Glass Ceilings are a young and energetic indie pop band from Birmingham. They kindly joined me for a conversation about Abba and female representation in the music industry.
Are you currently working on anything new?
Lois (Vocals and guitar): We are. We were in the studio last week but we don’t think we’ll be releasing it anytime soon. We do some more recording… we don’t know if we are going to release it as a single or do something a bit bigger and different.”
What bands do you sound like?
Lois: “I think we sound a bit like Two Door Cinema Club. I’d say we are definitely more indie pop than Indie rock.”
Katie (Bass): “I think we’ve got that sort of The 1975 vibe about us”
Who does the song writing in the band?
Lois: “We all do really. The last few have been like one of us will come up with an idea and we take it to band practise and just figure out the rest. I write the lyrics but everyone kind of writes their own little bits.”
Q (Drums): “Yeah. Someone will write something and we just add stuff to join in really. We all decide what our songs are going to sound like.”
What do you guys think of the Birmingham music scene?
Lois: “I like it a lot… I think there’s some good bands to be fair, especially the people we
have played with. People like The Clause, Myriam Adams… It’s very inclusive and friendly.”
You’ve had some line-up changes recently. What happened?
Katie: “Yeah, obviously nothing bad has happened. Jay, our old guitarist has decided to join the marines. He’s still one of our best mates and we talk to him constantly. It’s been quite nice having Daryl join us… we’ve known him for years, he is Lois’s brother and their styles are quite similar so it’s been a nice fit.”
How has Covid-19 affected you as a band?
Katie: “It’s given us a lot of time to be planning what we want to do in the future and get down some new ideas. It’s given Daryl the chance to settle in the band and record some stuff with us, rather than just going headfirst into gigging. So in many ways it’s actually been quite good for the band.”
What’s the main thing that inspires your songs?
Lois: “I don’t have trouble writing lyrics but it isn’t something I had ever done before the band started. With my lyrics I try and pick a situation that I think could work with my lyrics. If a topic works, then it works. Musically, our songs are inspired by The 1975 and Two Door cinema Club as we said. I think for a while they were a bit like Arctic Monkeys and maybe a bit Catfish & the Bottlemen. Now I think our stuff is much lighter and a bit more jangley.”
Who does your artwork?
Lois: “The artwork for I don’t mind was done by Jay’s girlfriend Steph. Cerys did the Liars one… she’s the best and does a lot for us. She runs the Instagram and stuff… kind of our manager other than it isn’t her job. Then the other singles just have pictures for covers.”
What is the inspiration behind your song Talk?
Katie: “It was one of the first ones we ever wrote together… it was a couple of years ago. I’d say it’s one of the one’s that doesn’t feel as personal anymore.”
Lois: “It’s about substance abuse really. It’s not deep but it is a pretty heavy topic. But as Katie said, it was like the third song we wrote together.”
How do you think women are represented in the music industry?
Katie: “I think within the sort of music that we do it’s not that common. There’s a lot of female pop stars and singers but not many that play instruments. It’s quite common for us to play a gig and for me and Lois to be the only women in any of the bands.”
Lois: “Yeah, you don’t see many girls playing instruments. Women in acoustic acts are quite common but you don’t see many in full bands.”
At this point in the interview we were joined by lead guitarist Daryl, who had been having difficulties joining the Zoom call.
How did the band meet?
Lois: “We all went to school together and obviously Daryl is my brother. Our original drummer left because he was going to uni... we met Q and took him under our wing."
Where does the band name come from?
Lois: “It’s completely random… I just thought it was cool. Our old name was just a bit crap so we decided to change it. And then of course the term, Glass ceilings… it fits in with what we were just talking about and definitely fits with us. We were originally called Crossroads… we were scrolling through my phone and the first song we found was a John Mayer cover of Crossroads. The realised a few years down the line that it needed changing.”
Why do you think Sunsets are better than People?
Q: “It was my mates Instagram caption.”
Katie: “Yeah, we kinda took the mick out of him a little bit and wrote the chorus… we weren’t even practising, we were chilling, watching the TV.”
What is the worst thing about being in a band?
Daryl: “(Laughs)…I have to see my sister a lot more.”
Lois: “No money.”
Daryl: “Yeah it can be heard… It’s kind of like a labour of love at the moment. You’ve got to put in a lot to not get much back.”
Katie: “I think the Birmingham music scene is really good but because it’s so good, it’s really competitive. There’s lots of other band’s trying to do the same or similar things to what we are doing. But I think the competition is difficult in Birmingham because we have such a good and inclusive scene around the smaller bands.”
If you could collaborate with one artist, who would it be?
Daryl: “I’d pick John Mayer because he’s absolutely quality. No other reason than he’s quality, d’ya know what I mean? I don’t know what direction we are going in at the moment… John Mayer could come and sort us out.”
Katie: “I really like Courtney Barnett. I saw her years ago at a music festival. I remember seeing a female, doing what she’s doing on a big stage at a festival and just thinking she was really cool.”
Does the band have a favourite album of 2020?
Lois: “I’ve been listening to a lot of old stuff. I have literally had Abba on repeat so I don’t even know what’s been released this year.”
Katie: “Abba? Out of all things, why Abba?”
Lois: “I watched Mama Mia and now I have a bit of a problem.”
Q: “The Slow Rush by Tame Impala. Stick it on tonight, mate.”
What is the bands best song?
Daryl: “I Don’t Mind is probably the best song but Liars is my favourite.”
Lois: “Out of all the ones that have been recorded and released, I Don’t Mind is probably my favourite… but I also really like W.D.Y.W.F.M.”
What is your favourite venue to play?
Daryl: “We’d all probably say The Sunflower Lounge. It’s nice and intimate in there, isn’t it?”
Lois: “Yeah, you’re in your own little world down there.”
Katie: “Last month we did a socially distanced gig at Dead wax and I had never been before. It was outside but when we can play inside I think that’s going to be really nice, we’ve just never had the opportunity.”
Lois: “It was like a mix between The Castle & Falcon and The Sunflower Lounge.”
When can we expect to hear new music from you?
Lois: “We were just in the studio but we are gonna hold onto it for a bit and make sure it’s definitely the one that we want to release. Maybe even do an EP? So, probably next year at this point. We do have a gig down at The Sunflower Lounge in December if it still goes ahead.”
Interview by Aidan McGuire
Glass Ceilings links
Aidan McGuire's links
Коментарі