Glass Heroes

     Keith Jackson has driven his band through many a storm.  There was the whole Gin Blossoms uproar, The Grunge years, the Pop Punk phase, the Indie Rock uprising and so on, you get the picture.  Through all of this the Glass Heroes have remained the Gibraltar Rock of punk in Phoenix, Arizona.  They have stayed on course through 22 years of proudly rocking tried and true, smashing through the little kiddies and their fleeting fashions like a Rock ‘N’ Roll Juggernaut.  Don’t let the “Glass” in their name fool you folks, these heroes are constructed of concrete, stone and gravel.

Interview by Jay Castro

Please introduce yourself (or selves) and how you contribute to the Glass Heroes pogo machine?

This is Keith Jackson of the Glass Heroes! Nice ta meet ya. I’m the vocalist/guitarist for the band.

   Ad Adams=Drummer

   Steve Shelton= Guitar

   Stevie Davis= Bass

Where are you all from originally?

We are all transplanted mid westerners...lol. I’m personally from Detroit. I moved to Phoenix in 1991.

What is the Glass Heroes origin story?  How did you meet and start playing music together?

I first came out to Phoenix in the winter of 1991. I really didn’t plan on staying. I was doing some work in Los Angeles, and touring in Europe with Shock Therapy (Industrial music… pioneering band out of Detroit) I had just returned from Europe and was spending some time with my folks out here. I was out on the town checking out local bands when I ran into Steve Davis. He was playing with a band called Hell Fire at the time. He looked cool. As in Leather jacket, jet black Johnny Thunders hair, and he was outside the club smoking. I walked up and said, “You’re the first ‘real’ punk I’ve seen out here.” I asked him if he wanted to start a band, and within a week, we had 10 songs completed. Shortly there after, I met Steve Shelton at the now infamous Sun Club. Same situation, he looked right and was a good guitar player. The Glass Heroes were formed that quick. It’s now been 22 years! I named the band “GLASS HEROES” because at that time many of my childhood heroes were dying. Thus all of our heroes can be shattered. Glass Heroes; I liked it.

The new album Liars, Cheats and Thieves was produced by Rat Scabies (drummer for UK punk legends The Damned for you sheltered folk).  How did he get involved in the project?

I called him in England...and told him I wanted him to produce the new CD. Rat was and is a great songwriter. He was instrumental in the early Damned recordings, and we loved much of the early stuff they did. I knew he had the talent and the ears to do something good with the band, and still keep our sound trite and true. I sent him a plane ticket, and he ended up staying with me for over 7 months! The lodger.

How did you get involved with Fervor Records?  They seem to have a pretty diverse group of artists on their roster and have an involvement in different types of media.

Fervor has been fantastic!! I’ve worked with many labels and they are amazingly communicative and open to many of the artists ideas. They have been instrumental in the band moving into a new and amazing realm of TV/Movie soundtrack work.

Jeff  Fruendlich approached me on working with the Heroes, and we hit it off immediately. Great label and there’s not many left!

In an interview with Phoenix New Times you mentioned that one of your motivations to finish the new album was that some production companies wanted to use some of your music.  You didn’t record your first full length album until The Glass Heroes was 13 years strong.  Is recording music a low priority as compared to touring or playing out?  Has it been challenging for you guys to get together to record?

I think the longevity of the Glass Heroes is due in fact that each one of the members does their own thing outside of the band. We don’t and never have put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We started this thing to enjoy playing unadulterated “Punk Rock ‘N’ Roll”. And we’ve kept doing just that; playing when we feel like it, and writing/recording when we feel like it. We could crank our 10 full lengths if need be, but we hand pick what we want to record and there’s 100’s of songs that have been lost and forgotten in the process. Seriously, it was just gone! We have music placed in some great films: “Dead in 5 Heartbeats” (Sonny Barger co founder of the Hells Angels & Director Jeff Santo’s new film) “Ridiculousness” on MTV and others. It’s rewarding and a gas being asked to do music for film and TV. We enjoy it immensely.

The Glass Heroes recently released a pretty slick looking video for the song “Let Me Down”.  The end result looked like it would have been fun to make.  Do you enjoy the experience of making videos?

