Born in California[6] on March 16, 1977, with the name Ricardo Ochoa, into a musicalQuaker family, Swift started performing and singing in churches at an early age.[7] In his youth, his family moved frequently, spending time in rural locations inMinnesota,[8]Utah, andOregon.[6] As a teenager, he worked at a farm nearInternational Falls, Minnesota.[9]
Ricardo "Dicky" Ochoa released his first solo album under the name Dicky Ochoa on Metro One Recordings in 2000.[citation needed] While in 2002 released an album calledCompany with Frank Lenz and Elijah Thomson.[citation needed] Also in 2002 he was a musician on the Promise Keepers Live Worship album.[citation needed] In 2001, Swift moved toSouthern California to pursue his solo recording career.[7] That same year, he recordedWalking Without Effort, an initially unreleased album with drummer and producerFrank Lenz.[10][11] He recorded much of his early music on a four-track cassette recorder.[1] From 2002 to 2005, he released four small pressings of "properly manufactured"7" vinyl singles via Velvet Blue Music.[12] Swift also releasedThe Novelist in 2003 andWalking Without Effort (recorded in 2001) in 2005[13] and combined the two albums to create the double-discThe Richard Swift Collection Vol. 1 released by Leftwing Recordings in August 2004.[10][11] In December 2003, AmericanwebzineSomewhere Cold votedThe Novelist EP of the Year on their2003 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame list,[14] while a year later, in December 2004, they rankedThe Richard Swift Collection Vol. 1 No. 5 on their2004 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame list.[15]
He signed to indie labelSecretly Canadian, who then re-released theCollection in 2005.[16] In 2007, Secretly Canadian andPolydor issued Swift's proper follow-up album,Dressed Up For the Letdown.[17][18][19][20] Later in the year Swift metWilco frontmanJeff Tweedy during a taping of theBBC programLater...with Jools Holland.[21] Tweedy asked Swift to support Wilco on theirSky Blue Sky US tour.[22] During the tour Tweedy invited Swift to record at their Loft studios in Chicago.[23]
In October 2007, Swift started his fourth album at the Wilco Loft studios.[24] In April 2008, Secretly Canadian released a double EP namedRichard Swift As Onasis.[25] In August 2008, Swift released an EP entitledGround Trouble Jaw as a free digital download.[26] In April 2009, Secretly Canadian releasedThe Atlantic Ocean.[7] Co-produced byMark Ronson, the album featured special guests such asPat Sansone, Casey Foubert (Sufjan Stevens),Sean Lennon, andRyan Adams.[24][27] In 2011, he released another solo EP entitledWalt Wolfman.[28]
His final solo album,The Hex, was released in September 2018, two months after his death. On November 1, 2024, Secretly Canadian released the career-spanning posthumous compilation4 Hits & a Miss - The Essential Richard Swift.[29]
In addition to the music recorded under his own name and producing work, he was also briefly a keyboardist in the bandStarflyer 59 in 2002 and 2003,[30] playing live shows and contributing to their 2003 albumOld.[31] He also fronted his ownelectronic music side-project, Instruments of Science and Technology.[32][33] In December 2005,Somewhere Cold again listed Swift in their year-end list, rankingInstruments of Science and Technology No. 9 on their2005 Somewhere Cold Awards Hall of Fame list.[34]
Swift lived inCottage Grove, Oregon, where he met his wife, Shealynn.[39] They had three children.[9][40]
On June 19, 2018,Pitchfork reported that Swift had been hospitalized inTacoma,Washington, recovering from an undisclosed "life-threatening condition" and that aGoFundMe had been set up to help cover his medical expenses.[41] He died on July 3, 2018, in Tacoma.[6][42][43] Six days later, Swift's family released a statement confirming that he had suffered from alcohol addiction throughout his life, and that his death was ultimately caused by related "complications from hepatitis, as well as liver and kidney distress."[44]
Library Catalog Music Series, Vol. 7: Music for Paradise Armor – Released under the name Instruments of Science & Technology (Asthmatic Kitty, 2010)[45]
^Benson, Thor (July 3, 2018)."Richard Swift Is Gone, But His Songs Are Still Here".The Daily Beast. RetrievedJuly 4, 2018.Over the years I've met countless musicians who worked with Swift or encountered him in numerous ways. The way they described him always felt like they were describing a mystical figure or a muse who had forever changed them.
