1. Thanks for your time. In a few sentences could you tell our readers about Glassheads?
It’s good to be here! Glassheads is essentially a pop / rock band influenced by alternative music. The aim of our music is to blend catchy choruses, left field guitar effect processing and synths, with a solid rhythm section to conjure up similar vibe to the likes of Radiohead! We’re a new band on the Leeds circuit but we’ve already begun to create a footprint in Leeds’ vast music scene. So far it has been a great year for us, gigging in and around Leeds, releasing our debut EP (the Iris EP) and going into the studio with a UK based label to record and release our next single.
2. You’re a fairly new band on the scene; how are things going and how do gigs like #360RAW11 help?
Yeah, we’re a very new band on the scene but, in a way, I think we like it that way. We’ve all been in other bands and projects over the years, and we’ve learnt a lot of valuable lessons along the way. Glassheads feels like a combination of all of our lives and lessons coming together to create a band that really means something. We have direction and our drive to succeed really helps when it comes to how we conduct ourselves as a band. Things right now are great for us, from doing our first gig in March to being picked up by a label recently, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind, I don’t think any of us believed it would pick up this much momentum so fast. And then being asked to play at #360RAW11 with Richard and Alan, it’s an awesome year so far for us. Gigs like #360RAW11 are really hard to come across. Richard is a total legend; I don’t think any of us have come across a promoter who truly goes out of their way for the bands they are putting on. We’ve met up with him for meetings, spoken on the phone to him almost daily at times asking for advice on how we should go about getting our name out there, and he’s never been too busy for us, not once.
His experience of the music industry alone makes this gig special and worthwhile. Being able to ask someone what to do when we get stuck on something, it’s unprecedented in the live music world when most of the time we don’t even know who the promoter will be on the night of the gig! Playing this #360RAW11 is a real chance for us to show people what we are about, and to display the passion we have towards this band. It’s also a fantastic platform for us to show Alan Raw from BBC Introducing West Yorkshire what we are about, as well as showing the audience that we’re serious about this, and that we really pack a punch when it comes to our music. We’re keen to melt some faces on the 29th for sure!
3. Was there any particular band that you all shared a common love for, that made you want to start a band? If so, who is it and what is so inspirational about them?
We’re all huge music lovers so it’s hard to pick, but I’d say if we had to pick one, we’d have to say Radiohead. Their sound is crazy and the diversity they have from song to song is insane. I think Radiohead’s diversity as a band really influenced us in terms of how we approached developing our sound and identity. I can’t think of a mainstream band that’s braver than Radiohead when it comes to their artistic decisions, they’re just all about the moment. To scrap the guitars entirely on A Moon Shaped Place was a really tenacious and bizarre decision, especially given such an iconic guitar sound with the likes of Jonny Greenwood and Ed O’Brien, but they made it work, and it’s one of our favourite Radiohead albums. O’Brien is also our guitarist Noah’s hero when it comes to guitar players and the sound of the guitar in Glassheads has definitely been influenced by that of Radiohead. I guess in some respects the way in which we use effects in Glassheads has had a major impact in shaping sonic identity, and Radiohead definitely have had a part to play in influencing those decisions. Go listen to OK Computer if you haven’t already, it’ll change your life.
4. Musically, where do you think your sound sits in the general scheme of things?
This has always been a challenge for us, defining where we fit in sonically speaking.
Our sound is definitely rooted in rock and, essentially, we’re a guitar driven band but our approach to it is a little different I guess. Effects are heavily used, similar to the way in which the shoe-gazing bands of the 90s like My Bloody Valentine and Chapter House operated, though we have far more audience interaction than they did! At least we hope our eyes aren’t always glued to the pedalboards. When we combine our guitar sound with our rhythm section, you’re left with a really wide and rich sound, which definitely drives the tunes forward in a really unique way. I think the difference between Glassheads and other bands is the amalgamation of pop song structures with unusual sonic textures. Chris, our keyboard player gives our material a real spacious feel, which gives the music grandeur. Our vocalist Liam has one of the best voices I think any of us have ever heard in all honesty, at times it feels like he’s channelling the likes of Jared Leto from Thirty-Seconds to Mars. I think our sound in general has been developed largely through time and experimentation. It’s hard to compare us to another band, and we like it that way, we don’t want to be pigeonholed into a specific genre or style because we would much rather sound like ourselves than sound like a band that has come before. That just seems pointless to us.
