Glasshouse

Who: Dan James (vocals, guitar), Stew Riddle (vocals, bass), Matt Wedmaier (drums) and Brendan Eyles (guitar).

History: Brisbane university students in 1997, James and Riddle forge a friendship through common musical ground. Their desire to start a band becomes a reality when they nab Wedmaier from local group Wildflower, and Eyles from the Naked Apes. "Stew and I are very calculated about finding good, dedicated players." says James.

Sound: Think a less-angsty Muse, fusing Coldplay-esque soaring guitars with subtle textures and poignancy. "I have always loved the big intense guitar sound," says James. "There's nothing that does it for me like a really intense vocal with a big guitar sound behind it."

Words: Forget flippant songs about girls and cars, Glasshouse want to move you. Deep lyrics resonate alongside epic, ethereal guitar work. "We try very hard not to write benign lyrics about girls and all that shit, because we want to be inspired to perform songs that we find convincing," James says. "I work hard to write intense lyrics about interesting subjects."

Release: The band spent a month in the studio, laying down their new Nothing Comes of Thinking EP, which proved starkly different from their previous recording experiences. "We were all out to prove something, so we put a lot of pressure on ourselves for this," he offers. "This meant that none of us could walk out of the room until we had the perfect take - after 10 hours of recording, that perfect take can get pretty elusive!"

Next: The band will tour Nothing Comes of Thinking early in the year, before knuckling down to record a debut album tentatively planned for release at the end of the year.
- Rolling Stone Magazine

You must have goals, my parents used to tell me. Dan James, lead singer and guitarist with Brisbane four-piece Glasshouse, seems to have heeded similar advice - he knows exactly what he wants from his career in music.

"I would love to walk onto a great looking stage and have someone hand me my guitar," he says. "Brendan [Eyles, guitar] keeps telling me he wants lasers and a rotating stage, which would be cool too."

And you know what? It just might happen. Certainly it's not too much of a stretch to imagine Glasshouse's music booming out through a blanket of dry ice and laser light. Their new EP Nothing Comes Of Thinking is chock full of anthemic, atmospheric rock that values the grand gesture almost as much as a good tune.

The disc was produced by LA veteran Roger Sommers (Van Halen, kd lang). "It's very inspiring to work with someone as enthusiastic as Roger," Dan gushes. "We would find that after working for 12 hours a day on small portions of a song that we were still ready to do more. Of course enthusiasm and caffeine only takes you so far and eventually you hit the wall and need to go to bed."

Complete the sentence...

One thing I really hate is...stomach acid. I produce too much and it hurts, it is currently two in the morning and I couldn't sleep because of my weak stomach so I am doing this interview to stop myself from vomiting.

One thing not many people know about me is...I started out as a classical trombonist and stopped because I didn't want to be one member in a 60-piece orchestra playing someone else's music.

The most important lesson I've ever learned is...When catching huntsman spiders, never let them run into the clothes you're wearing.

Something I'll never do again is...Catch a huntsman spider.

When no one else is around I like to...practice like mad so that I keep getting better. I am terrified that I will never write a song again every time I pick up my guitar.

The song lyric that most describes me is...Time is like a broken watch - Interpol.
- Rave Magazine

1. How did it feel to hear your song played all over the airwaves?

To be quite honest, I only heard it for the first time on the radio this week. It is a little surreal to say the least. After you've heard the song a million times in the recording process and rehearsing, it tends not to be too exciting hearing that same song again, but hearing it in the context of someone announcing the band name and song before it's played, it was quite exiting for me.


2. Did you have any pre-conceived ideas about the music industry?

Other then sex, drugs and rock n roll, not really. I've since found out that it is actually a lot of hard, time consuming work. Instant fame from a record executive that happened to be walking by your first gig, or past the rehearsal room, seemed to be a realistic idea before we started, 8 years ago. Somehow I've learnt that it may not be true.


3. Do you write your own songs? What's your inspiration?

As a band, we do write our own material. Generally the format goes, Dan brings in an idea, Stew Brendan and I cut it back to the bones, and flesh out from there. As far as inspiration goes, I'd like to say it was girls, love, and love for girls, but it seems to be a little more fatalistic than that. We dabble in a bit of the end of the world, and other peachy issues related to that.


4. What music/artists do you listen to when you are not playing your own?

Two of my favourite bands are Tool and Muse. They're basically GlassHouse favourites, but on the whole, I'm more of a radio listener. I listen to Triple J for 10hrs a day, so I tend to listen to a huge range of different genres of music. I try as much as I can to see live, local Australian music in fortitude valley, which, coincidently I'm doing tonight. If I don't get out and support everyone else, who the hell is going to come and support us???


