Vicious melodies written for the party-fiend in us all, Glasseye Parlour are a band who you’ll want to watch out for. Lucky for us, we were able to catch up with the Adelaide crew for a chat about their new single.
Glasseye Parlour know how to write a seriously addictive tune. Armoured with acidic hooks, sweltering riffs, and sheer grunge energy, the Adelaide four-piece’s latest single ushers in the same intensity that its title suggests.
Riot is a song for the times in every possible way. It can be an anthem against the system, a soundtrack to the post-COVID mosh of your dreams, or even a bloodthirsty party ballad; all rolled into the space of one single. Fresh off the release, we caught up with the boys to break down beginnings, inspirations, and the formidable hit that is Riot.
HAPPY: Hey guys, how’s it going? What do you find yourself doing right this moment?
BAND: Everyone is still at work other than Michael, his work has been shut down due to COVID-19.
HAPPY: We have been supercharged by the infectious fuzz-fest vibe of Riot! How does it feel to have it out in the world?
BAND: It feels so good to finally get some more music out there, we’ve been anxiously waiting for this one since All About Attention dropped in February. It’s actually one of the first songs we wrote and are stoked that people can finally hear it.
HAPPY: An incredibly timely track one might say, was this song a child of the times or was it born separately?
BAND: A number of people have asked if the song is inspired by the BLM movement and, while it’s up for interpretation, at the end of the day we wrote this song a while ago and at its core, it’s about partying so hard that you start a riot.
HAPPY: Can you give us a rundown of how you all got together? I hear a house party was at the centre of things…
BAND: Yeah so, Daniel (Guitar + vox) and James (Drums) first met at a house party and really hit it off, started jamming and things went from there. Daniel knew Michael (Guitar + Vox) since they were teenagers in the small country town of Coober Pedy and when we wanted to expand the band, he was quickly brought on board. Hamish (Bass) recently joined us to make it a four-piece, we had played a gig with him in another band and loved his style, so he was an obvious choice.
HAPPY: And the name Glasseye Parlour?
BAND: The name is an interpretation of our image and our roots, naturally we’re a few young blokes who have a few drinks and after a few drinks your eyes tend to get a bit glassy. By definition, a parlour is a guest/sitting room for entertainment and the back room at James’ place, where we jam and refine our sound, is exactly that. So I guess the name Glasseye Parlour is literally James’ backroom but, symbolically, a lot more than that to us.
HAPPY: How does the writing process typically look for you guys?
BAND: We like to experiment and usually we will improvise a large amount of music. We have a rule that if we’re bringing new ideas to the table, they can’t be too developed so that we can work through them as a band and all contribute creatively. We find that this results in a better representation of us as a whole rather than simply playing someone else’s song.
HAPPY: What’s been playing on your isolation playlist of late?
BAND: While we are fairly like-minded when it comes to songwriting, our listening tastes are quite diverse, so we have lots of different stuff on our playlists. A few special mentions are Ball Park Music, Bon Iver, Rat Tamango, and Dua Lipa.
HAPPY: With two singles out in the world, what’s next for Glasseye?
BAND: We can’t say too much about it at this stage, but we’ve got an EP in the works that we’re very excited about!
HAPPY: When things open up again, what’s on your bucket list gig-wise?
BAND: We’re really keen to finish off our debut EP and line up of several gigs to follow. We were looking into doing a regional SA tour pre-COVID and are keen to get that happening as well as making our interstate debut.
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat guys and congratulations!
BAND: No, thank you! We are absolutely stoked about the release and can’t wait for what’s next!
Check out Riot here.
