Dana Schechter
Profile
Dana Schechter
- Instrument
- Bass, Lap Steel
- Genre
- Experimental / Doom
- Strings
- 3035 Bass Boomers, 3120 Precision Flats, Custom Boomers Lap Steel
Dana Schechter is a bassist, lap steel guitarist, composer and touring performer; she currently resides in Berlin, Germany, and Brooklyn, New York.
A San Francisco native, she began on upright bass at age 12 and moved to bass guitar at age 16. Over the course of her career, she has traveled and recorded internationally with her own band Insect Ark as well as a dizzying variety of artists such primarily in the heavy and experimental music scene, such as Swans, Zeal & Ardor, Angels of Light, Bee and Flower, Wrekmeister Harmonies, American Music Club, Gifthorse, and more. Her discography reaches upwards of 40 releases.
Insect Ark started as a solo composition/touring project in 2011, with Schechter playing all instruments as a “one-woman band”. In 2015, live drums were added by Ashley Spungin (2015-2019) followed by Andy Patterson (2019-current).
Insect Ark’s heavy, dark and unsettling nature showcases Schechter’s unique melodic and compositional stylings, inspired from 60's horror film soundtracks, doom metal, and traditional classical composers. The band’s albums, including 2020’s “The Vanishing” have garnered critical praise in publications like Pitchfork, the Wire UK, Noisey, and more.
As of 2020, Dana joined Swans as a recording & touring member. Several collaboration projects are also in the works: with artists Josh Graham (IIVII), Kristof Hahn (Swans), David Bryant (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and Tim Wyskida (Khanate).
Dana has exclusively used GHS strings since the 1990’s, and is a proud to be part of the GHS artist family.

Dana Schechter uploaded a photo