Buzz bands are a dime a dozen. There are enough active journalists, bloggers, radio DJs, festival promoters and playlisters to push new acts into the spotlight every day of the week.
But hype means nothing if it’s not backed up by quality output. The problem is, an intoxicating whiff of success threatens to interfere with crucial moments in an artist’s development.
Since forming in 2012, UK four-piece Glass Animals have endured hefty amounts of hype. Led by songwriter and vocalist Dave Bayley, the Oxfordshire natives have done a remarkable job at ignoring any overblown promises of glory and success.
First of all, before the band was a fully-fledged project, Bayley uploaded a couple of bedroom demos to the internet, which had soon garnered interest from several labels. Instead of immediately signing on the dotted line, Bayley took the songs down so the band members could peacefully complete their respective university degrees. After securing those bachelor’s certificates, the quartet got stuck into cultivating a sound. Not long after they’d got the ball rolling, UK production maestro Paul Epworth showed up at one of their shows. Glass Animals did end up signing to Epworth’s Wolf Tone label, but they chose not to enlist his help in the studio. Instead, Bayley retained his position in the producer’s chair.
Still, Glass Animals hadn’t dodged the hype monster just yet. Released in late 2013, the band’s self-titled EP caught the gaze of media personnel and keen Googlers the world over. In fact, so forceful was the surge of fascination that Glass Animals managed to sell out their April Australian tour before even releasing an album. That album wasn’t far off, however. Released in June, Zaba not only traverses the terrain of trip hop, downtempo R&B and indie-pop, but it’s clear the band had no interest in cashing in on the mountains of hype.
“We never really had any goals, in terms of if it would succeed commercially,” Bayley says. “We wanted to have fun in the studio, that was our only goal. It’s really nice that it’s been keeping us busy and taking us overseas. For us, it’s an added bonus, but it was never the intention. We just wanted to make a record that was interesting to ourselves musically – just music that we’d enjoy playing.
“It means we really enjoy playing it live,” he continues. “We have a really good time onstage and I think that’s really important. If you stop having fun making your music then you should probably stop altogether.”
Playing live is exactly what the band has been doing for the majority of 2014. Now, Zaba isn’t the product of four guys jamming with a couple of mics switched on – rather, it’s an intricately layered studio undertaking. But instead of trying to precisely reenact the recordings onstage, Glass Animals prefer to reinterpret the songs, depending on what the atmosphere recommends.
“If the crowd seem really up for dancing and it’s a late-night show, and everyone’s taken some ecstasy or something, we’ll extend sections of the songs, like all the groove sections,” Bayley says. “[We] bring up the bass and bring up the drums and have a big dance party. “Whereas if it’s an early show and the crowd just want to sit back and watch something, then we can make a kind of downtempo, relaxed, ambient set. We keep it all very malleable and we change it up from night to night. It can be a pretty different show one night from the next.”
Most of the time, gig-goers prefer it when a live performance closely resembles a band’s recorded work. This is understandable, as it’s the recordings that grabbed their interest in the first place. But it’s important to remember that performing and recording are fundamentally different pursuits.
“I’m really happy distinguishing the studio from the stage,” Bayley says. “There are a lot of bands who just go out and play the same exact thing to a backing track and a click track every single night. They might as well be pushing ‘play’ on a record. That’s not what a live show is about for us. [We like] to pick and choose different things every night that we think are important and will react well with the crowd that night.
“You have to be careful. You have to make sure it’s recognisable and you have to make sure the sonics are similar and people can still have the basic things to latch onto. It’s a tricky game sometimes, but it’s fun.”
Following up April’s two-show jaunt Down Under, Glass Animals will head back next week for the Falls Festivals and sideshows. After spending the last eight months on the road, Bayley is confident the live show has advanced in leaps and bounds.
“They were early shows – we had to present the songs to people in a very digestible format,” he recalls. “Whereas now, people who come to the shows tend to know the record and we know the songs really well and we can read crowds a bit better. The best live shows happen when everyone in the room is on the same level and interacting together. You need that spontaneity for a good show to be able to happen.”
Zabaout now through Caroline/Universal. Glass Animals will also be playing at The Hi-Fi on Friday January 9 as part of Sydney Festival as well as playing at every stop of the Falls Festival on Sunday December 28 – Saturday January 3. Tickets for The Hi-Fi are on sale here.
