In the fall of 2003, we acquired a multiple CD set of independent synthpop tracks entitled State Of Synthpop 2003. One of the many artists that we were introduced to with this set was a female-fronted band from St. Louis, Missouri, named Glow. The song "Gabriel" caught our attention, and after listening to it a few hundred times, we picked up a copy of the band's debut EP. This led to a second Glow track being played on the station ("Regret", which debuted on the chart on April 6th). You might also have heard a third Glow song, "Single," on our New Music Showcase. Their debut album, Rain Theory will be officially released on April 20th. We had the opportunity recently to ask singer Brooke Edwards a few questions about
the band's music, and learned what song might not be the best for a band to play at two in the morning.....
AeschTunes: How did the band get started?
Brooke Edwards: 4 years ago Brian was looking for people to start an 80's cover band. We all happened to find each other one way or another, and after a while we decided to do our own thing. Before we knew it, we had enough material for an EP, and out came "Gabriel".
AT: Brooke, in your bio on the Glow website, you mention your involvement with theater groups and independent film. What are some of the plays/films you've worked on?
BE: My most recent film projects are The Game of Their Lives, a new film by David Anspaugh, and Another Christmas by Brian Hohlfeld. My last theatre show was The Food Chain by Nicky Silver.
AT: Who are some of the bands/musicians who have inspired you, either individually or collectively?
BE: We all seem to have the same musical influences, which is nice. We love bands like The Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, New Order, Sinead O'Connor, etc... and on the heavier side we like Front 242, Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM, etc. With so many similar tastes, it makes our song-writing process fairly easy.
AT: There are a number of pictures on the Glow website from concerts you've done. What is a typical Glow set like? (length, any particular crowd favorites)
BE: We play about a 45-minute show, which usually includes a pretty cool light show (location permitting). The most popular songs we play are "Single," "Regret," "Gabriel," "The Wind That Shakes The Barley," and our dance version of "Nothing Compares 2 U." People that see us for the first time aren't quite sure what to make of us at first, as there are not many bands like us in St. Louis, MO.
AT: Do you plan on releasing that dance version of "Nothing Compares 2 U", maybe as a b-side on a single/exclusive MP3 download/whatever?
BE: We never had plans to record "Nothing Compares 2 U". It was a popular version of the song that we did during our cover band days, so we still do it sometimes live. But as for releasing it, there doesn't seem to be a reason. There are several versions of the song out there already and a lot of them are dance mixes. But who knows? Maybe we'll make it available as a download someday...
AT: Our personal favorite track on the "Gabriel" EP is the song "Regret," which we've been playing on our New Music Showcase to an overwhelmingly positive response. It seems to be a very emotional track; is it a difficult song to perform live?
BE: There are a couple of songs that we play that are emotionally difficult to perform live. "Regret" is one, "Single" is another. Even though "Regret" is more of a general "looking back" at past relationships, and is about no single relationship in particular, it still ends up being a very intense song live.
AT: After listening to the Gabriel EP pretty continuously for several weeks, the opening song of the Rain Theory album came as a bit of a surprise; "Single" is musically a lot more aggressive than the material on the EP. Is "Single" a sign of things to come for Glow?
BE: As you can see from our musical influences, we've got two different sides. On "Single" we wanted to explore that heavier side of our tastes as well as the emotional one - hopefully "Single" was able to portray both. As far as a sign of things to come for Glow, it's hard to say. Most of our newer material is in the same vein as our other songs, but there are one or two songs that could be considered a bit heavier for us.
AT: All of the songs on Rain Theory are written by Glow except for one: "The Wind That Shakes The Barley." What attracted you to this song?
BE: I guess my love for my Irish heritage. Oh, and we're big fans of Dead Can Dance. I would sometimes sing this song a cappella at the end of the night when we were a cover band. Not exactly a mood-lifter at 2am.
AT: Is it likely that the band will explore more of this type of material?
BE: It is not something that we have really discussed, but I would definitely be into updating traditional Irish music some more. As I said, I am very inspired by my Irish heritage, and the music, especially the republican songs that came up around the uprisings, are quite passionate, which is something I always strive to be.
AT: The album closes with a dance-oriented remix of "Gabriel," while you posted an MP3 on your website of a more ethereal version of the song. Why did you choose to put the dance version on the album instead of the ethereal version?
BE: We seem to get a better response to our upbeat material when we play live, and several DJ's had asked for a dance remix of "Gabriel." Rather than put two "Gabriel" remixes on the cd, we went with the dance remix, and made the 'ethereal' mix available as a download from our web site.
AT: With your first album under your belts, what's coming up next for Glow, or the bands' members individually?
BE: Well, we've begun writing our next album, and are pursuing some film scoring opportunites. We continue to play the occasional live show while we write and record new material.
AT: Are you "road-testing" the new material? What kind of response are the new tracks getting, compared to the songs you've been playing for a while?
BE: Yes, we play our new material at our live shows, when we feel that it's ready. Our songs are 95% - 100% finished by the time we play them live, so there's not a lot of 'testing' really. The new material gets the same kind of response as most of our other material - the upbeat songs have people dancing or bobbing their heads with the music, and the more emotional songs have people looking intently at us.
AT: A "free question" - what would you like to tell the readers of this newsletter, about the band, yourself, life in general...?
BE: We just hope that people enjoy listening to our music as much as we enjoy making it, and thanks to everyone for their support!