Yellow Swans - History

History

The duo formed in Portland, Oregon in 2001. From here they established their own collective art label, JYRK where the band have self-released several CD-Rs and cassettes of their music. With frequent touring and shows with artists including Tussle, Xiu Xiu and Japanther, the duo moved to Oakland, California for two years. In 2003, they recorded their debut album, Bring The Neon War Home, and continued to tour across the USA.

Their debut album garnered much recognition and soon the band were invited to perform shows across Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In October 2005, Numerical Thief, a Melbourne-based label, debuted the release of the band's second studio album, Psychic Secession. It was later re-mastered and released on LOAD Records the same year, and then released on 12" vinyl by Weird Forest in 2006.

Throughout their existence, the duo have used the moniker of D Yellow Swans, where the "D" can be substituted for any word beginning with the letter. This began as a joke when the band formed, and became "a fun take on anti-branding... not really meant to be elitist though" . They have used several different names over the past six years, as can be seen in their discography, but are most commonly referred to as simply Yellow Swans.

In April 2008, Pete Swanson announced the band's break up. In an email to Pitchfork Media, Swanson stated "There are no specific reasons why we've come to this point, but both Gabriel and I have decided that it's in our best interest to move on from the project. Neither of us have any intention to stop playing music anytime soon, but we will not be playing or performing with each other again." The group played their last US show in the city of Chicago.