Polymath percussionist Thor Harris inaugurated Thor and Friends in the autumn of 2015, after years of touring as the percussionist of iconic avant-garde rock ensemble Swans. Thor & Friends is intended as a vehicle for experimentation with a focus of American Minimalism collaborating with a rotating cast of Austin-based musicians. The ensemble has three core members, Thor Harris, Peggy Ghorbani and Sarah “Goat” Gautier — with its line-up expanding and contracting with the flux of compositional and improvisational contexts.
A literal craftsman, artistically and otherwise, Thor Harris is a master plumber, carpenter, and woodworker. In musical contexts, Thor Harris’name is often followed by the five words: “known for his work with,” having been a member of noise rock iconoclasts Swans during a period of the group that many would come to believe as their creative peak and influential resurgence from 2010 – 2017. His contributions helped shape the critically acclaimed albums The Seer (2012), To Be Kind (2014), and The Glowing Man (2016).
In addition to Swans, Harris has been a member of several other notable bands and projects, including Shearwater and Water Damage. He’s also collaborated and recorded with Bill Callahan, John Congleton, Ben Frost, Amanda Palmer, Adam Torres, Devendra Banhart, and more.
Thor and Friends draws on classic Minimalist composers, including Terry Riley and Steve Reich, but also amalgamate such diverse influences as Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, Moondog and The Necks around a polyrhythmic core of mallet-struck instruments, primarily marimba, xylophone and vibraphone. Circling these core motifs are shifting streams of everything from processed pedal steel and analog synthesizer to violin, viola, stand-up bass, clarinet, duduk and oboe.
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Heathen Spirituals, out May 16th, 2025, on Joyful Noise Recordings, contains three original pieces with a 35-minute runtime. The rhythmic repetition of opening seance “Anne Sexton’s Glasses,” slowly evolves into a post-classical minimalist masterpiece carefully sculpted with tinges of experimental post-rock that harkens the spirt of Rachel’s and Gastr del Sol. The closer “Christmas Eve at the Wizard’s House” uses space to build up the track while evoking a sense of calmness that echoes back to the listener, and stylistically would fit on a playlist next to Philip Glass or Laraaji. The crashing, choir-backed “Heathen Spiritual,” is a masterclass in experimental ambient drone, and the track will be the most reminiscent musically to those who are familiar with Harris’ work in Swans while still diverting from any expectation one might have of where the song is leading to in it’s conclusion from where it begins.
To talk more about the new album and reflect on the history of Thor and Friends and the group’s musical style, we’re thrilled to present an exclusive interview with Thor Harris on Fecking Bahamas.
FB: I want to get into the new album, but for the uninitiated, can you give a little background on Thor and Friends? Can you give some context on the formation of the project and what your musical aim is with Thor and Friends?
Thor Harris: This band started because I not only love classical minimalist composers like Glass , Reich , Charlemagne Palestine, etc . But I also love electronic music and have usually found it fairly boring to watch . So I figured if we played electronic music on mallet percussion, maybe that would be fun to watch . On this our 5th record , our approach was much different from the previous 4.
FB: One of the many interesting aspects of Thor & Friends music is the fluidity of genre from contemporary classical and minimalism to ambient and avant-garde americana. For those familiar with your louder, more noise rock driven work in Swans in the 2010’s and Water Damage, Thor and Friends seems much more ethereal and leaning even more towards avant-garde minimalist experimentalism. How would you describe the sound and ethos of the group, and do you approach Thor and Friends any differently now from when you started the project?
Thor Harris: Yes. There are some ground rules for Thor and Friends that are not true in Swans or Water Damage. I wanted to make something big and exciting happen without using bass, drums and guitar, the tools of rock and roll. I also after years of playing in Swans wanted to not rely on huge volume. I wanted to make gentle quiet inviting landscapes that felt safe.
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FB: You have a lot of friends playing on the album, and do you start composing the music by yourself or as a core trio (with Peggy Ghorbani and Sarah Gautier) and then expand to the additional musicians appearing on the songs, or are you thinking of a large ensemble right from the beginning with certain musicians in mind?
Thor Harris: It’s different now because Sarah Goat LaPuerta lives in upstate NY. I live in Austin. We used to make new pieces by playing together. Now I come up with rough sketches on my own. I make demos where I play all the parts. Then the now 11 piece group rehearse them and they come up with their own parts. I often like their ideas as much or more than mine.
FB: What was the writing and recording process like for Heathen Spirituals? Can you talk about how the new album came together, and any themes or concepts you had in mind for the music?
Thor Harris: The music on Heathen Spirituals was born of a desperation for community as the pandemic came to an end. We didn’t know how to proceed without Goat, but Shannon Byrne (my manager) and Trish Connelly (a favorite promoter in Austin) kept getting us cool shows, so I had to come up with a new ensemble. Lots of brilliant people wanted to play. After a couple of years of playing these pieces, it was time to make a recording with this huge ensemble. I couldn’t picture us all in a studio. We decided to borrow an empty symphony hall on University of Texas campus and have Craig Ross build a studio around us. I wanted the record to sound the way we sound live.
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FB: I’m curious to know how being a carpenter and a woodworker has influenced you the music you make, and did your interest to learn crafts like carpentry and plumbing come after you were already a musician, or before, or parallel to it? There has long been an essence of Kerouacian working-class americana that feels very embedded in your music, and where does that exploration into americana come from? Would you say the community of Austin or your craftsman experience have much influence on the music you make?
Thor Harris: Indeed! To build houses, furniture and instruments gives me one kind of satisfaction. To make a concert happen that feels spiritually rejuvenating and is very different, but working is similar. Developing skills and honing them.
FB: Do you have any upcoming tour plans for Thor andFriends in 2025 and beyond? Where is the easiest place for someone to find out when you’re coming to their town?
Thor Harris: Thor and Friends play in Austin once or twice a month. We will do a northeast tour in August. I need to get us back to Europe. Still figuring logistics.
FB: If someone just got into your music and wanted to find similar music and/or music that has influenced you, what artists would you recommend people check out?
Thor Harris: If you like our music , check out Tatsuya Kakatani, Ben Frost, Steve Reich, King Crimson, The Necks, Dawn of midi, Horse Lords, Mary Lattimore, Walt McClements, Little Mazarn, Bohren and der Club of Gore, also go to radiooooo.com and click on Senegal in 1970s.