Words & Photos by Jordyn Beschel
As a follow up to our “Local Bands You Need To Know” article, we wanted to go more in depth and learn more about these bands that have grown on us. We had a chance to speak to Connecticut’s very own Glambat about the band’s upcoming endeavours, the meaning behind the music, and the very start of it all. Check out our interview with Emily Alderman of Glambat below!
Can you tell us a little bit about Glambat and its origin?
Well okay, so one night I was in a cave and I got bit by a bat, a very glamorous bat, and I turned into a glambat.
No… It’s actually a way so that I can talk about things that I’m really scared to talk about, so like things that maybe people would get upset about [laughing]. It’s a way for me to…talk about things that I’ve survived without having to explicitly talk about things that I’ve survived. It’s a way for me to let off that energy and expel it from my brain. So, it’s kind of like a therapy, I guess.
If you had to describe your music in three words, what would they be?
Diners, drive-ins and dives. Or propane, propane, propane. OR, “bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica”.
What is your favorite memory thus far as a musician?
Probably opening for The Blow. I think this was like this past November. Khaela and Melissa were just like, so kind and welcoming, and I really respect them a lot. They made their own synthesizer, like they built it from scratch. Modular synthesizers are different from any other kind of synthesizer because you have to create all of the sounds from scratch using, like math and science, and it’s super beyond me, and it was so awesome to get to meet them. [W]e actually hung out and ate falafel after, which was really cool, and it was really good to feel like there was kind of this bigger support system for me out there in the world.
You’re a great visual artist as well. How did you get into music yourself? Or, what came first for you, visual art or musical art?
I actually have been doing visual and musical art my whole life, since I was born pretty much, because I have way too much energy. [W]hen I was younger I used to dance a lot, and I got really into dance and theater and stuff like that. [O]ne day I was practicing a dance routine that I choreographed to the song “Misery Business” by Paramore on my rug and I twisted the wrong way and I ended up tearing my meniscus.
[W]hen I went in to the doctor, they were like, both of your meniscuses are torn. So then I was like, shit I can’t do all this stuff anymore that I used to really love doing, so I started kind of drawing people a lot and action poses. [I]’m actually really interested in animation and comics right now because it’s kind of an extension of that sense of movement, you know?
And then for music, that’s just always been there. I have this bizarre horrible desire to be on a stage [laughing], and I’m just gonna have to live with that… So it’s all because of “Misery Business”. Paramore started everything. This is all your fault, Hayley Williams.
Do you feel having a background in illustration aids to your creativity with music as well? Do you think your visual and musical art go hand in hand?
Definitely. So they exist within the same world. I actually firmly believe–and I know this has absolutely no scientific basis–but in the way that some people believe in like, astrology or like, God, I very strongly believe that cartoons and rock music are in the same realm. [S]pecifically shoegaze and anime, but I’m willing to open my mind to other connections as well.
…[I] actually am working on this [post-apocalyptic themed] comic book right now called [Tour Lord], which I’m not going to get too far into because it’s really the nerdiest thing ever, but it’s basically about this girl who is really good at getting rat blood, which is like the currency there, which I can get into why that is but….this girl is hunting for rat blood in the underworld… and she gets sucked into a wormhole, and she ends up in the domain of this demigod figure named BadBad, which is this gigantic fox trickster god [who] tries to get her to like stay there, ‘Hades’ style. [S]he tricks him, so she gets a wish from him because that’s his contract… and she’s like, I want to be the greatest guitarist in the world, and also to not be alone…and she gets what she wants but not in the way that she expected, and she basically ends up going on this gigantic post-apocalyptic, indie-rock odyssey to try and resolve her being and get her life back. So yeah, I feel like you can see a connection there, right? [Laughing].
What has been your biggest struggle? Do you believe being a female in the industry has created or contribute to your challenges?
So, I’m not actually really in the industry. I think there’s this common misconception that bands that play shows that you want to go to are involved in “the industry” and I’m definitely not. So, it’s mostly been DIY stuff for me, like house shows, which I love, or people that I know that are bartenders and say, hey will you come play this show?