5. What's next? Tour/Album/Single?

We've only released the 'fury' of our ep, 'Nothing comes of Thinking', (plug), onto the world in the last 4 months, so we're still in the process of backing that up with gigs, gigs and more gigs. We're supporting The Butterfly Effect at Rockhampton this weekend for RockFest, then heading to Caboolture the next weekend to participate in RawCab, our first clothes optional festival. Ummm, don't know if we'll be participating in the optional part, but you may have to come and find out. (Free drinks definitely will aid in the process of band participation in nudity). From there we're playing the Woodstock Downunder festival on the 30th of April with acts such as Spiderbait, Killing Heidi and Evermore. There's an east coast tour planned for the end of May, and we're looking at recording a full length album in august.


6. Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

I could tell you of many moments where we've nearly crumbled, but the idea of giving away something we've all worked so hard for, and then going back and trying to find something else you may be remotely good at, is enough motivation to keep your head and focus. But it doesn't get easier. The more success and goals you seem to achieve, the harder everything gets. The pressure to always perform can really test your boundaries of pain threshold. A wise man once said of this industry, 'If it were easy, everyone would do it'. Plus you get to tour around, see the sights, meet new people and stand on stage while everyone looks at you. People would pay a lot of money for that.


7. Do you prefer performing live or recording?

I definitely would have to say performing live is my preference. Putting it all out there for everyone to see is scary, but it also has its rewards. If you're not out there everyday, putting yourself in a situation that scares you or makes you feel uncomfortable, then you're not living! I love performing because it is daunting, and it makes me step well out of my quiet, lonely existence, and project the confident young man you see before you, hiding behind a drum kit at the back of a stage, just behind Dan.


8. What/who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

I just remember sitting at the front of the school band in grade 3, blowing that squeaky bloody clarinet, turning around and looking at the grade 7 kid playing the drums. That's the moment when my life changed. Grade 4, drummer in the recorder band! The rest is history!


9. What is the biggest challenge you have faced along the way to your musical success?

Sacrifice. Without a doubt. I'm not married in the typical sense, but it does feel like I've made a similar vow to four guys of that magnitude. I tend to be easily distracted by my social life and sport, but now the band takes first preference. It has to. Oh, and also learning to play the drums. I've managed to get this far bluffing my way through it. It may be time for some lessons.


10. What's a typical day like?

Alarm, snooze, alarm snooze, etc. We always try and keep a level head and remain gr - girl.com.au

Glasshouse doesn't need any hype to promote its music. There's a sense of great things about to happen on Nothing Comes of Thinking, but for now, best to enjoy a great collection of sophisticated rock songs.

There are elements of Placebo and Muse, but the band retains an Australian rock feel on this six-track EP. The intensity of One Night In Your Skin and It Burns shows them to be musicians of substance.

There's a change of pace and style at the start of In My Name, but the lure of the big chorus is hard to avoid.

A breath of fresh air that could turn into a gale.
- The Chronicle

Charles Foster Kane launch their Better Believe EP tonight, but I don't find their act very believable at all. CFK's dramatic take on grandiose pop rock comes off flat. While I love their over-the-top flamboyance, CFK need to fill out their live sound before singer, Dane O'Hara can strut around swathed in arrogance. Still, those in the crowd, who liked what they saw, were mesmerised by the glamorous lads.

Glasshouse are definitely worth a mention. The four-piece get the crowd going with a solid wall of melody and hooks. Backed with steady musicianship and strong stage presence, there's no denying them. Plus, their latest EP Nothing Comes Of Thinking shows the band are onto something special. Never saw them before, but I will definitely see them again.
- Rave Magazine

BEHIND every successful band is a parent or friend who once told them to go and get a real job. Actually scratch that, make it behind every band.

It's just that some actually find the rare success which allows them to dole out a few "I Told You So" comments later on.

Brisbane band Glasshouse hope to join that exclusive club but for now their new single Disappointment explores those themes of, well, disappointment.

"A lot of people we know, somewhere along the line, have expressed that being in a band and doing the things we do is a bit nuts and we should be settling down and doing something a little bit more respectable," explains guitarist Brendan Eyles.

Glasshouse, however, have a clear picture of where they are going and what they want to do. Their debut EP Nothing Comes of Thinking, recorded under a house in Fortitude Valley last year, was well-received, with the ridiculously hooky single One Night in Your Skin getting regular airplay on Nova.

Now they have recorded their first full-length album, snagging a handy $30,000 from Arts Queensland to help do so. Restore Factory Settings was recorded at Byron's Studio 301 and mixed at producer Roger Sommers' LA home.

Tomorrow night Glasshouse will launch Disappointment, the first single from the album, along with a suitably dark film clip. Eyles says the band plan to hold the album release back a few months in the hope some singles will get picked up by radio and build momentum.

Although their expansive sounds give a nod to influences such U2, Muse and Radiohead, it was actually cheesy glam metal which first inspired Eyles.

"I wish I could say it was something really cool, but Motley Crue were actually why I first picked up a guitar." By contrast, Glasshouse singer Dan James grew up in a classical household, discovering rock relatively late in life. Eyles says this eclectic mix meant each member had something different to contribute to the songwriting process. - Courier Mail