 1963) is an American singer-songwriter known for her humorous and topical songs. Phillips has been openly gay throughout her life and her lesbianism has inspired much of her material. Background Phillips grew up in Houst ...

, Devendra Banhart, Rebecca Cannon,

Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of Stewart (the only constant member since formation) and Angela Seo. The band's name co ...

, Flock of Dimes & Amanda Palmer, Whalesong, and the Grand Theft Orchestra. He has recorded at least six

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

albums with the Austin producer Rob Halverson. He also contributed to

Ben Frost Ben Frost (born 1980) is an Australian-Icelandic musician, composer, record producer, sound designer, and director. Life Born in Melbourne, Australia, and based in Reykjavík, Iceland, since 2005, Frost composes minimalist, instrumental, a ...

's 2014 album, ''

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

''. He joined the touring lineup of

as a percussionist in February 2017 and he has enjoyed touring with Thor & Friends since 2015. In the early 21st century, Harris wrote a short outline on "How To Tour In A Band Or Whatever". This set of '21 rules' spread widely across the internet. Harris also wrote and illustrated the '

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

/pamphlet, ''Ocean of Despair'', about depression, as a companion to his recorded album of the same title.

Personal life

Harris posted a video to his Twitter account titled "How To Punch A Nazi" as a response to the rise of Richard Spencer, and on February 8, 2017, Twitter briefly suspended Harris's account for the video. On August 10, 2017, Harris announced his candidacy for governor of Texas on Twitter. Thor Harris also builds custom musical instruments.

Discography

With Swans

*'' My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky'' (2010,

) *'' The Seer'' (2012,

) *''

To Be Kind ''To Be Kind'' is the thirteenth studio album by American experimental rock band Swans, released on May 12, 2014. It was released as a triple LP, a double CD, and a two-CD deluxe edition that includes a live DVD of performances from Hellfest Ope ...

'' (2014,

) *'' The Glowing Man'' (2016,

)

With Thor & Friends

*''Thor & Friends'' (2016, Thor & Friends) *''The Subversive Nature of Kindness'' (2017, Thor & Friends) *''3'' (2020, Thor & Friends, on

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label from Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on many of the label's first releases. Joyful Noise maintains an a ...

) *''4'' (2020, Thor & Friends, on

)

With Shearwater

*'' The Dissolving Room'' (2001,

on Grey Flat) *'' Everybody Makes Mistakes'' (2002,

on Misra) *'' Winged Life'' (2004,

on Misra) *'' Palo Santo'' (2006,

on Misra) *''

Rook Rook (''Corvus frugilegus'') is a bird of the corvid family. Rook or rooks may also refer to: Games *Rook (chess), a piece in chess *Rook (card game), a trick-taking card game Military * Sukhoi Su-25 or Rook, a close air support aircraft * USS ...

(2008,

)'' *''

The Golden Archipelago ''The Golden Archipelago'' is the sixth studio album by American indie rock band Shearwater. It was released on February 23, 2010, on the Matador Records label. The track "Black Eyes" is the first single from the album. Shearwater released the alb ...

(2010,

)''

With Rob Halverson

*''Fields of Innards'' (1999, Thor Harris and Rob Halverson) *''Robinson Ear's Little Whirled of Sound'' (2000, Rob Halverson) *''One Night Only'' (2002, Rob Halverson) *''Second Whirled'' (2004, Rob Halverson) *''Fields of Innards II'' (2010, Thor Harris and Rob Halverson) *''Fields of Innards III'' (2019, Thor Harris and Rob Halverson, on

)

With Shahzad Ismaily

* ''With

Anni Rossi Anni Rossi is an American singer, songwriter and producer from Minnesota, currently living in Brooklyn, New York. She is notable for playing an electric-viola that was handcrafted from a tree branch by former Swans percussionist Thor Harris. Ros ...

'' (2019, Shahzad & Thor, on Joyful Noise Recordings)

Joyful Noise Recordings - ''Artist In Residence 2019''

Harris's six 2019 releases on Joyful Noise Recordings were issued both as six individual digital albums and as one limited-edition (

666 666 may refer to: * 666 (number) * 666 BC, a year * AD 666, a year * The number of the beast, a reference in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament Places * 666 Desdemona, a minor planet in the asteroid belt * U.S. Route 666, an America ...

copies) set of six colored-vinyl records in a wooden box. * ''Fields of Innards III'' (2019, Thor Harris and Rob Halverson, on

) * ''Is Adam OK?'' (2019, Thor Harris & Joyful Noise Players, on Joyful Noise Recordings) * ''3'' (2019, Thor & Friends, on

) *''4'' (2019, Thor & Friends, on

) *''With

'' (2019, Shahzad & Thor, on Joyful Noise Recordings) *''Doom Dub'' (2019, Thor Harris, on Joyful Noise Recordings)

Other

*'' New Mother'' (1999,

Angels of Light Angels of Light were an American folk band that was formed circa 1998 by singer-songwriter and musician Michael Gira after he disbanded Swans, the group he had founded in 1982. The band has marked a distinctly different style for Gira since he ...

Young God Records Young God Records is an independent record label formed by Michael Gira in 1990 that specializes in experimental, avant-garde and often non genre-specific releases. The label was named after an EP released by Gira's band Swans called '' Young Go ...

) *'' How I Loved You'' (2001,

) *''

Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home ''Everything Is Good Here/Please Come Home'' is the third studio album by Angels of Light. It was released on March 4, 2003, via band leader Michael Gira's own record label, Young God Records. Produced by Gira himself and engineered by Martin ...

'' (2003,

) *'' Rejoicing in the Hands'' (2004, Devendra Banhart on

) *'' Niño Rojo'' (2004, Devendra Banhart on

) *'' A River Ain't Too Much to Love'' (May 31, 2005; Smog ( Bill Callahan)) *'' Woke on a Whaleheart'' (April 17, 2007; Bill Callahan on Drag City) *''Drums and Drunken Circuit'' (2009, Thor Harris, Rob Halverson, and Bill Callahan) *''You Knew'' (2012, Mother Falcon) *'' Dream River'' (2013, Bill Callahan, on Drag City) *'' A U R O R A'' (2014,

) *''Noplace'' (2017,

Aidan Baker Aidan Baker (born 1974/75) is a musician from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who has released numerous records both as a solo artist and as part of various side projects, including Nadja, ARC, Caudal and Mnemosyne. He has also written several books ...

/Simon Goff/Thor Harris) *Radiance of a Thousand Suns (2019, Whalesong, Self- Released) *Io (2019

Little Mazarn on Self Sabotage Records) *

Medicine Singers Medicine Singers is a group of Native American ritual performance artists who began performing at pow wows and in other contexts, singing in an Eastern Algonquian dialect under their original moniker, Eastern Medicine Singers. In 2017, they beg ...

(2022, Stone Tapes &

) * cassini's division (2022
I Didn't Mean To Haunt You
on deadAir/AWAL Recordings)

References

External links

Shearwater's official siteYoung God Records official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Thor Musicians from Texas Noise rock musicians Living people 1965 births Swans (band) members American percussionists American rock drummers American experimental musicians 20th-century American drummers American male drummers Shearwater (band) members Joyful Noise Recordings artists