INTERVIEW: Glass Tides release single 'Sympathy' off upcoming debut album
Glass Tides recently released a new single ‘Sympathy’ off of their upcoming debut album. With the album set to release in January, they have already released two other singles ‘Crawling’ and ‘Waste’. We sat down to talk with Paul about their debut album and past EPs.
You’ve just released a new single ‘Sympathy’ off your upcoming debut album. What can you tell us about the songwriting process behind it? Who produced and mastered the track?
‘Sympathy’ all started with a chord progression that Mikey came to me (Paul) with, we just had a vision for it as soon as we record the progression. We managed to put all the music together for it in one night and then over the next few days I wrote the lyrics. I really dove into a dark place for the storyline and vibe of the song, I wanted it to portray that place you end up when your feeling so dark and all these thoughts just keep pushing you further and further down. The track and whole album was recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by Paul Bakker.
Another single you have released, ‘Crawling’, focuses on someone who is in a dark place and feeling pain and almost succumbing to it at all. What were the inspiration behind the lyrics?
The inspiration for this track spiralled from a friends relationship, both himself and his partner were really struggling to let themselves open up to each other and it led to both of them doing things they regret.
The ‘Crawling’ music video is a perfect complement to the track itself. It was directed, shot, and edited by Kieran Ellis-Jones. How was the experience on the collaboration and aligning the music video to portray what the song was about?
Kieran was amazing to work with, he had such a clear vision of how things needed to look and be portrayed, we spent a few days with him brainstorming ideas and by the time we started filming he had it all organized ready to go. Once we saw the final product we couldn't believe our eyes.
This year you have released the single ‘Waste’ which is definitely a passionate and straightforward track dedicated to someone who has lied. Is this song based on personal experience? Do you guys tend to write your lyrics based on actual moments that have happened in your lives?
Yeah this was an experience that I went through, dealing with a relationship that was completely one-sided. Only once I realized how toxic it all was, I was able to move on. But a few months later they came running back wanting things to go back to how they were. It was a song to say ‘Go and get f**ked’ basically.
Your upcoming debut album is set to release January 17th, 2020. Before this, you released two EPs My Descend and Thoughts. Did you approach the album the same ways that you did with the EPs? What have you learned as a band in terms of recording and writing music from the past two EPs?
We did keep our approach very similar, we have always written our songs in a very secluded way and produced it all ourselves. We just felt like we kept evolving with each release and with the album we have so much more space to play with, so we got to experiment much more with the types of songs we were writing.
Is there any musician or band that heavily inspires Glass Tides? Is your sound influenced by any generation of music or particular artists?
We love early 2000s emo tunes: The Used, Linkin Park – these have a big influence on us.
Being from Adelaide, are there any current bands from Australia that you all have been listening to lately?
Windwaker absolutely amazing band from Melbourne – 100% get around them. Tapestry who are also incredible. And from Adelaide as well, Towns are killing it.
After the album is released, what are your plans after it? Are your fans going to be able to see you guys touring with the new music?
Nothing announced yet, but we are definitely aiming to get on the road and make our way around Australia, we just can't wait to share all these songs with everyone!