5. Who is the most rock n roll member of Glassheads and what is it about them that makes them a proper rock star?
I guess that really depends on what you mean by rock n roll. We don’t have a Liam Gallagher member if that’s what you mean, we’re not really into that that kind of stuff. We like a drink as much as the next 22/23-year-old but we’re not massive party animals. We’re more about the music, and about hanging out as friends. Noah and Chris have even been known to have a few beers and play chess, that says it all really. Give us a Guinness and a pie over a vodka coke and drugs every day of the week. So yeah, it really does depend what you mean; if a proper rock star means losing yourself on stage and being moved by the music, then in a way we’re all rock stars, but I think we’d prefer to be seen as musicians.
6. You’re heading out on tour – who’s in charge of the music in the van and which songs are on the playlist?
Well, I would say Jack. For some bizarre reason, we seem to listen to really dodgy remixes from Soundcloud when we’re on the road, don’t ask me why I haven’t a clue why, but we do. It’s a real laugh, not the easiest stuff to drive to, and I reckon its nearly caused several collisions when the drop kicks in. We love our Radiohead, our Kings Of Leon, our Biffy Clyro, but when we’re on the move, its dodgy dubstep all the way!
7. If you could have a band-to-band chat with your least favourite band, who would it be and what would you ask them?
That’s a tricky one. I don’t really think we have a least favourite band to be honest, not one that we can universally agree upon. I reckon the best answer we can give is that we try our best to see the merit in all music, I mean, we listen to dodgy club tunes on the way to our gigs! Maybe a better answer would be that we like honesty in the music that we write and the music we listen to; if that’s missing, it’s tricky to connect with but, hey, I’m sure the stuff we struggle with is another person’s jam so who the hell are we to say what’s good or bad, or honest or false! We will say this, though, that X factor group Jedward from a few years ago, they’re really shite!
8. We’re heading towards the end of the year – what can we expect from Glassheads in 2020?
We’re hoping to make 2020 the year we really break through onto the UK music scene. We’re due to release our next single in the new year with a label, we can’t really say too much more than that at this time, but just know that we are beyond excited; it’s a little bit of a dream come true. Hopefully the single receives a warm reception and people really begin to get behind us so we can start playing bigger venues and start working on getting more music recorded and released. Definitely expect more gigs, potentially some headline gigs once the single is out. We really want to start gathering momentum and traction, starting from this #360RAW11 gig on 29 November. We’re hoping this gig acts as a springboard to get us on some festival stages next summer and help us land some support slots in the coming months. It’s going to be a really exciting year for us; we’re ready for 2020, and we really want to make it count.
9. Curveball question – if you could swap places with anybody, who would you choose and why?
In all honesty, I think as a band we are exactly where we need to be right now. Obviously, the thought of being in the position that someone like Kings of Leon or AC/DC sounds really appealing, but I think if we all woke up one day and we were in their shoes, we just wouldn’t know what to do. We all feel that to get to that level of popularity you need to have put in the time and earned your stripes. Every band develops at their own pace, so swapping places with someone who’s already ‘made it’ would just feel wrong to us. I couldn’t imagine leap frogging to that level. Musically and personally we’re exactly where we need to be, and we really do believe that we have the capability to reach the heights of a big band, but we don’t want to rush this; if you’re always dreaming of what’s to come, you end up missing the journey that you’re actually on. It’s a special thing being in a band, we’re all on this trip together and we’re loving it! That’s the most important thing to us, and I think that translates to our audience. We’re a really transparent bunch of guys, and we love what we do, where it takes us who knows, whether its playing Glastonbury or playing #360RAW11, our response will always be the same, we just love playing music. But if the booking agents for Glastonbury are reading this, we want to play your festival, get in touch!
10. Thanks for your time. One last chance to tell our readers why they should get down to see your set at 360RAW11 on Friday 29 November …
No worries at all, it has been our pleasure. If you’re at a loose end on Friday 29 November, come on down and see us in action, you really won’t regret it honestly, we’re so excited to show you what we’re all about. We believe in this band with every fibre of our being, and we want to share what we’ve been working on over the past few months with you. We’ll be playing a bunch of new tunes at this gig that we’ve never played live before. It’s the first time we’ve really thought about the set as a show, so expect a really pro performance; we’re striving for greatness with this gig, and we want as many of you down there to witness it in all its glory. It’s going to be an amazing night, and we’re being joined by the fantastic Dactylion, Multinut Butter and Mega Happy, who all put on amazing shows. It’s going to be the one of the biggest and best nights celebrating up and coming bands in Leeds for 2019, it would be shame for you to miss this one. Hopefully we’ll see you there. All the best folks, Glassheads x
You can grab yourself some tickets to see Glassheads and the rest of the bands at the next #360RAW11 night in Leeds on 29th November here
Event link: https://www.facebook.com/events/798050700639631
Ticket link: https://www.crashrecords.co.uk/360raw11
