Interview with The Glass Gentlemen

Hi guys, I can honestly say that I know little to nothing about you and your band, why don’t you introduce yourself to me and my readers?

Brad Rhoades: Haha… well I can honestly say that whoever is reading this probably knows little to nothing about us, as well, but hopefully that will change soon. Anyway, I am Brad Rhoades. I play guitar and sing back-up vocals.

Bradley Boyce: Hello, race fans! I’m Bradley, and I sing and write words and some of the music! Very pleased to be doing this and introducing new folks to our sound.

You told me that you are working on recording your debut, how’s that going.

Yeah, we just started recording our album with our buddy Chris (who actually introduced us to each other back in the day). We’re re-recording 10 or 11 of our songs using Chris’s amazing studio gear. He’s a really great producer. He knows what sounds good. It’s going to sound awesome! We’re still in the middle of tracking guitars right now.

Yeah, Chris is amazing… Some of his solo stuff is just so outrageously phenomenal… It’s just… sick. It’s going amazing.

So, who are some of your musical influences and/or favorite artists?

My biggest influences are probably Blink 182 and Jimmy Eat World. I also listen to a lot of hip-hop, bubblegum pop, and even old 50’s doo-wop music. I like lots of music.

As a singer, I love Michael Jackson, Anthony Green, Frank Sinatra and Jonah Matranga. As for bands; I love Far, Sigur Ros, Bob Dylan and Jimmy Eat World.

Cool. If you were trying to sell your band to the readers, how would you pitch your upcoming debut?

Every song is on it’s own. We aren’t recording an album to fit in to a particular genre. Every song is different. We have weird Postal Service-ish electronic type songs, slow pretty songs, fun poppy songs, and big rockin’ songs! It’s really going to be awesome to get all of the songs together on one CD. I think there’s a little something there for everyone. But while every song sounds different, they somehow all sound like us still.

I think that if you’re looking for a true emotional indie rock experience and are tired of bands half-assing it… look our way, please! There’s nothing easy, safe or simple about this band. Every song is it’s own separate and weird, emotional thing. We have a lot of really big parts, too! Big, huge melodic riffs, with big emotional vocals and catchy choruses.

Don’t forget to send me a copy once it’s ready, I’ll definitely review it and let you know what I think… not as if what I think means anything. So, let’s veer away from music for a moment. What else interests you? How to you spend your free time?

My spare time is pretty much full of listening/downloading/making music, hanging out with my girlfriend, and working a job. I’m also in the market to buying a couple gerbils. Haha.

I’m a really huge baseball geek, so I’m always at a ball game, watching a ball game, looking up stats from a ball game… etc.

Have you caught any movies this Summer? Planning on catching anything else? If you haven’t seen it yet, may I recommend the new Harry Potter flick?

Yeah, my favorite movie of the summer so far is The Hangover. That was soooo funny! I’ve seen it twice already. So good. I also really enjoyed Up. I haven’t seen Harry Potter yet though. I need to still see most of the other ones… I’m behind.

Up! Amazing flick…

Hmmm… ok, so let’s get deep for a minute. While this site is not about pushing forth any type of ethos (outside of hocking good music and beer), I am a Christian and I like to ask some of those I interview about their beliefs. Do you believe in God or a higher power?

Well, being from Utah, we’re surrounded by the Mormon community. Basically, everyone here is born and raised Mormon. I moved here from California when I was in 4th grade, and the very first question anyone asked me on my first day of school was, “Are you Mormon?” and I had never even heard of that before, so I was very confused. My family took my brothers and I to church for a few years and everything. I think we mostly went to fit in. I stopped going to church many years ago because I realized that it was not for me; way too much brainwashing and stuff. I don’t believe that any organized religion is “the true” one, really. I don’t think God, or whoever, cares what religion I am. This is a topic that Singer B and I could both go on and on about, so I will leave my two cents at that and let him answer the question.

I’m going to be honest here… don’t take me as offensive, ok? I’m just giving my info… you have to believe in a talking snake, things that are easily explainable by science (for instance, when God opened up the earth and swallowed the soldiers has already been scientifically proven to just have been an earthquake by geologists examining the area, they didn’t have any science when they wrote the Bible, so anything out of ordinary that happened, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, forest fires, etc, was all just thought to of been God, instead of natural occurrence) to believe fully in the Bible. Not to mention the fact that there are more than 10 gods before the Jesus story, all having the exact same story line (born on Dec 25, born of a virgin, died and resurrected after 3 days, 3 kings adorning, 10 rules or commandments, etc.) that have been historically proven before the story of Jesus even happened. Start with Horus, the sun god of Egypt, then move up to Mithira, Krishna, etc… I never understood why history has ignored these gods that had a story way before Jesus… The Egyptians based all of Horus’ story on astrological allegory that can all be perfectly explained by nature. People just need to do a little research. Again, not to be offensive… But I find it offensive that people don’t even bother to look up Horus or Mithira, to be honest. It really is the EXACT same story as Jesus, before Jesus, and the evidence of Horus and his story is absolute, written on pyramid walls thousands of years before Jesus.

