City of Glass - Interview

I have to admit, being part Canadian myself, with the majority of my family out in Vancouver, I always pay particular interest to Canadian bands (biased perhaps!), so naturally when I was presented with the chance to speak to David from City of Glass, I pretty much snapped their hands off!

Jade Sperry has done some great features on you, and she likened you to New Order at one point, but how would you describe your own music, and how do you feel when you get likened to great acts like New Order?

David: I think this is what they call the Elevator Pitch, where you have to describe yourself in 10 seconds or something. I‘d call us minimalist pop rock inspired by pop melodies, unconventional instrumentation and the darker side of New Wave and Brit Rock. And it‘s always an honour when we are compared to bands we love such as New Order.

“City of Glass" is quite an unusual name, how did you come up with it, and what other names did you consider?

David: In the hunt for a name, Michael and I were brainstorming our common interests. We both love the author Douglas Coupland, who wrote a book about Vancouver called City of Glass, so it was an easy choice. Coupland‘s books spoke to us for many years prior and the name itself evokes lots of appropriate imagery for where we‘re from, how we feel and why we write songs. We considered naming the band after famous song lyrics or titles but that never stuck. One idea was Shiver.

You must be thrilled with the reviews “Diving Bell" is getting! Before it‘s release there must have been a bit of anxiety, but do you actually read reviews of it?

David: We read everything. Many artists choose not to but we are just too excited to know what people think. There are many trustworthy sources out there that I want to hear from. At the end of the day, though, our decisions always come from our gut and our hearts; we are rarely influenced by reviews.

On Diving Bell, are there any personal favourites, and could you tell us a bit more about those tracks and the inspiration behind them?

David: We are both very fond of Tourist, because in it I think we captured a mood and sound we set out to achieve as writers. Tourist is about spending your life searching for and achieving meaning and fulfilment but realizing it‘s never as glorious or visceral as you expected. We tried to convey this with rigid guitar lines and ambient space contrasted by dramatic synths.

Could you tell us a little bit about where you draw inspiration for your material from, and how you go about writing your songs (is it a collaborative effort, or mainly done solo)?

David: Michael and I work by building the songs piece by piece and layer by layer on our computers. There‘s no real order to it; one of us might start with a rhythmic idea and the other might add a melody to it. Often, Michael will send me a basic verse and chorus that I can work with. Sonically and melodically, we try to convey emotional disconnect and vastness, while lyrically we stick to current, personal struggles and observations.

You worked with Stephen Green on quite a few videos, how did you find him, and how much input do you have in your music video‘s conceptually?

David: Stephen Green owns BKS Crew Productions with Brett Harvey, and they are the ones behind The Union (documentary) which Michael composed the music for. BKS have also done videos for Sex With Strangers (Canada) and they will be releasing City of Glass' newest official music video for Tourist, this month. Those guys are long time friends of Michael‘s, so Stephen is always up for working with us on fringe projects outside of BKS, like our live videos. When BKS are doing our official videos we usually provide some input on what the songs mean, what message we want to convey, etc. but, overall, the vision and production are overseen by them from top to bottom.

Who inspired you to pick up an instrument and start playing (and incidentally do you still have that Samick)?

David: Samick? That‘s hilarious! I do still have that wonderful piece of driftwood back at my parents' house. My sister adopted it a long time ago. Billie Joe from Green Day (the Dookie years) inspired me to pick up a guitar at 13, put stickers all over it and practice all their songs obsessively. Although, you could argue that maybe a free gas station tape of Kenny Loggins' Footloose, to which I air-guitared at age 9, might have inspired me before I knew it. My parents surprised me with a new guitar and my first band practice was two weeks after; they gave me something that they can never take back!

Tour just starting, must be looking forward to it, but is it also quite difficult leaving everything and everybody else behind for longish periods of time?

David: It has been extremely difficult, especially because it is our first time leaving home for this long, for this purpose. We have put ourselves in the same, very precarious position that other bands have been in by pursuing our dreams far away from our safety zones. I can happily report that everything seems to be going well with much more to come.

What have you got planned once you‘ve finished the tour (more than likely, rest, but after that)?

David: After tour? More touring! We are drafting our next tour for October/November that includes a return to the UK. Everything we do this year is in preparation for the upcoming full length scheduled for February 2012. We are also seeking support in all aspects of the band and we hope to tour the USA in March 2012. It‘s all super exciting and we look forward to everything that is to come.

To find out more about City of Glass you can visit their Facebook here: http://www.facebook.com/cityofglass