You have a new album out very soon in Ode to Echo. Can you tell me
about how the album came together, and about working with multiple vocalists on
it?
Steve Babb: I think this may be our 14th studio album. It’s getting hard to keep
count! We began work on Ode to Echo
shortly after the Cruise to the Edge shows last year. It being our 20th anniversary as a
recording band, we thought it would be cool to have fun with this one and bring
back some voices from the past. Carl
Groves fronted the band on stage last year, so he was a clear choice to handle
the lion’s share of the lead vocals. Of
course Jon Davison sings a good deal as well. Susie Bogdanowicz returned after a three album hiatus, and she’ll also
be joining the live band for The Moody Blues Cruise in April and The Terra
Incognita Festival in Quebec this May of this year. Walter Moore and Michelle Young were valuable
GH members and singers in the 90’s – Walter fronted the band for our NEARfest
performance and the Lex Live DVD. They’re both back too!
Some of the singers worked
here at our studio with us, others we recorded in different studios in Florida,
California and in Nashville, TN.
Essentially, this album
began the way most do. Fred [Schendel], Alan [Shikoh] and I
worked on ideas which developed into songs; then we worked with the
singers.
Ode to Echo was a beast to
mix. But I couldn’t ask for a greater
group of people to work with!
Now that Yes has become Jon Davison's priority, what has it meant
for Glass Hammer to work around those commitments? Has Jon joining Yes brought
Glass Hammer more attention?
The priority for all the members of Glass
Hammer, including Carl, Susie and Jon is to make music. We do that under the Glass Hammer name, and
sometimes we do that within the context of the music of another band. The way I see it, that’s a good thing. The priority never changes for members of
this band. For example, Fred and I are currently producing and arranging for at
least seven different artists as well as playing for a number of projects and
albums. Carl Groves remains the leader
and creative spark behind Salem Hill. Jon sings and is now writing for a version of an older prog group from
the seventies. That Glass Hammer gets to
spread its influence into numerous bands and directions is a win-win for us and
the fans. We’ve not had to work
around anyone actually. Of course, Jon
wasn’t allowed to perform live with us last year – which was unfortunate, but
that took one phone call to Carl to fix. Fred and I continue to work and Glass Hammer continues to thrive. Other bands play no part in the momentum
we’ve established for our creative output. That’s just not going to happen.
As for the attention, Jon
has always acted as a Glass Hammer ambassador to Yes-fans since he joined their
operation. Basically, you have the
singer for Glass Hammer on stage in front of thousands of prog-fans whenever
they’re on tour. The vibe we get from
Yes-fans is very positive. I know Yes
catch a lot of grief from one faction or another – so maybe we’re getting the
best of that deal. Either way, free
promotion is not a bad thing.
Can we go back to your previous album, Perilous? Can you talk
through the writing of that album?
Perilous was written by Fred, Alan and
myself. We collaborated with Jon on all
the vocal ideas of course, and he did a fantastic job of interpreting those
ideas. We wrote songs, as usual – music
first, then vocal melodies, then lyrics. We did this knowing that the entire thing had to work as one enormous
(epic) idea. It is, essentially, one
piece of music. I penned all of the
lyrics, which were based on the notion of coming to grips with mortality in
middle age. I knew most of our fans
could relate to this – being of about the same age as myself.
A very good friend of mine
was diagnosed with cancer just before we began writing the album. Lyrics were based, to a certain extent, on
conversations he and I had about his fears and his faith. He knew I was writing lyrics about this, and
gave his blessing before succumbing to cancer just before we finished the
album.
Life is Perilous. We live in Perilous times. It sounds like a downer for a group who is
known for its optimism. Yet that is
where I’m at right now as a lyricist. Life
can take nasty turns as well as good ones, and where I once kept my ‘feelings’
private about such things, I am now more vocal.
Ode to Echo is largely
about malignant narcissism and its dangers. See what I mean? Maybe we’ll get
to talk more about that later.
You and Fred are active online. How do you find interacting with
your fans (or, indeed, detractors) in this way?
Some of our dearest fans and friends will
occasionally voice a negative critique of one of our albums or maybe have a
problem with the direction we’ve taken the band at one point or another. That’s cool. I like to know what they’re thinking and I don’t count them among the
‘haters’. I’ll read a nasty post or a bad review every
now and then, and I’ll try to be objective about it and see if there is
anything to learn from it.
Fortunately, most of what
I read is very positive and exceedingly friendly. Many of our fans become cherished friends
over the years. For me, it’s a
completely positive experiences. I
encourage them to email or post to our Facebook page – whatever they’re
thinking. We’re grateful for them. I can’t say that enough!
Online, you've mentioned Glass Hammer being involved in the Sonic
Realities project. Can you say anything more about this? Is this original music
or a cover?
Dave Kerzner of Sonic
Realities asked us to join the Neil Peart project. [More about Sonic Realities here - Henry] Fred composed most of the music for this
track, and I did the lyrics. Alan added
a good deal too. Carl Groves is singing
this one. We were given many of Peart’s
tracks to choose from, then asked to write music to his drumming and to
incorporate his ideas into the Glass Hammer sound. It is unavoidable that we don’t sound a
little like Rush on this, but I think it has mostly succeeded. We just wrapped up this song, which for now
at least is called “Impulse”.
Lots
of fun! Rush was and remains a huge
influence on Glass Hammer.