Photo by Chris Pravdica
We Owe (Brooklyn, NY) is the solo project of Christopher Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu, The Gunga Din, etc.), a renowned bassist and musician, who has collaborated with a myriad of artists and projects over the span of three decades. As a solo artist, he creates electronic music informed by industrial, experimental pop and post-rock, songs that captivate and baffle alike, engaging wittily with sticky subjects, whether personal or social.
Born in Queens, NY, Pravdica began playing music at a young age. In the 1990s, he became involved in New York’s underground music scene and played bass guitar in several bands including The Gunga Din, Flux Information Sciences, and Services. In 2010, he joined Swans, a band known for their intense, sprawling, and often punishing live shows, touring extensively around the world while also appearing on all albums following his arrival, namely: The Seer (2012), To Be Kind (2014), The Glowing Man (2016) and The Beggar (2023). Following a stint with Xiu Xiu, he began performing in 2019 with the Medicine Singers collective, which emerged from an encounter between the Eastern Medicine Singers, an Eastern Algonquin powwow group, and NYC producer and guitarist, Yonatan Gat. Today, Pravdica is known for his powerful and expressive bass playing – which often serves as a driving force behind the bands he plays with – and for his innovative approach to the bass guitar. In light of his immense contribution to experimental and avant-garde music, he is highly regarded by peers and fans alike.
It’s in June 2021 that he released his first solo album under the name We Owe. Entitled Small Truth, the full-length featured four poems written by his sister Jackie, and was otherwise composed, performed, and produced by Pravdica himself, showcasing his skills as a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The music on his debut effort is a departure from his work with Swans and other bands, exploring a more introspective and personal sound that draws on elements ranging from post-punk all the way to ambient music.
Major Inconvenience, his sophomore long-player, is set to be released on December 1st, 2023 via Montreal-based boutique label, Mothland. Along its 43 minutes of inventive sonic discharge, this eclectic collection of songs accomplishes its main objective; “to see ideas through,” and it does so, with uncanny precision and panache.
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Press
“Major Inconvenience is a self-crafted effort, yet one that enjoys the serendipitous input of cherished collaborators like Thor Harris (of Swans, Xiu Xiu fame), Phil Puelo (Swans), and TRZTN. [...] One moment, you might be caught in pensive contemplation, and the next, you could be wearing a knowing smile. Those with a predilection for the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Throbbing Gristle, or even Björk might find it particularly resonant.”
“Known for his versatile musicality and his captivating yet witty dives into personal and social subjects, We Owe continues his immense contribution to experimental and avant-garde music with this latest offering and beyond.”
“We Owe’s new single “Time Suck,” is a darkened fever dream. Pravdica chants “No Future, No Future, No Future,” while a wall of electronics crackle and chew the scenery. At times, it feels like a more synthy A Place To Bury Strangers, others like you’re losing your mind in an Eastern European nightclub after consuming too many drugs. [...] A sobering thought in a chaotic, yet static world.”