Band of the Week #0021: Glass Peaks

Photo Credit - Ant Adams

This week's Band of the Week is Kent three piece Glass Peaks, who this week released their new single 'Hold Me Closer', and they have just announced a huge headline show at London's Water Rats this December. We had a chat with the band about the single and the band's future plans.

Where was the new single recorded? Why did you choose there?
Jake (Guitar): Squarehead Studios in Kent with the main man Kristofer Harris. We love the work that Kris has produced over the last few years. Working with the likes of Bears Den, Get Inuit, Belle & Sebastian, Ghostpoet and Story Books. He really knows how to work us and brings out the best in the songs. The man is a genius, he's like the 4th member of the band.
Alfie (Bass): It's actually my favourite place in the world, even before they had running water! Kris is an absolute G.

Any behind the scenes studio stories?
Jake: Grant getting so stressed at playing drums wrong that he nearly went to burn the place down.
Grant (Drums): My meltdowns are very common. I blame it on passion.
Alfie: Grant also spent about half an hour ranting about how his nan only ate fish and chips and it actually reduced me to tears. He was so angry, for no reason. Brilliant.

Your previous single had a very big sound to it, this song sees you take a more melodic approach. How do you keep yourselves creative as a band? Do you feel the pressure to constantly creative something new?
Jake: Personally I don't ever really feel any pressure to create new songs. I love creating new tunes but never feel the pressure to do so. They'll come when the times right. I feel like songs come from a way your feeling at a certain time and when the feeling's right, the song will be right.
Grant: I'm always trying to do something different. I never want a song to sound the same. At times it can push the writing time longer, but at the end I'm always proud of what is produced. And about pressure. I never feel pressure to write something new. If anything I always want to create something new.
Alfie: I think as we write more and more, we're just becoming unafraid to experiment and push the boundaries of our musical skills. If anything, I do feel pressure to constantly create, but I think we're all always creating in our heads, so usually, when we meet up, someone has a little idea or riff or something that we can build on. It's a good way of working.

If someone had never listened to you before, how would you describe yourselves?
Jake:Three lads from London/Kent that drink beers and make indie/alt/pop/electronic/rock guitar music.
Alfie:Loud and passionate, intricate and melodic, honest and unafraid to f*cking tear it up. Come and see us live; you'll get the full picture.

What are the song lyrics about? What inspired them?
Jake:Love, hate and confusion.
Alfie: All of the above. This song is trailing at the very tail end of what was a bit of a difficult time for us as a band earlier this year, so there's quite a bit of frustration and anger in there. It's a bit of a release to be honest.

What are the bands plans for the next few months?
Jake: To keep releasing bangers, play a load of shows, get an 8 figure record deal and waste money on nights out in Bexleyheath.
Alfie: We just want to notch it up, show people that we're not pissing around. We've got some awesome live shows lined up before the year is out and then it's looking into the new year. Festival season, new releases, bigger stage show... We're hungry, we want it, and we're not gonna fucking stop until we've got it.

Feature by Ant Adams

You can catch the band at the following dates: 

29th October - The Finsbury - London for Blogtober

25th November - Kazoopa Festival - Leeds

2nd December - Headline London show - The Water Rats