Biography
Emerging briefly from New York’s post-punk scene, Circus Mort featured vocalist Michael Gira and drummer Jonathan Kane, both of whom would later co-found Swans, alongside bassist Don Braun, keyboardist Josh Braun, and guitarist Rick Olier. Gira assembled the lineup after relocating from California, where he had served as singer in a group that began as Little Cripples, evolved into Strict IDS, and eventually shortened its name to IDS. On their own Labor imprint the band issued a self-titled EP in 1981 whose raw, European-tinged post-punk reflected the members’ inexperience; shortly afterward Circus Mort disbanded. Gira and Kane promptly formed Swans, while the Braun brothers joined the Del-Byzanteens, whose ranks included filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, before moving on to Deep Six.
Albums