I fell in love with the Glass Hammer, american band featuring Prog Music. I came to them casually, listening to a piece of YES, with Jon Davison as a vocalist, and I started to explore their amazing world. To satisfy my curiosity, I asked to Steve Babb, co-founder and bassist of the band, to answer a few questions.
THE INTERVIEW
Savona, Italy, October 6, 2014
I have been in Tennessee,
I was in Beal Street and I visited the house of Elvis, but nowhere I felt the smell of Prog: how is born your passion
for this kind of music?
Tennessee
is famous for the Blues, Rock, Country and Bluegrass music. The important thing
is, Tennessee is well known for music! Prog Rock might not be so noticeable
here, but Salem Hill is from Tennessee as is Neal Morse and Glass Hammer.
Adrian Belew lives in Nashville. There are more prog artists here than you
would realize. Though the audience for prog is usually found elsewhere in the
country.
I was
exposed to progressive rock after discovering Rush in the late seventies which
led to some friends giving me copies of ELP and Kansas albums. I later discovered
Camel, Genesis and UK. I've always loved this genre!
I came to you for a
combination, watching a movie by Jon Davison on stage with YES, and through his
story I found the Glass Hammer: how it has evolved over the years the line up
and what is the current situation?
It started
as a studio project for Fred Schendel and myself, which led to us needing other
musicians for our live band. We run a recording studio full time, so there were
always people around who became interested in joining us for a year or
sometimes several years. As those people move on to other projects or family
commitments, we adapt with new musicians. Right now we have a very solid group
with Aaron Raulston on drums, Kamran Alan Shikoh on guitar, with Carl Groves
and Susie Bogdanowicz handling the vocals.
The Glass Hammer were
born over 20 years ago and during this long period they have recorded a large
number of albums: what kind of link exist between the first, "Journey of
the Dunadan" and the last, "Ode to Echo"?
Fred
Schendel and I have always been a part of this, and our writing is the constant
thread that runs through each album. We have also always enjoyed telling
stories with our music, and that has been the case on the majority of our
albums or individual songs. We have certainly learned a lot since that first
album, and hopefully have improved at our craft over the last 20 years.
What happens when the
Glass Hammer go up on a stage?
It is
really a different group on stage. We don't perform often, but truly enjoy
doing that as much as possible. The music has a completely different energy
live that is seldom captured on our albums. If you heard us live you might say
we played much more aggressively and had an energy to our performance that you
might not have expected. Fans always tell us that we appear to be having a lot
of fun on stage, and we can tend to be a little goofy – in the same way Rush
seems to be these days. We have a blast
on stage and love to interact with each other and the audience.
Listening to your music,
I had the impression of suddenly finding myself in my teens, finding the
indelible marks of some of my favorite bands (YES, ELP, Gentle Giant) combined
with something original, which I call the brand of Glass Hammer: how and how
much you have been influenced by the musicians of the past, some still at work?
We do
reference this band or that band when writing music for our albums, usually
bands from 35 or 40 years ago who have long since abandoned their love for
progressive rock. We have never tried to be truly progressive, as our love for
the genre is rooted in the seventies – so we are more retro than progressive.
That being said, we have managed to develop a very distinctive Glass Hammer
sound that I think prog fans around the world instantly recognize. We would
never be mistaken for another group. I'm very glad you noticed our “brand”!
What do you think about
the state of the music - between talent and businnes - in your country?
We are in
the music business here, producing artists and songwriters. This being the
case, I rarely have the time to listen to much beyond the projects we are
working on. I think for the most part, the business of music is in a dismal
state here and elsewhere. There is a lot of great talent everywhere I look, but
most artists have no idea how to promote their music – so it gets lost in all
the noise. If you can write and record a brilliant album but lack the ability
to promote it, well, it will go nowhere and your efforts are wasted. That is
true everywhere I imagine.
Where do you get
inspiration for the lyrics of your album? Can be considered conceptual?
Sometimes
there is a point I wish to make, so I develop a storyline or a theme for some
of an album's songs, and sometimes for the entire album. “Culture Of Ascent”
used the metaphor of mountain climbing to represent spiritual ascension and the
search for Heaven on earth – with the final realization being that it exists
elsewhere and cannot be found here. “IF” was much the same, especially the song
“If The Sun”. In this case many of the lyrics and musical themes were
suggesting a “singer” who was calling us home. Of course, the singer was God.
“Perilous” was written during and after my experience with a friend who died
from cancer. We dealt with his fears and ultimately his making his peace with
God. All of that, sadness and joy, went into the lyrics of “Perilous”. “Ode To
Echo” was about the danger of narcissism and a warning about psychopaths, and
was written after my family had been victimized by one of these monsters. The
new album we are currently working on has a lot of different ideas going on and
each song has its own source of inspiration. Fans are going to really love this
one, which is scheduled for spring 2015.
I know about your
collaboration with Jon Anderson: what kind of contact exists between you and
the "world YES"?
Yes fans
have always been very supportive of Glass Hammer and we hear from them all the
time. Yes sells our CDs at their concerts. I spent some time with Roger Dean
last spring and he is always a gentleman. Beyond that there is no contact
between Glass Hammer and Yes, other than the relationship with have with Jon
Davison.
There is a small chance
to see you in Italy in the future?
If there is
a prog festival with a budget to bring Glass Hammer over – we will come! I did
get an invitation from one promoter this year, but the budget simply did not
exist that would permit flying the group over. So if you know of a festival –
let them know you would love to see Glass Hammer in Italy. I have always
maintained that if I come to Europe and have to pay for it myself, then I will
be doing it as a vacation! We will bring Glass Hammer to Europe one day, but
only when the fans demand it and the promoters are willing to pay for it. We
would draw a HUGE audience there, of that I am certain.
Is it possible reveal
something about your future projects?
As I said,
we are hard at work on a new album. Some albums we have done have been real
turning points for us. “Chronometree”, “Lex Rex”, “The Inconsolable Secret” and
“IF” would be examples of those. I predict the new album will be our most
popular yet. Something has happened with the songwriting and the level of
musicianship I cannot quite explain yet. Suffice it to say it will be fan
favorite. Hopefully we will have a title for it soon and will start talking
about it a lot more!
Ode To Echo Trailer
Featuring co-founders Steve Babb and Fred
Schendel joined by guitarist Kamran Shikoh, drummer Aaron Raulston, vocalist
Jon Davison and fan-favorites Carl Groves and Susie Bogdanowicz. The fourteenth
studio album by America's top-prog group also features cameo.
