The lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Sag Harbor-based band The Glazzies talks about how one bartender made a suggestion that pulled him out of a restaurant and into the offices of the MTK: Music to Know Festival. He also talks about what it feels like to know he will play in front of thousands this August, and why he will never quite feel like a guitarist because of his devotion to the drums.
By Kathryn G. Menu
Locally, your bands – Too Busy Being Bored, and now, The Glazzies – are no strangers to success, but it has to be a pretty heady experience to be invited to play alongside Bright Eyes and Vampire Weekend at the MTK: Music to Know Festival this August in East Hampton.
It is. It hasn’t really registered yet. It will hit me when we go to the site and watch the stage get set up. But I am just so happy to be working with these guys. It’s a great experience to be involved with the festival on its own. Nothing is set in stone yet when we are going play, so we are just going to wait and see.
How did this come together? How did you meet Chris Jones and Bill Collage, the founders of the festival?
I was actually working at The Paradise in Sag Harbor last fall and Howie Matheson, the bartender there, told me he had this friend — Chris — who was going to start a music festival out here and asked me for one of my cards so he could pass it along to him. I got in touch with Chris around November and that same week Bill came into the restaurant and asked for me. Right away we clicked talking about music and it just went from there. It’s funny how things fall in place.
So in addition to playing at the festival in some capacity, you are also working for MTK: Music to Know in their Sag Harbor offices, writing a blog about your experience. Does being 19-years-old and aware of the current music scene give an edge in the office?
There are a couple of other people that are near my age, but I am the youngest guy in the office.
What’s great about the festival is the lineup has a lot of great bands. I remember when Chris told me Bright Eyes was going to play, I just thought, wow, that’s nuts. Those guys are amazing. I always knew it was going to be a big festival, but before I knew the aesthetic they were going for, I assumed it would be Billy Joel or Bon Jovi playing, not Bright Eyes and when he told me that, I thought, that is the right way to go about this.
While acts like Bright Eyes and Vampire Weekend are very current, a lot of your inspiration comes from bands I listened to growing up, the early 1990s music scene, like Nirvana and Dinosaur Junior. How did you come to know that music?
I got into music when I was seven. I attached myself to the Red Hot Chili Peppers because I thought Chad Smith, their drummer, was just amazing. I became obsessed with them, and then I found out about the Foo Fighters, and Dave Grohl, and when I found out he used to play for this band called Nirvana, I listened to them. Dinosaur Junior, I only heard about a couple years ago. I was at Crossroads Music, just looking around and I saw J Mascis’s signature guitar. It was purple metal flake with a gold pick guard, and I just had to find out about it, so I looked the guitar up and discovered the band. It was the perfect moment, because The Glazzies were just starting and I think their sound was the direction we needed to go in. It’s a big, live sound, but very energetic.
What’s going on with The Glazzies now?
Our EP, “Coming Clean,” is coming out in July and we are hosting a release show on July 27 at The Stephen Talkhouse.
The sound is simple. I like big guitar, I like big drums. It’s funny, but I don’t consider myself a guitarist. I started out on the drums and I can speak drums, I understand drums better than guitar. So we play rock music. I hear what is playing on the radio and it makes me angry. It’s the pop, the same beats, the sames concepts, the auto-tune. In our EP, it is like you are listening to a live Glazzies show. That is the sound we want to get across. We are a live band and I don’t want it too sound too polished. It’s rock music.
What are your expectations for the festival?
I think it is going to be awesome, and the place to be that weekend. I am really excited. I haven’t seen most of these bands live yet. I have always listened to Bright Eyes and Cold War Kids, and I started listening to Fitz and the Tantrums. They don’t use a guitar in their group. It’s all drums and bass and soul.
I have been to a lot of festivals and shows and no one has ever done what they are trying to do, bringing in fashion, and food and things for kids. And the stage itself is just going to look amazing.
Jones and Collage hope to parlay the festival into an annual event in East Hampton, with the idea of creating a year-round industry connected to music and entertainment. Do you think that will work?
We need it. The Hamptons should be known for something other than the glitz and glamour and horse shows. The music scene out here can be so small, and there is only one real venue in The Talkhouse, which I love, but something else needs to be done out here for local artists. I think this is the perfect timing to do that.
What is the future for The Glazzies?
We’re setting up a regional tour this fall. I will probably still be writing the blog, but the band is going to be my total focus. Ideally we will travel within 200-miles of New York City and try to build our fan base and promote the EP. It’s an exciting time.
For more information on the MTK: Music to Know Festival, go to www.musictoknow.com.
