2003–05: Farewell Unknown Will Swan began his music career as the founder and lead guitarist for the
post-hardcore band Farewell Unknown with vocalist Joel Rabara, percussionist Drew Ochwat, guitarist Alvaro Alcala, and bass guitarist Eric Lodge. The band released one studio album,
The 40 Day Fake Out, on October 19, 2004. After disbanding in 2005, Swan and Lodge both recruited drummer Matt Mingus and vocalists
Jon Mess and
Jonny Craig to form the post-hardcore band
Dance Gavin Dance in 2005.
2005–present: Dance Gavin Dance Dance Gavin Dance formed in
Sacramento, California, with members Jonny Craig,
Jon Mess, Sean O'Sullivan, Eric Lodge, and Matthew Mingus, along with Swan. The band released their debut
EP,
Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean on November 14, 2006, later signing a recording contract with
Rise Records. They released the singles "And I Told Them I Invented Times New Roman" and "Lemon Meringue Tie", subsequently releasing their debut full-length studio album,
Downtown Battle Mountain on May 15, 2007, through Rise and charted at No. 46 on the U.S.
Billboard Top Heatseekers Albums chart. In 2008, Craig and O'Sullivan departed from the band and were later replaced by vocalist
Kurt Travis and guitarist Zac Garren, releasing their sophomore self-titled studio album,
Dance Gavin Dance, on August 19, 2008. In 2008, vocalist Jon Mess and bass guitarist Eric Lodge left the band. Swan pursued both lead and rhythm guitar along with
unclean vocals and Lodge was replaced by Jason Ellis.
Happiness was released as the band's third studio album on June 9, 2009, and was led by the singles "Don't Tell Dave" and "NASA." In 2010, original vocalists Jonny Craig and Jon Mess and bass guitarist Eric Lodge rejoined the band, which subsequently Travis, Garren, and Ellis left the band, and Dance Gavin Dance recorded their fourth studio album
Downtown Battle Mountain II, a follow-up sequel to the band's debut studio album. The album was released on March 8, 2011, and charted at No. 82 on the Billboard 200, No. 13 on the Independent Albums chart, and No. 4 on the Hot Rock Albums chart. The tour took place from November 13 to December 19, 2015. On February 21, 2020, the group announced their ninth studio album,
Afterburner, with a scheduled released date of April 24, 2020. On the same day, they released its lead single "
Prisoner", accompanied with its music video. In December 2020, the group announced
Tree City Sessions 2, which was released to
digital download and
streaming platforms on December 25. The live album was accompanied with a
concert streaming event where the group performed a fan voted setlist on the
Tower Bridge in
Sacramento, California, which was broadcast on December 19. On March 24, 2022, the band released the single "
Synergy".
2011–present: Secret Band Along with other Dance Gavin Dance members Eric Lodge, Matthew Mingus, and
Jon Mess, Will Swan formed the band Secret Band in 2011. The name of the band derives from the idea of keeping it a secret from other members of Dance Gavin Dance, more so from vocalist Jonny Craig. The band released their self-titled debut EP in June 2014.
2013–2019: Sianvar Sianvar is a
post-hardcore supergroup founded by Will Swan with
Hail the Sun's
Donovan Melero (vocals),
Stolas' Sergio Medina (guitar),
A Lot Like Birds' Joseph Arrington (drums, percussion), and A Lot Like Birds' Michael Franzino (bass guitar). On November 8, 2013, the band released their first single,
Sick Machine through Blue Swan Records. They released the
Sianvar EP on January 5, 2014. Their debut studio album,
Stay Lost, was released on August 4, 2016.
2019–present: Royal Coda On June 5, 2019, Swan was announced to be a guitarist in the American post-hardcore band
Royal Coda, who are signed to his independent record label
Blue Swan Records and consists of lead vocalist
Kurt Travis, former
Stolas guitarist Sergio Medina, and former
A Lot Like Birds drummer Joe Arrington. Swan recorded guitar and bass guitar with producer
Kris Crummett for the band's second studio album,
Compassion, which was released on November 7, 2019. Swan's first tour with the group took place from September 13 to October 13, 2019, on
Hail the Sun's US tour with
Strawberry Girls and VIS. In a post on Facebook,
Dance Gavin Dance confirmed that
Compassion was a spiritual sequel to the group's 2009 studio album,
Happiness, which also features both Kurt Travis and Will Swan. On July 6, 2022, the band announced their third studio album,
To Only A Few At First, and released two songs, "We Slowly Lose Hope For Things To Come" and "Screen Time Overload", the former of which had a music video premiere on
Blue Swan Records channel on
YouTube. The band performed as support on
Dance Gavin Dance's US summer tour from July 26 to August 24, 2022, along with Body Thief. ==Blue Swan Records==