Skopje Clubbing .: Presents Interview with The Glass :.
Interview with The Glass
Ivana: For those who do not know The Glass are Dominique Keegan and Glen Brady. Did I forget anyone?
The Glass: When we play the full live show we are joined by Graham Finn on bass.
Ivana: For how long this bend exists?
The Glass: Since 2003.
Ivana: The world knows you by many EP releases, mixes, remixes, editions, including Won’t bother me, Fourteen again EP, Hear the music, for labels like Fine Records, 20 20 Soundsystem and finally yours Plant Music. What kind of songs, lyrics and music in general, contain those editions?
The Glass: We did our first single ‘Won’t Bother Me’ which was first released on Plant and the Plant compilation ‘The Sound of You New York’ then it was licensed to Fine in Europe. They had remixes by 2020 Soundsystem and Putsch 79. Ralph Lawson from 2020 liked his remix so much he invited us to Leeds with friend Dave Beer to play at Back 2 Basics and then we went into the studio and recorded ‘No Order’ for his album. That song was about the craziness of where we live (it was just after the London tube bombings and a lot of the suspects were bases in Leeds). Fine also released a very early song of ours ‘Hear The Music’ with a great remix by Mylo. ‘Hear The Music’ is about the superficiality of people in New York especially when their personalities are powder powered.
Ivana: Although, you released many editions of your music, however your first album Couples Therapy was released this year. Why did you wait for it so long?
The Glass: At first we were looking for the right label and also had a hard time deciding if some of our rock stuff fit with the more electronic music. In the end we went with a more electronic sound but still only released a 7 track EP. We are still waiting to release a full album. We are working on new material now and have an album of remixes coming out on Plant in 2008.
Ivana: Did you make some difference in your musical path with this album?
The Glass: Four of the seven tracks were recorded in a small cottage in Woodstock, New York so have a slightly more hippie vibe but we also wanted to make a few dancefloor songs and that is where ‘Come Alive’ and ‘Mad At You’ came from. Because we were two guys in a cabin the mountains, our friend Tim Wagner from 33 Hz texted us ‘how are the brokeback sessions going?’ Those recordings are still called that by our friends Funny.
Ivana: What kind of clubs you usually play in?
The Glass: All sorts but mostly at electro/dance parties with other DJs. On this tour we are also doing 3 festivals, in Switzerland, France and Spain. We do our two man soundsystem show (Djing with synths and fx and 2 vocal mics) at more DJ/club nights and do the 3 man live (with guitars and bass) at live venues and more traditional venues. Our show in Macedonia will be the soundsystem one but we will make sure to sing plenty of songs for you.
Ivana: How do you describe your music with words?
The Glass: Pop music really but based in electro and house with a very obvious influence from music of our youth, New Order, Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Prefab Sprout, old skool hip hop and techno etc….
Ivana: Do you have some special multimedia effects on your performances, or do you prefer to disguise yourself on the scene, or your are interesting only in pure sound?
The Glass: No visuals or multimedia. Jeans, T-shirts, turntables and guitars, that is all we need. A good light show and or visual experience can be great and I would imagine we will work with something like that in the future.
Ivana: Consider the fact that this is your first trip to Skopje, also I presume that is your first visit to Balkan, do you have any particular expectations? In other words do you have any previous information about this part of Europe, do you already have created your own opinion about Macedonia, for any chance, from some sources…?
The Glass: We know very little about Macedonia, except some facts from, History. I have two friends from there Duke Bojadziev, a producer and a guy called Victor who used to throw great techno parties called Tronic Treatment with Christian Smith here in New York. We have also been getting myspace messages from Skopje for a few years and we are sp happy to finally be able to come and play for you guys. It’s going to be fun!!
Ivana: You acknowledge that you believe and at the same time love and respect beautiful music such as rock, rave, electro, then you like dance floors, alcohol…. Nevertheless, primarily, music that is not trendy. Could you define what do your understand by the term “not trendy music”? According to your taste what is today not trendy sound?