At first we were reluctant to do videos, feeling that it might be to trite to do what everyone expects you to do as a band. But, we fucking loved doing it. We actually did one of our own for the RUTS cover “Backbiter” and it showcases exactly what we are, so when asked to do the new one “Let Me Down” We really wanted the same control over the content. Matty at Sundawg did a great job on it. We will be shooting a video for each song on the album. We actually are shooting a concept video the first week of August for two more tunes on “Liars, Cheats n Thieves”

The Glass Heroes have been playing around the Phoenix area as long as I can remember, playing the same kind of music since its conception 22 years ago.  Was it tough playing your music in a place that wasn’t too hospitable to punk back in the early days.   

Funny you should ask that, I was just discussing this same question with some old school valley musicians. Of course there was a long standing Hardcore scene here back in the day. By the time I stepped off the plane from Detroit here in 91, it was culture shock for me. I hated LA and all the poseur posturing that’s still part of its music scene or lack of a real one. And Phoenix had fizzled out as well. Coming from Detroit, where the local music scene has always been strong; to a very small clique of certain people was weird. I spent alot of drinking time at Long Wongs on Mill Avenue and the Sun Club. I became friends with the Gin Blossoms guys and a slew of other local musicians. More as drinking buddies, than cohorts in music. Great guys, but I didn’t really dig the jingle jangle thing going on. The Glass Heroes began playing and I began booking friends bands from the UK and back east. I had the Business here, GBH, UK Subs, Vice Squad and such. We enjoyed opening for most of the bands and did so for a long time. It was strange, but in a few years. The Nile Theater opened up, The Green Room, The Reptile Room, The Rogue Bar, and The Mason Jar started booking punk and like bands and phoenix became a bit more tolerable. And now it’s sliding back into the doldrums again. I’ve always said Phoenix has so many great musicians and bands but no solidarity. They either take their selves to seriously, and to think they are gonna be the next big rock star- it poisons attitudes and makes things weaker. We have outlasted them all. Who’s this years model? To stay at it and have longevity, it takes far more commitment than most “Look at Me” types have to go the long haul.

The band has shared a bill with so many great punk bands.  What has been the most memorable show you’ve played, good or bad?  Where was it and what made it so unforgettable?

I suppose playing with the Sex Pistols at the Marquee Theater in early 2000. It was just us and the Pistols. They loved it and so did we. Steve Jones said it was one of the funnest shows they played. Thrown together fast- inside and packed! Their touring sound crew were actually friends of mine from Detroit!  We sounded great and John Lydon said it was refreshing not to have to hear anymore Rev. Horton Heat, who had been opening for them. “Nice to hear some REAL music for a change” That was funny. But, it was coming full circle for us. It was surreal.

What music have you unleashed on the world and where can people go to hear it or buy it?

The new CD is available through Fervor Records and iTunes. Check out our Facebook, and say hello.

What does the band have in store for us in the near, or not so near, future?

We are going to record some of the “lost” songs I mentioned earlier and crank out some more videos. More sound track work and a possible tour in the fall..back east.

Sell music on Amazon at ReverbNation.com

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Greenback High

     Every now and again you read a band’s profile that just hits the mark spot on.  One would think that a band would know their sound.  Not always the case, I assume it’s a bit of the old “forest from the trees” syndrome.  Anyhow, Greenback High describes themselves as “Power Pop for Punks”.  Simple and brilliant, that’s what I thought when I read that excerpt, that’s what I thought when I first heard their debut 7”.  The hooks of power pop songs propelled by the power of a punk engine.  I can’t wait to see what gets dropped on us next!

Interview by Jay Castro

Who’s answering the questions here?

Floor Tom, Joshy, and Beardo.

Who is in the band and how do they earn their keep in it?

Floor Tom Jones – Guitar, Vocals

Beardo – Bass, Vocals

Joshy Atomic – Guitar, Vocals

J.J. Heathen – Drums, Vocals

What is the Greenback High origin story?  How did you all come together?

