Yeah, I have heard back in the 80s he was as hot headed as they come and their live show was deliberately intimidating, in volume and delivery, and even nowadays I have seen videos on him live losing it pretty bad. But really, I think he's just a proper artist, in the truest sense of the word, and all the best artists are usually intense and intimidating in some way. I've seen a few interviews with him from more recent times, and he's a obviously a really decent guy, but he has that way of passively demanding the best out of interviewers when he grants them the opportunity.
All things aside, I really believe SWANS are making some of the most interesting music at the moment, it's very original, despite not sounding all that different sonically to some other bands doing similar things, if that makes sense? I think it's just their kinda Krautrock approach to it, which gives it a groove you can dig, but it also pleases the more thoughtful chin stroker inside you with its twisted vibe and aesthetic haha.
Sagan: In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
Basinski: I wanted Cascade to become this crystalline organism like a star or a liquid crystal spaceship, a jellyfish traveling through the galaxy…