December 13, 2011

Band Of The Month - Glowbug


Meet Glowbug - an electronic/ambient artist who, after only 3 weeks on Jango Airplay, made it to the Top 10. He just released a new EP available for free download, and is working on the film score for a new movie. Here's his interview!

Describe Glowbug's sound in one sentence?
Unfiltered emotion though an ambient wash.

When was Glowbug formed and where?
Glowbug was formed in Bellingham, Washington near the end of 2010. At the time my previous band, Idiot Pilot, was going on hiatus so I decided to try to create a type of music that I had been rolling around in my head for a while. It didn’t take long before Glowbug grew legs of its own and just took off.  Currently I live in Los Angeles, California and I am working on the next Glowbug LP.

Name three people who have influenced your music, and tell us why? Living or dead.
Musically, I have too many influences to name, but I think that Glowbug specifically takes a lot of cues form My Bloody Valentine, which is a band I always loved growing up. Loveless is one of the best records ever made. That band obviously opened up the doors for what artists were able to do with reverb and unconventional mixing in a pop format.  I have also loved U2 for as long as I can remember and have drawn a lot of influence from them, especially in the way that The Edge plays guitar. I like beautiful simplicity in songwriting, and there are a lot of tricks that he uses in the way his guitar chords flow over the bass movement, which I try to draw from. After that, I would go with my parents, because without them I wouldn’t be here to have musical influences in the first place.

How do you connect with fans and get them involved in your music?
With any project that I do, I try very hard to stay connected with fans on a very personal level.  Nobody really has to pay for music if they don’t want to anymore, so if people make that choice to support you as an artist it is because they respect you and they almost think of you as a friend. That is how I would like Glowbug fans to feel, like we are on the same level, because in reality we are. The idea of the unattainable rockstar image is appropriate for some things, but it’s not something that I particularly like, especially with this band in particular. Other than that, I really just try to stay current and keep the music coming so that there is also something new to enjoy.

What do you like the most about Jango Airplay?
The listener statistics are very interesting and helpful. I like to be able to see what other bands Glowbug fans are into, mostly for my own curiosity and I like being surprised by the results. I am a fan of so many different genres of music and it’s cool to see that other people are too. Jango listeners seem to have very eclectic and honest preferences, and that is a great thing.

Is there any recent project you'd like to share with us? Tell us about it.
I just released a free EP called Covered In Lights Vol. 1, which you can get right here:


It’s got covers of Radiohead, The Pixies and more, and I am working on Vol. 2 as well. I am also currently scoring a film called Lily & Kat (http://lilyandkat.com), which is about to start production in NYC. I’ve been having an awesome time working with the director, Micael Preysler, on capturing the emotion of particular scenes through the filter of these songs. It’s going to be a great film.

Are you guys playing live and do you have any shows coming up soon?
Glowbug is currently deep in recording land and won’t be doing any shows very soon. However, I am about to head out on tour with one of my other projects, Hyro Da Hero, who is a killer MC from Houston, Texas.  I co-wrote his latest record with him, as well as members from The Blood Brothers and At The Drive-In, and I am so proud to be touring behind it. It’s really a fantastic album, sort of a hip-hop and punk hybrid.  We are going to be in the UK in February and then Australia in March after that. Tour dates are here: http://www.hyrodahero.com/

Connect with Glowbug here:
http://www.jango.com/music/Glowbug
http://www.facebook.com/GlowbugOfficial
http://glowbug.bandcamp.com/