South by Southwest is just around the corner and local four piece Glaze sat down with us to talk about their upcoming South by performances as a first time official artist.
Local Live legends Glaze formed after Stephen McElwee, Firas Isat, Austin Yeates, and Jake Villarreal met at Texas State.
“Firas was in a different band at the time, and we saw his band perform,” said lead vocalist and guitar player McElwee. “That really inspired Austin and I to start a project, because we loved his project so much. We eventually would get Firas to join this band too, so it was kind of a full circle moment.”
Glaze blends buttery guitar and dreamy vocals to create a mesmerizing sound often marked by sentimental lyrics put to catchy guitar riffs. McElwee said his personal sound has always been deeply inspired by The Cure.
“They have a variety of songs that sound different, experimenting with different sounds. But through and through, it's always been The Cure, and you can tell when you hear a Cure song,” McElwee said.
Lead guitarist Isat said in terms of his process for writing guitar parts he draws inspiration from the unique riffs of Dive, but more recently he has been inspired by MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS, a band Glaze toured with this past Fall.
“Our sounds are kind of different, but the energy and the places they take their music in each song has opened my eyes, in terms of (song) writing,” Isat said. “There's just so many masterful ideas that they bring to it.”
In 2017 Glaze released their first EP Wasted Mind. The four song EP showcased the catchy nature of Glaze’s melodies and gave us instant classics such as their top-streamed song “Mercury.”
“When we did Wasted Mind I didn't know what to expect or what to really do when going into a studio,” McElwee said. “That was the first time I was going professionally into a studio with Austin and Jake to record these songs. And we actually had a full album of songs, and we ended up only releasing four because we just got really picky.”
Since then, McElwee said Glaze’s recording process has evolved.
“I like to think the way that it's changed is I know a little more, and we are a little more hands on DIY with recording and studio time nowadays, versus back then,” said McElwee.
This has been especially evident as Glaze works on a new album that McElwee says is still in its early stages, but he hopes will be out by the end of the year.
“The writing process has been really fun to see everybody's vision, work on the whole direction of it, and have everybody contributing,” Isat said.
Before, McElwee said everyone mainly stuck to writing their own parts for new music.
“Now everyone feels able to write any kind of parts. Whether it's vocals or guitar melodies or drum parts, whatever it may be, we're all collaborating on that,” McElwee said.
At their upcoming SXSW performances, Glaze plans to perform these new songs.
“I would say easily 80 to 90% of the material will be playing as unreleased material, so we've just been working on these songs and trying to put pen to paper,” said McElwee. “It’s going to be a good way for us to test out a lot of these songs, maybe figure out a good order for them, or see what flows into what.”
Although no stranger to the unofficial SXSW shows, this year marks Glaze’s first time as an official South by Southwest artist.
“Years ago when we were first starting out we had applied and got rejected,” McElwee said. “We got discouraged and so we didn't apply forever…But this year, I was like, you know what? I'm just gonna go ahead and fill out this application, and whatever happens, happens.”
Isat said as a local band it's easy to take for granted the opportunity to play in Austin, but he's looking forward to being part of the SXSW hype this year.
“It's gonna be fun to play as many shows within a week as we can at different venues,” said Isat. “It's almost like being a tourist in your own city.”
In addition to being excited about playing shows, Glaze said they are also looking forward to discovering new artists at South by. McElwee and Isat said they are also anticipating performances from bands they already love, such as Wishy and Trauma Ray.
You can catch Glaze this South by at Valhalla on March 10, or check their Instagram @glazetheband for more updates on shows!
“We love playing live,” Isat said. “Genuinely love it, and want that to come across to the audience and just have everybody have a good time in a welcoming environment.”