Glass Hammer suprises again with the darker than usual orientated album ‘Three Cheers For The Broken Hearted’, made in a smaller line up. An unexpected yet interesting move by the driving creators of the band Steve Babb and Fred Schendel. The first mentioned heard the tone of an incoming e-mail towards the end of November..Lords of Metal wants to know more!
’Three Cheers For The Broken Hearted’, your great new album, seems to present a slightly different side of Glass Hammer, do you agree? Absolutely. But let me start by saying that Three Cheers doesn’t necessarily represent a new direction for the band. It does show a different side as you say. I started the process by writing three or four of the songs for what would have been my solo album. Fred thought they’d make a great start for the new GH album and ultimately I had to agree. So I dropped my project, while Fred began writing some of the heavier songs on the album to go along with mine. The result, in my opinion, is probably the most cohesive album we’ve ever produced; the flow seems to work really well; which seems odd for album that bounces between trip-hop, prog-metal, and sixties psychedelic (i.e. The Zombies cover of “A Rose For Emily). We would never have attempted something like this four or five years ago, but it was definitely time to write an album like ‘Three Cheers’. And that’s the great thing about being in this band – the fans will tolerate most any whim we have. We write the album we’re inspired to write at the time – release it, and move on to the next project. I, for one, am still completely in love with old-school symphonic-prog. So I don’t think GH has written its last epic, or composed its last concept album. That being said, ‘Three Cheers’ was probably influenced far less by Yes – and more so by bands that I’ve been listening to (Hooverphonic, Devin Townsend, Goldfrapp, Portishead), with Fred’s contributions leaning more toward Rush, Sabbath and some of the newer prog-rock acts.
The album artwork and the music has a bit of gloomy and melodramatic feeling, was this deliberate? Lyrically, this album deals with betrayal, disappointment and cynicism. It still more or less resolves with a ray of hope and a determination to persevere. Even the gloomiest tune ‘Sundown Shores’ has the line in the bridge “But beyond the wreck and ruin of it all, I’m still here”. ‘Hyperbole’, which is all about cynicism and doubt, still ends on the high note “Just maybe?” So, yes, there is some anger and some heartache – but with light at the end of the tunnel. It’s still a little strange, considering that we originally talked about calling this project “The Happy Album” and would have populated it with songs that were incredibly upbeat in style like “The Mid-life Weird”. Yet in the end, this album shifted decidedly toward the darker side of GH. Was it deliberate? Not really. Since we weren’t trying to write a concept album, each song dictated its own direction. It wasn’t until all the songs were written that the mood of the album became apparent. It wasn’t contrived – it just happened.
The bands’ catalogue is expanding steadily, how do you think the new album will fit in between the other albums? That’s hard to say until some time has passed. I’ll share a comment from the Glass Hammer forum, posted by one of our long time fans and friends. “It's definitely a different approach to the GH sound but it's done so deftly that it fits right in with the canon of work that precedes it...” My guess is, he’s right. But we will just have to wait and see. At this point, I just don’t have any perspective on it. I tend to think Culture of Ascent was beginning to show this side of GH, since we made use of loops and began to give the music a little more edge in places. But that was over two years ago. ‘Three Cheers’ is a pretty big jump for us – certainly not in comparison to the jump between ‘Chronometree’ and ‘The Middle-earth Album’, but it has very little in common with ‘Lex Rex’, ‘Shadowlands’ or ‘The Inconsolable Secret’. Still, with “’Culture Óf Ascent as a launching pad for a new GH sound, I think “Three Cheers” will ultimately be right at home in the catalog. Time will tell.
I liked the lineup of ‘Culture Of Ascent’, what made you change things around and come to the three of you together? For starters, the decision to work with a smaller unit had nothing to do with personal issues or creative differences. David Wallimann was busy with his own projects, while planning a big move to the other side of the country. Matt Mendians spent a great deal of time driving back and forth from Nashville to Chattanooga for rehearsals. Carl Groves was (and still is) working on a Salem Hill album. It seemed appropriate that we not ask too much of those guys. But there were other reasons. The songs on ‘Three Cheers’ really needed what Fred brings to the table as a drummer. The same was true for most of the guitar work. Beyond that, the two of us have always handled the mixing and production, as well as the writing (with a few exceptions). Through the years, no matter how many people worked with us in the studio, it still always came down to the two of us making the decisions and doing the majority of the work. Bringing Susie into that partnership was an easy decision for us. She’s worked with us for years; so we know her strengths and she knows what we’re after. Plus, the fans have always begged us to bring her to the fore. She’s earned the spot. Working with fewer people made ‘Three Cheers’ the easiest album we have ever produced. Two song writer / producers and one vocalist – that makes a great team. Will we work with our string players again? I hope so. Carl Groves? I plan on it! But for now, we have a great chemistry in the studio with only three musicians.