Beardo: Like a lot of bands, we’re a group of friends who had played in many different bands in the same scene. Funnily enough, the first show Joshy played was opening up for one of my old bands when we were on tour in his town. Jimmy and I had played many shows together over the years in different bands, and we became fast friends when we both moved from Alberta a few years back. J.J. came into the fold a little later on but he engineered our first recording sessions, so he's been there from the band's inception too.

On your debut 7” Bombs Away b/w All of Us or None There is an obvious power pop influence. The B-Side however has a hint of Cocksparrer in it to me.  Are you guy’s fans of the ‘82 British Oi/Street punk era as well?

Joshy: Some of my favorite records are from the UK 77-85 period and they're records I've consistently listened to for over a decade and that spans all of the genres from UK82 and two-tone to Mod-revival and Oi.  We all grew up playing in punk and garage rock bands so we tend to have a pretty good appreciation for most of what were exposed to throughout the histories of each scene.  There are a lot of rules in those scenes though and I don't think we are a perfect match for any single one of them.  I personally identify most with the early punk scenes in New York and Britain but the Oi and UK82 stuff is great for its aggression and release.  I think if you try and pull a ton of influence from those bands you end up a Discharge or Void copy and that's been getting a bit stale.  The main influences that run through my head all day/every day are Clash, Replacements and Stiff Little Fingers I think those are most evident in the songs that I write.  You'd be on the money assuming I could sing every line to every song on Shock Troops though so who knows, perhaps it's snuck in!

I find it interesting that on your band profile you describe your music as “Power Pop ringed with tragedy, political commentary, and straight up good times”.  Quite a broad spectrum of human emotion!  Do you ever find it hard to put political or tragic lyrics to a poppy tune, thinking it might make light of a serious situation?

Floor Tom Jones: Not Really. I actually find it harder these days to write a happy-go-lucky song. Music can conjure a broad spectrum of human emotions, sometimes within one song. Power Pop has been pigeonholed as a genre that is not categorically political. On the pop side, I like to think Greenback High’s music is driven by melody and musical hooks.

On the Power side, it's driven by the urgency and directness of punk.

In the case of Bombs Away, the lyrics came after the last Federal election, when Stephen Harper’s majority Conservative government was elected. Shortly after that, Canada Post locked out its CUPW employees due to collective bargaining negotiations coming to a halt. Those lyrics were written as a way of realizing that, regardless of the obstacles from Corporations and the Government,  organized labour and everyday people, still have strength in numbers.  And just like in the protest songs of the early labour movement, I wrote what I saw right in front of me in an effort to reflect what I knew was all around. But who knows? The next one might just be about something a bit less serious. I'd like to think anything is possible with a melody.

What led you to decide to self release your 1^st 7”? 

Beardo: We've all put out tons of records in past bands, on and off of various labels, so it wasn't much of a stretch for us to get it together for ourselves. And lo and behold, we're down to our last 50 or so copies, so get it while you can!

We're chatting with a couple of labels right now for projects down the road, but expect another self-released 45 in the fall from us in the meantime.

You also have a song on The Party Lives On compilation record.  How did you get involved with that project?

Beardo: The compilation is a tribute to Devon Clifford, and a benefit for the Devon Clifford Memorial Foundation. Devon played drums in You Say Party! We Say Die! before tragically passing away in 2010 from a brain aneurysm. In my day time gig, I book bands for a living and YSP WSD were one of the very first clients I took on as an agent. It was a tragic loss and I'm grateful that we were asked to contribute a song to that compilation.

I read that out of all different art forms, music has the power to alter a person’s disposition the fastest.  Do you agree with this?  Do you have any favorite music that you can put on that will always lift you up from a slump?

Floor Tom Jones: If you’re talking about the drive between Vancouver and Edmonton to play for 30 people then absolutely not! That’s a long drive. But otherwise, as in putting a record on, I think it’s totally possible.

These days, I put on a band called Nude Beach. But the tried tested and true standby for me is Talking Heads.

Joshy: I'm not sure if music is going to change my disposition so much anymore, but it certainly helped shape me when I was younger.  I'm still hanging on to my youth cult and I'm nearly 30 so if anything it's stunted turning me into a well-adjusted adult, thank god.  I will say it's really, really hard to be in a bad mood listening to Radios Appear by Radio Birdman. 