The Glass: It is funny that one band can be cool in the trendsetter’s eyes and another not be. So much music has become about fashion and that seems a little stupid. We listen to a lot of what most people think is uncool music, a lot of singers from 70s LA and straight up hippie stuff as well as more current mellow and indie music but we always are listening to the newest dance music too. Glen traces a lot of his musical influence from skateboard art and culture and in that scene the stuff that’s the most trendy in general becomes the most untrendy…for instance if a song becomes too popular for the “cool” dj’s to play that’s when Glen will play it the most…although with his DMC background that usually means he make some changes to the work. For us, not trendy music, is usually what we will listen to at home and on our iPods. That can be anything from Jackson Browne and Bob Dylan to Soul and Disco. To try and answer the question, what is not trendy music? Probably the people who really do not care about what other people think of their music or how they look, which makes them automatically cool in our eyes. I suppose a lot of house music and trance is not considered very trendy in the dance scene now but then I hear some of the newest stuff on trendy labels like Kitsune and they are using heavy Trance influences and there seems to be a lot of deeper housier sounds coming out also so maybe that will become the new cool? Everything moves in cycles and keeps moving so it’s hard to pinpoint. Trendy music usually does not age very well.
Ivana: Among the musicians who have left serious influences on your music like New Order, Prefab Sprout, Velvet Underground, David Bowie, The Clash, Nirvana, My bloody Valentine, Stone Roses… I can conclude that you have very broad, I would say, diverse taste of music. Apparently, and your music is a result of various sounds. As follows, you pure criterion allows you to make music which is very unique and distinctive from others. How do you maintain your distinguished sound?
The Glass: I think it is a combination of Glen’s unique drum programming sound, our musical backgrounds (both really into pop music but all our recent experience is in dance music and DJing) and a slightly unique vocal sound that is a combination of how I sing and how Glen produces my voice. Also most of the instrumentation is quite simple and almost always in a minor key.
Ivana: Essentially, The New York and London musical scenes are doubtless the main creators of the new rock, post punk, electro and indie sound. Artists like LCD Sound System, !!!, FischerSpooner, The Rapture, White Rose Movement, Zoot Woman, Home Video, The Rakes, Arctic Monkeys, Block Party, She wants Reventage… unveiled completely fresh start for the old – new sound. Do you put yourself in this group of musicians, do you related in some certain way with those musicians?
The Glass: All the people around DFA have been very influential in a lot of recent dance music and being around them also made an impact on me, probably a little less on Glen. It was Luke from Rapture who convinced me to start singing (as well as Glen) and not worry about what people think. Since that scene and the rush of dance influenced Indie Rock, I think dance music has found it’s own sound which we are also influenced by. I see us as being closer to bands like The Whip, Black Ghost and some of the German and French producers than I see us as being like the New York Punk Funkers. You mention Zoot Woman, who are one of my favorite contemporary acts and everything that Stuart Price (Jacques Lu Cont/LRD) did before 2004 is amazing. He was making 80s style synth pop music while most people were still stuck on bland house music and always brought the freshest beats to the table. We relate to all the musicians around us and I like to think we have learned a little from all of them. I get the impression that a lot of party goers and music fans see us as part of the blog house scene than as part of the NY punk funk scene, which I think is a good thing.
Ivana: Despite this several bands who create fantastic music, have you been thinking that in the past several years throughout the world emerged many bands which are only copy/paste of others and nothing more?
The Glass: We don’t really like to criticise bands or artists but I do feel a lot of producers making bootlegs and bedroom tracks lack a lot of experience in mixing and producing and a lot of tracks out there just sound poorly produced. A lot of tracks just use one sound or gimmick and over do it, I find a lot of the heavily edited French sound and much the Baltimore Breaks stuff a bit like this and just does not sound nice. We love punk rock and that attitude to making music but also like when stuff sounds good. That’s not to say that if your music is lo-fi, it’s necessarily bad…just that a good lo-fi sound is hard to achieve without sounding contrived….
Ivana: You are at this moment on your European tour. Where did you perform before Skopje and what are your plans after Skopje?
The Glass: We are doing Copenhagen and Malomo (Sweden) on Nov 23/24th, then Skopje then straight from the club to the airport to Zurich, Neuchatel and Berlin. The weekend after that we play live at festivals in Bilboa, Spain, Rennes, France, a secret show in Paris then soundsystem shows in Clermont Ferrand (France) and finally Munich.
Ivana: For those who do not know The Glass are Dominique Keegan and Glen Brady. Did I forget anyone?
