{{Short description|Belgian indie rock band}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Zita Swoon | image = Zita Swoon Group - Festival du Bout du Monde 2012 - 026.jpg | caption = Zita Swoon in 2012 | image_size = | background = group_or_band | origin = Antwerp, Belgium | genre = [[Indie rock]] | years_active = 1993–present | label = | website = [http://www.zitaswoongroup.be] | past_members = }}
'''Zita Swoon''' is a [[Belgium|Belgian]] [[indie rock]] group. They entered the music scene of [[Antwerp]] in 1993, still under the name [[A Beatband]] with the EP ''Jintro Travels The Word In A Skirt''. The group is typical of the music scene in Antwerp, with members playing in numerous other groups. Singer, musician and composer [[Stef Kamil Carlens]] founded the group together with Aarich Jespers and also played in [[Deus (band)|dEUS]].
The same group released ''Everyday I Wear A Greasy Black Feather On My Hat'' under the name '''Moondog Jr.''' in 1995. Shortly thereafter they encountered legal trouble over the name [[Moondog]] with [[Louis T. Hardin]], and changed it to Zita Swoon (Zita = intense, Swoon = desire). The success of this album was awarded with invitations to the [[A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise|Lowlands]], [[Pinkpop]] and [[Rock Werchter]] festivals. The same year they also appeared live on [[MTV]] in ''[[MTV's Most Wanted|Most Wanted]]'' with [[Michael Blair (musician)|Michael Blair]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
Their first appearance in the US was at the [[South by Southwest]] festival in 1998.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} Zita Swoon has played in New York, the Belgian [[Rock Werchter]] festival, the [[Holland Festival]], as well as in [[Germany]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} In early 1999 their work was recognized by the Flemish government with a grant of 1.5 million Francs and the title [[Cultural Ambassador of Flanders]] (a title previously awarded to [[DAAU]] and [[Deus (band)|dEUS]]).{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
In 2009 Stef Kamil Carlens participated with Lexus Concert, a 'hybrid' concert where Stef does a crossover concert at Klara festival with a musician from a totally different style and background. The winner of Lexus concert wins a private try out concert on board a new Lexus RX 450h.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}
==Members== ===Original members=== [[File:Stef Kamil Carlens.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Stef Kamil Carlens]], ''Band in a box'' at [[Het Depot (music center)|Het Depot]] ([[Leuven]])]] * [[Stef Kamil Carlens]] – [[Singing|vocals]], [[guitar]], [[piano]] * [[Aarich Jespers]] – [[Drum kit|drums]], [[percussion instrument|percussion]]
===Additional members=== * [[Amel Serra]] – percussion * [[Joris Caluwaerts]] – piano, [[Fender Rhodes|Rhodes]] * Bart Van Lierde – [[bass guitar|bass]] * [[Eva Gysel]] – backing vocals * [[Kapinga Gysel]] – backing vocals
===Ex-members=== * [[Tom Pintens]] – guitar, backing vocals, piano, [[clarinet]] (as of April 2008) (died 2023) * [[Kobe Proesmans]] – percussion * [[Thomas de Smet]] – bass * Bjorn Eriksson – guitar * [[Benjamin Boutreur]] – [[saxophone]] * [[Leonie Gysel]] – backing vocals
==Discography== ===As A Beatband=== * ''Jintro Travels the Word in a Skirt'' (1993)
===As Moondog Jr.=== * ''Everyday I Wear A Greasy Black Feather On My Hat'' (1995)
===As Zita Swoon=== '''Studio albums''': * ''I Paint Pictures on a Wedding Dress'' (1998) * ''Life = A Sexy Sanctuary'' (2001) * ''[[A Song About a Girls]]'' (2004) * ''Big City'' (2007) * ''Big Blueville'' (2008) '''Live albums''': * ''Live at Jet Studio Brussels'' (2001) * ''A Band in a Box'' (CD and DVD) (2005) '''Soundtracks''': * ''Music inspired by [[Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans|Sunrise]], a film by [[F.W. Murnau]]'' (1997) * ''Plage Tattoo/Circumstances'' (music from the performance) (2000) '''Compilations''': * ''To Play, To Dream, To Drift – An Anthology'' (2009)
===As Zita Swoon Group===
* ''Dancing With The Sound Hobbyist'' (2011) * ''Wait for Me'' (2012) * ''New Old World'' (2014) * ''Nothing That Is Everything'' (2015)
==See also== {{commonscat}} * [[Indie rock in Belgium]]
==External links== * [http://www.zitaswoongroup.be/ Official website] * [http://www.mandarinmedia.com/zitaswoon Archive] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050715080509/http://www.mandarinmedia.com/zitaswoon/ |date=2005-07-15 }}
{{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Zita Swoon}} [[Category:Belgian alternative rock groups]] [[Category:Belgian indie rock groups]] [[Category:English-language Belgian musical groups]] [[Category:Musical groups established in 1993]]