If Greenback High could tour with any band/musician from times gone by, who would it be and why?

Floor Tom Jones: Elvis Costello and the Attractions (1978) tour of North America.

Why? Great songs. Killer band. I’m thinking the Greenbacker’s coulda picked up a few tricks.

Joshy: The Sex Pistols.  No I'm not joking.  That would be insane.

Beardo: The Clash, or Paul Collins Beat, anywhere from 77-79. Just amazingly well written songs, and I've got to think the performances would have been incredible. Bram Tchaikovsky. Again, just tremendous songwriting and playing. Oh god, the MC5. New York Dolls. The Stooges circa 1974. Fuck, too many to mention.

You guys seem to play out quite a bit.  All of you are also in other bands too.  Is Greenback High considered a side project?

Floor Tom Jones: I do moonlight as the drummer in the James T. Kirks with Beardo and his brother Teddy. If you wanna talk about a side project, that would be the definition. The last show we played was when we realized we were all in the same room at a Greenback High show. Greenback High is my main squeeze right now.

Beardo: This band has pretty well become the focal point for all of us these days, and other projects we're in tend to take a bit of a back seat as this band gets busier and busier. I have a big record collection and a Protestant work ethic (with associated guilt!), so it's tough, for me anyway, to not have another band (s) in the wings.

Josh: No.  This is my main focus right now.

I read an interview with Keith Richards where he said that anyone buying digital music is getting short changed.  Do you agree with this and if so, why?

Floor Tom Jones: If you like pulling a record out of its sleeve, cleaning it, dropping the needle and checking out the artwork and lyrics, which I do, then yeah I agree. But when you get finished the gig and just have to hear that one song, which I do, then no I don’t. I’m a big fan of people who care for a treat their physical records with respect.  And carting around digital music saves them from my harsh judgements and everybody’s happy. Furthermore please note, I don’t ever want to imagine Keith Richard’s listening to music on an ipod. It would just look wrong. Thankfully I think his publicity team agrees.

I don’t like using the term “guilty pleasure” because I don’t think anyone should be made to feel ashamed of anything they like.  However with that being said, what to you listen to that you think a lot of fans may be surprised by?

Floor Tom Jones: Rush, Bill Monroe

Beardo: I agree that people don't need to have guilty pleasures. Like what you like, life is too short. I guess when you have a few thousand records it's hard to pinpoint a genre or specific band, but maybe you wouldn't think a dude in a band like mine is really into 20's country blues & ragtime, or 60's r & b, or a band like Midnight or Cursed. A good song is a good song. It all comes down to a hook, a story, and a strong emotional response.

I read that you guys are recording some new songs.  Is this for more EP’s or can we expect a full length sometime soon?

Beardo: Yeah! Our drummer J.J. just finished the mixes for 5 songs and we'll be sending them off for mastering any minute now. The next release will be a 3 song 7 inch EP this fall, and beyond that we do have a full length in the works out in 2014. We're focusing hard on writing new tunes at the moment, with some in the can ready to record and tons more lurking in the background. I'm certainly not ruling out more 45's or other projects before the full length comes out, as we do have some songs ready to roll without a specific release planned for them yet.

Any extensive tour plans in the works for this upcoming release?  Can we expect to

see Greenback High in a town near us any time soon?

Right now we're working on a November tour down the west coast of the good ol' U S of A. Touring Canada is a huge undertaking and it makes so much more sense to head south towards your cheap smokes and malt liquor. More shows in Canada are definitely in the cards too, but we'll spend a good chunk of time writing songs this summer and fall too. Probably recording as well. Touring other countries around the world is a shared goal, so next year we're going to try to hit another continent or two. “Like a shark — got to keep moving.” - Johnny Cash

Where can people go to hear your music or buy your records?

One of our shows, ideally!

You can buy our music digitally as well as the 7 inch online at
www.greenbackhigh.bandcamp.com

www.greenbackhigh.bigcartel.com

It's also distributed via Underground Medicine, Record Store Base in Japan and Hyper Enough Records in Japan. More in the works.

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