How did Susie react when she was asked (or told) to sing lead vocals on almost every track? Eager, ready, a bit apprehensive; all those things at once really. She certainly deserved her place in the spot light. The fans love her, she ‘gets’ what Fred and I are trying to do with our music, and she’s not only a great singer but an amazing entertainer (as anyone who saw us at the Three Rivers Prog Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania last August can tell you). It just made sense to all of us – especially her!
Glass Hammer is a trusted name in prog, yet the thing that seems to be missing are live gigs. Prog rock may be a somewhat difficult scene to tour in, but would you want to bring GH to us, live on stage? Yes! But...the problems are budget constraints, time constraints and logistics. As a group, we’re spread out over various parts of Tennessee; hours apart actually. So rehearsals are tough to arrange. Only festivals can really afford the kind of budget a band like GH needs to perform, and those are rare. And we need that big budget because we have to shut down our recording studio to perform. We are full-time musician / producers with a dozen irons in the fire at any given moment. Factor in the time off for rehearsals, travel, equipment purchases and upgrades and you can see that it’s very expensive to bring Glass Hammer to the stage. Mind you, the goal isn’t to make a ton of money on festivals (though that would be great). The goal is to put on a terrifically tight show for the fans, and not go broke in the process! All that aside, we would absolutely love to come to Europe. If the opportunity presents itself I can assure you we will be there. Someday a European promoter will figure out how to do it. Think about it - GH has been around for sixteen years now, with lots of fans in Europe – but not one European performance. I think it would be a hit if we tried it. Know any promoters???
The partnership between Schendel and Babb is very strong. Can you tell how you work with and around each other? We don’t fight. We generally do not even disagree. But when we do, we can usually tell which one of us feels the strongest on a given topic, and the other one yields. That’s been the key for our survival; that, and a love for progressive rock. On a more practical level, we generally bounce ideas off each other, make suggestions on each other’s material, and then spend great amounts of time listening and thinking through each musical idea while encouraging each other when those ideas are good. It’s a lot of work, but we’re both proud of Glass Hammer and normally pretty motivated to keep doing that work.
You worked with Jon Anderson on your previous album, what do you think of Yes in the new lineup and what do you think would be the best thing for Jon to do, as he is unhappy with the situation? Yes was ready to tour, and Jon became unable to do so when this situation began to develop a year or so ago. So I can understand why they would wish to keep moving, though I certainly understand Jon’s feelings as well. But I’m not trying to play the diplomat. As a fan, to me, Yes isn’t Yes without both Chris Squire and Jon Anderson. I wish them well though, and I think they were probably left with no choice. As for Jon, well, I have read much on various fan-sites and forums about what he should be doing creatively. But that’s really up to him. Personally, I’d like to see him fronting a progressive-rock band (of course), even if it wasn’t Yes. In my opinion, that’s really his element, though it remains to be seen whether or not it remains his passion.
Sorry to go on about Jon Anderson but as a fan of both GH ánd Jon I would like to know if Babb and/or Schendel would want to take part in band with Jon. Doing Yes, Jon solo, Jon & Vangelis…the man has só much music that never gets played on stage…a shame? He kidded around with me once about becoming the lead vocalist for Glass Hammer. I’m pretty sure Susie wouldn’t mind singing backups for awhile – though maybe I ought to ask her first! But beyond Glass Hammer - would Babb and Schendel throw their energies behind Jon and his music for a season? Let me put it this way – he has my number!
Anything else you want our readers to know about you and/or the band Glass Hammer? We’ve just re-released ‘The Compilations’, which was out of print for a good while. That album has become a favorite with many of our listeners. Also, we love to hear from our fans or even from those people who may have only recently discovered us. The easiest way to do that is to visit our website at www.glasshammer.com and go to the forum link. All of the band members (many past ones included) post frequently and are only too happy to answer questions or just chat.
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