[I]’m recording with my friend, Pat, that I’ve kind of known forever just from going to his shows and going to parties at people’s houses and stuff. [A]s far as the industry, there’s not really a lot of industry in my life, which is kind of nice. Making it all happen with my friends.
But I would say my biggest struggle is definitely just trying to impress people all the time. [I] catch myself doing this and I’m trying really hard in this year of 2019 to do this less, where I try to kind of wear a mask of somebody who I’m not really, just so I can try and make them believe that what I’m doing and have been doing forever is something that I am a person who’s worthy of, which even the logic of that just doesn’t make any sense. So, I would say that it’s like I’ve got really bad imposter syndrome, like I’ll wake up sometimes and be like, okay, how do I draw? How do I play guitar? Frequently when I’m on the stage I’m just like, how does guitar? I can’t play the guitar. What am I doing here? And I think that people feel that way all of the time…
What do you try to convey through your art, be it musically or visually? What is your goal as an artist?
I guess as an artist I want to provide the antithesis to the millenial whoop, which if you don’t know what that is it’s like this music thing that some bands that play big festivals do. It’s like [singing], Oooh ooh oooh ooh ooh OOh ooh ooh. That’s the millenial whoop–look it up because you’re going to be reading this on a page and not hearing it, and if you’re anything like me, it’s not your favorite thing.
Basically the millenial whoop is not just this concept of a musical term, it’s this idea that everything in life is super abundant and easy…But I guess I’m trying to, with my music, get rid of the expectation that everything’s fine and I’ll just figure this out and I don’t need to work hard to do this, like the music just comes to me because I’m the artist and I have talent. Like no, obviously everything that you do in your life is going to be a skill that you practice and work really hard on, and I’m tired of people pretending that’s not true because I think that discourages people from making stuff.
[I] think everybody should make stuff they want to make and live the life they want to live and in order to do that, you have to put in the hours. It’s not just like this thing that shows up one morning and it’s like, oh I can write songs now. [I] have written so many bad songs and I have made so many bad drawings, and every time I make a bad drawing I get better at drawing, and every time I make a bad song I get better at songwriting.
[I] also think that art in particular has a way to transform you. You can take a lot of negative things from your life and get them out of you. It’s kind of like this exorcism, or getting rid of like a Horcrux or something. So, I guess I want to empower people to use art to speak up when they’re mistreated.
What is your dream tour lineup?
My dream tour lineup is [Juliana Hatfield], Stereolab, and Deerhoof.
What should we expect from Glambat in the future?
So, Glambat is almost done with our first EP. It should be out this late spring or early summer or mid-spring or whenever we finish tracking the bass. [W]e have like, two more bass tracks left, which is really exciting, and then we have to talk to people who want to put it out and get a cassette or something, and it’ll be all done, and it’ll be nice and pretty, and we’ll finally have stuff to sell to people at shows. It’s going to be so sweet.
I’m actually going to screenprint some t-shirts [for upcoming shows]. I wish HitClips were a thing so I could take the demos that I have right now and sell them [to people] as HitClips, a la Aaron Carter. Actually, we’re releasing our next EP on HitClips only.
We’re finished writing our first album, which is also going to be released on Hitclips [laughing], and we have a lot more full band shows. So, we have a full time drummer named Gabe Shara, who’s in the band Hylda. We’ve got a full time bassist joining us in a couple weeks named Jac, who’s from Northampton and is the front person of the band Dump Him, which is a fantastic band. Hylda is a fantastic band. So, we are a New England supergroup… And we’re planning a New England weekender [this summer].
Glambat has an exciting 2019 ahead. Now, their EP is officially recorded and set for release mid-April. They’ve also got plenty of shows coming up, where they will be selling said EP and new merch as well. Catch them next month at the State House in New Haven, CT supporting Deerhoof and Snake Oil on April 27th.