Do you think your beliefs influence your art?

Yeah, definitely. I play music that makes ME happy. I’m not pretending to be something that I’m not.

I think life influence my art. Music has been the only way that I have found to say what I want to say… That’s why I do it.

Despite the fact that being a Christian means knowing that God is in control somehow, I can’t help but notice the darkness of mankind. For example, I’m from Reading and spend time in the greater Philadelphia area, out here there has been a lot of press on a sad story about 3 guys beating another man to death outside a Phillies game. Word is that the fight began over spilling a beer… anyway, my question here is this: what can one person, like you or I, do to make this world a little less dark and dreary?

That’s a good question. Honestly, I think people need to just try and be happy, and let petty things go. Just do what makes you happy, be around the people that make you happy, etc. The Phillies game fight/murder was 100% avoidable. If people weren’t so tight-assed and just let things as simple as that go, something as terrible as that would have never happened. I really wish people could try harder to just be happy and enjoy their lives. It’d be such a better place…

Nothing has caused more death in the world than religion. The Crusades, Dark Ages, now, forever… Look….. The reason why we’re scared of Muslims is religion, the reason why the Israelis and Palestinians can’t get along is religion, the Jews and the Muslims, the Christians and the Mormons, the Catholics and the Jews and Muslims… What is it all for? Sooner or later we’re all just going to have to start looking at each other as humans, not what religion we are… I’m a human, and I love and have alot of respect for you interviewing and being interested in us, I have a lot of respect for your readers for the same. Let’s just start with something simple like that, ok? I’m a human, and I’m trying my best to make people see past labels and that’s what religion is, labeling. Hi, I’m a Christian or Mormon! No! This is not the right way…. Hi, I’m Bradley, and I’m a human being. I share this earth with you, and I want things to be better and people to get along, without the labels. Let’s all try, ok?

Thanks for indulging my probing into your mind. Let’s get back to music. What is you favorite song from 2009?

Hmm… I don’t know. I listen to so much music. It’s hard to pick just one favorite. I’ve been listening to the new P.O.S. album a lot though. Every song on that is golden.

Anything off the new Bob Dylan. He’s still amazing.

I think mine is MC Lars’s “True Player for Real”. Speaking of, are you familiar with Lars or the whole Nerdcore movement?

I am a little familiar with MC Lars. The Nerdcore movement has been around for years, I think. Weezer was considered Nerdcore right? Haha.

I’m not, no. I wear dinosaur t shirts and watch Star Wars at least 20 times a year, so it sounds perfect for me.

I must say, I think I identify with the Nerdcore thing mostly because I am a giant nerd. Do you have any specifically nerdy tendencies?

Singer Brad is the nerdiest one in our band. Haha, just kidding. I’m sort of a nerd. I know a lot about blue whales and gerbils. Hahaha.

I’m the nerdiest person anyone knows. People never know how to react to me.

Cool, well I am thinking about doing a nerd themed week in August, be sure to check it out. Also, coming early in August will be TPM’s first monthly mixtape, a new feature where I will post 10 free downloads for the readers. The first one looks like it should have some great stuff on it, including a track from you called “Night Sleep Maybe”. Can you tell us a little bit about the song?

“Night Sleep Maybe” is just a really fun song! It has a strong keyboard line that I like a lot. I’ll let Singer B talk more about the lyrics.

It’s a song about time. Making the most of it, watching it go, trying to make something of it while it’s here. Kinda romantic and fun at first, then it comes to a realization at the end that every second after you’re born, you start dying. Man.. So serious… I should’ve just wrote it about eating candy and watching baseball.

Great. Well, I look forward to hearing more from you. Thanks a lot for taking the time to say hi to my readers. Any final thoughts to leave them with?

Thank you so much for doing the interview! Let us know if there’s anything else we can do for your site. My final thought is: Believe in what YOU want and do what makes YOU happy.

I’m not as mean an ornery as I sound on some of these questions… That’s the net and answering like this… Anybody who pays attn means an awful lot to me… I don’t know you, but you’ve taken the time, and means the world to me. I’m a person, you’re a person; let’s just try and be one thing, which is people, instead of so many labels, ok? Thank you so much for taking the time to interviews us.

Take care and keep in touch!

We will for sure keep in touch, man!

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~ by thepaintedman on July 30, 2009.