Interview - Glass Mazes

Along with reviews for Lana Del Ray and PS I Love You, this was coursework done for a music journalism training course I recently attended in London. The following is my first attempt at an NME 'Radar' style interview/feature piece on local band Glass Mazes. 

As the old saying goes, 'the world is your oyster'. A nice, albeit naïve sentiment; as whoever first coined it must have obviously never visited Basingstoke. A festival of grey, it’s not exactly rich in culture and musical prestige – the empty shell to the famous ‘oyster’ analogy. More importantly, it’s a line on which Glass Mazes guitarist and songwriter Tom Hill politely agrees; ‘The bigger bands from Basingstoke… I’m generally not a massive fan of’, is his more measured summary. ‘There’s a few around here I really like – Kurt (Tom’s Glass Mazes drummer + bandmate) plays in another band Artimus… there’s a band called Wreck, I saw them a few months ago, and they were really good – best band from around here I’ve seen in ages.’ Hill’s own band, the aforementioned Glass Mazes, form an altogether different prospect. Blending accessible pop melodies with intricate, technically accomplished musicianship and complex song structure, they identify themselves as a math-rock outfit – an underground movement Hill concedes is somewhat restrictively inward looking. ‘It’s stayed well outside the mainstream for enough years that it’s got a really strong cult following - but loads of bands sound exactly the same.’ While noting earlier influences Biffy Clyro and Foals, and subsequently early math-rock heroes Meet Me In St Louis and Blakfish, it’s a genre Hill believes is in need of a shake-up. ‘What would really help was if bands started incorporating other styles, or visa-versa - broaden it out a bit. At the moment it’s pretty standard; loads of two-pieces, loads of drum solos and fiddly guitars, loads of bands that love their pedals… but can’t write a good song to save their lives.’ Ultimately, that’s where Glass Mazes stand out from the bloated pretensions of their contemporaries; having grown up on a musical diet of prog and metal (and all the indulgent epics that entails), Hill instead aims to keep his band’s music in the vein of his later influences; ‘short and punchy - but technical, to keep ourselves interested’. On the strength of their excellent debut EP Everything You’ve Ever Wanted, it’s a mantra on which Glass Mazes undoubtedly succeed. Hill is similarly, justifiably confident about his bands future; with new material due for release in the August, he describes it as ‘Where the band starts again - where the quality of our work is gonna be ten times higher.’

THE DETAILS

Who?

Thomas Hill (guitar, vocals) Kurt Phillips (Drums, vocals) Ed Adams (Bass, backing vocals)

Based?

Basingstoke + Oxford

For Fans Of?

This Town Needs Guns, Colour, Blakfish, Meet Me In St Louis, Circle, Foals

Social?

www.glassmazes.bandcamp.com, www.facebook.com/glassmazes

New Releases?

New single and live-set staple ‘Swallow The Sun’ + B-Side ‘Bear Trap’ scheduled for release this August, followed by an EP in the Autumn.

Live Dates?

3 local live dates (including a set at Basingstoke favourite Sanctuary), followed by an October tour. Festival dates are out the question for now though – the band are busy with new material.