Martin Swope
Martin Swope is an
American musician. He presently lives in
Hawaii.
He joined experimental
post punkers
Mission of Burma in April 1979, in the month between the band's first and second gigs. He was the group's audio engineer for live performances, and added various
tape loop effects to many of their songs. He was arguably the only full-time tape loop specialist in
rock music history.
During Mission of Burma's tenure, Swope joined MoB singer/guitarist
Roger Miller in the latter's instrumental side project
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Miller generally played
piano, while Swope played
electric guitar. The band became Miller and Swope's primary musical outlet when Burma disbanded in 1983. Swope contributed a handful of original compositions to the Birdsongs catalog, most notably "The Tyger" (once performed by Mission of Burma). Both left Birdsongs by the early
1990s.
When MoB reformed in
2002, Swope declined the invitation to rejoin his former bandmates;
Bob Weston (of
Shellac) took Swope's place at the
reel to reel machine.