photo courtesy of hobbsy.comi get a really joy division/velvet underground vibe when i listen to your songs. are they big influences on your music?
Totally. VU probably more than Joy Division, despite the obvious Manchester connections. I am a massive Nico fan. Chelsea Girl is one of my favourite ever albums, so beautiful. I love the first VU album too, and Loaded. They were ahead of their time, and obviously completely experimental, but underneath all that was always great songs. Some dark but some amazingly beautiful, like Femme Fatale. I love the whole scene thing too. I think there are definite parallels to be drawn between Warhols Factory scene and Tony Wilsons here in Manchester.
Its hard to escape the Joy Division comparisons, living here;- i love She's Lost Control and Transmission. Dark and desperate, but poetic too.
I think the main thing you realise living here for a while, is despite all the backstory and subsequent legacy, those guys were just 4 lads in a room, being a band. I think the similarities in our sound come more from just living in the same rainy city, and feeding off the architecture and the landscape.
manchester's association with music goes back a long way, and there's been some great stuff coming out of the city recently. does being surrounded by so much music feed your creativity, or does it feel like it makes it hard to get into your own headspace and be original?
A bit of both i suppose. Sometimes its suffocating, and can make you think 'oh i should be sounding like this' but you see things come and go and slowly begin to realise its all completely inconsequential. What works in the moment isn't something that can be dictated.
Plus it always great when someone local does something epic and blows your mind all over again. It's inspiring.
your myspace lists quite a few authors as influences (hunter s thomson, f scott fitzgerald, william s burroughs) is lyricism very important to you in your song writing?
Yeah - but not just in my songs and poems, more in my life in general. As you get older you realise everyone is on this planet for the first time, experiencing it for the first time, unaware of what may happen. I believe the only way to learn is to read what those who've been before have said. It can only do you good. Reading is something that is very personal too. Its the only medium that has transcended all generations without much technological interference. Its totally based on the power of the imagination of the individual. Its pretty powerful. I don't necessarily try and reference it in my songs on purpose, just hope that some of it seeps in the style and essence of what i'm doing.
and is writing something that comes naturally to you, or is it a laboured process?
Peaks and troughs. I think it is natural, but its easy to get lazy, plus the environment has to be right. Obviously i have periods of blankness, but i think everyone does. I'm not one of those people though who can be like 'right today i'm going to write a song'.. It doesn't really work like that..(for me).
you've done some stuff with holiday records. how was it working with those guys?
Really good. I started speaking to Jacob (The Drums) when i was going through a pretty dark period of my life, recovering from a car accident, i couldn't walk for 6 months, and that was actually when i wrote and recorded most of the album.
Someone saying they like your music is always complimentary, which gives u confidence and makes you feel like someone, somewhere likes what you are doing. Its also good to know there are still people like that that exist, genuine music lovers that do stuff for the love of doing it. As well as similar tastes we have similar DIY style ethics, and obviously because of the press attention they were getting, it shone a bit of light on me. Great guys.
what kind of music did you listen to growing up?
Pretty much only Michael Jackson until i was about 14. I was obsessed, still am. I loved the whole pop star thing as a concept, as a life. Aside from that The Beatles, a lot of Motown, a lot of Lovers Rock stuff my Mum played growing up in London, and a lot of 60s stuff, the girl groups (Shirelles, Ronettes, Shangri-Las).. it wasn't really until i was about 16 when i discovered the guitar that i started to like indie.
first album you bought?
Michael Jackson - Off The Wall.
if you could name one song/band/musician that made you want to make music who/what would it be?
Michael Jackson.
if you could name one song/band/musician that made you want to stop making music who/what would it be?
No one really - i don't think its really possible to switch it off.
If anything, the only thing makes me want to stop making music is those that are so good you kinda think, 'whats the point? i'll never reach those heights' aka Radiohead. But you soon realise there's a place for everything.
what are you listening to at the moment?
Still Corners, Cloud Nothings, 2.54, Warpaint, Boxed In.. A lot of new bands.
band i haven't heard that i should know?
Shimmering Stars. (myspace/starsshimmer)
website you spend way to much time on?
Facebook.
what does the next 12 months hold for golden glow?
We have a vinyl coming out in January on Bleeding Gold Records called 'Tender Is The Night'. Very limited, 300 copies, 12-inch gold vinyl. 10-tracks all composed, performed and produced by myself. Dead lo-fi, kinda a collection of all my demos and previous EPs so far in one cohesive package. I can't wait. After that we'll see what happens, the band is going good so I imagine it'll start getting a bit more collaborative.
golden glow is. pierre hall. is great. myspace here.
