In this interview, Jarboe recounts the atmosphere of early Swans, the writing of Disburden Disciple, and the path to its reissue

Transmission 183: Interview with Jarboe

Jarboe is an American vocalist and composer active since the mid-1980s. She joined the New York-based experimental group Swans in 1985, contributing vocals and keyboards until the band’s initial disbandment in 1997. Her participation coincided with a shift in the group’s sound, and she collaborated with Michael Gira on the side project The World of Skin. Born in Mississippi and raised in the Southern United States, Jarboe was trained in opera, jazz, and choral singing, later adapting her vocal technique to suit Swans’ evolving direction.

Title: Disburden Disciple
Artist: Jarboe
Genres: Experimental Music
Label: The Circle Music
Description: Interview with Jarboe about Disburden Disciple and its first vinyl edition, out 25 April 2025 via The Circle Music.

Following her solo debut Thirteen Masks (1991), Jarboe released numerous experimental and self-published albums, including Sacrificial Cake (1995) and Anhedoniac (1998). She collaborated with Neurosis in 2003 and contributed guest vocals to Swans’ 2012 album The Seer. Between 2017 and 2020, her solo output frequently incorporated themes drawn from Tibetan Buddhism. In 2013, she toured globally with P. Emerson Williams of Veil of Thorns, with whom she released With Sun Falling in 2015. Her 2000 album Disburden Disciple will be reissued for the first time on vinyl on 25 April 2025 via The Circle Music, featuring remastering by George Emmanuel (Pentagram Studio) and new artwork.

This interview was first published in issue no. 02 of our free digital magazine

What first drew you to music, and at what point did you realize it would be your path?

My father encouraged me in music. I had lessons to play keyboards and singing. I was in various school and church choirs as a result. Later on, I began to create original and extreme experimental pieces. I moved to New York’s East Village in Manhattan and worked with Michael Gira.

How did your upbringing in the South shape your artistic vision?

Since neither of my parents were actually Southerners, I probably had an expansive cultural view. I do think experiencing the street performers in New Orleans made a big impression upon me as a child.

You trained in opera and jazz before stepping into Swans’ sonic world. How did that transition affect your approach to performance?

When I began to work with Michael, he encouraged me to enunciate less and be freer / looser with my delivery. I began to explore multiple voices/characters for individual songs. 

For example, in my live performance in Swans of “Your Property” there are multiple voices / characters in the one song. There is the voice of an innocent girl and at the end of the song, the voice of a beast.

In my interpretation of Nick Drake’s “Black Eyed Dog” I use a type of Southern vernacular. If I am asked what vernacular I chose for a particular song, I can tell you what I was embodying. There is no “one stylistically Jarboe” – but many. 

Swans was a notoriously intense band. What was your first impression of their music before you joined?

I was listening to as well as doing intense audio work myself when I first heard Swans and that is why I wanted to meet Michael Gira and work with him.

My impression of Swans was that the music was original, intriguing, unclassifiable. I lifted weights to the ‘Filth’ album. It was unlike any music I had heard.

The 1980s New York scene was raw and uncompromising. What were those early days like for you?

I would say that it was dangerous and harsh. There were buildings with the glass broken out of the windows. There were abandoned cars that had been set on fire. I had to develop survival skills such as staying in the middle of the street at night and keep an expressionless face while my eyes were looking everywhere at all times to watch for potential muggers.  You did not make eye contact with persons you did not know. I kept my bag across my chest and under an outer coat. My keychain had a metal bar that could be used as a weapon and I kept that in my hand. Outside the Swans rehearsal space which was also where I lived, there was a corner on Ave B and East 6 where drug dealers in big dark coats gathered. In the early years there, you never took a left when you went out the rehearsal space door. Michael had written a sign that was taped on the inside of that door. 

It stated “Death Outside”…

I wrote lyrics for a song entitled ‘Storm Comin’ On’ that describes those days. One version was used on a Jesu e.p. where I also did the vocals for the song. 

STORM COMIN’ ON 

People yell things out to me in the street as I pass
And the men in their dark cars are whispering
Trying to entice me inside
They would kill me
And if I told you
What would you think
All Above you
The sky will go black
The sky will break
Its all coming on
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta get past
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta go back
And if I told you
What would you think
All above you
The sky will go black
The sky will break…
AH AH….
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta get past
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta go back
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta get past
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta go back
Madness rules here
I’m stepping through needles and puddles of piss
My spine aches
I must pull myself out
How did I get to this
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta get past
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta go back
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta get past
You gotta run now
You gotta go fast
Storm comin’ on now
You gotta go back go back go back go back

“Disburden Disciple” marked an important chapter in your solo work. What sparked its creation?

The war of the heart.

The protagonist (disciple) is searching for a way to be freed. It is at times humorous and at times ominous.

I was a disciple of the path to “disburden” – in love and passion, cultural dictates, disease, even death itself.

The themes in “Disburden Disciple” feel like they exist in a liminal space between devotion and destruction. What was pulling you in those directions when writing it?

The direction was influenced by : the tension I saw in Jerusalem (Pure War), societal judgment (Forbid), the marketing of health into the marketing of love (Bound), death (Under, Kiss of Life, Forgive, The Seance), controlling relationships (Scorpion, Dear 666, Consume Me, Scarification) … Every song exists in a liminal space between devotion and destruction. 

 In “Scarification” am I the devoted lover or am I the delusional lover? A self-proclaimed martyr ?

Revisiting “Disburden Disciple” after 25 years—what stands out to you now that might have felt too close to recognize at the time?

Even though I was intentional with the meaning in the songs, I can now see how it revealed events yet to occur in my own life.

The album was recorded across two continents. How did that contrast in environments shape its sound?

It influenced the tone. For example, “Bound” ends in an homage to 1970’s American rock whereas “Scarification” has middle eastern references.

Are you currently working on new material? Do you have any upcoming releases in the works?

I have a new album entitled ’Sightings’ that will be available soon and I plan on doing another tour in Europe before too long.

Photos courtesy of Jarboe

Matteo Damiani

Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others