A Chat with Glenarvon (08.08.22)
The brainchild of singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Derek Brown, Glenarvon is an inspiring and unique musical project. We speak with Glenarvon about his album Idle Thrashing, mementoes, future plans and more.
OSR: Who or what inspires you to make music?
Glenarvon: It usually starts with a line or phrase – something that’s come to me, or something I’ve read or overheard. Then I’ll find myself singing it. It’s not intentional. It’s like the words have some incantatory property that resonates with my unconscious. It’s then I’ll know I have something, especially if I like the melody. At that point, I’ll grab my guitar or sit down at the piano and tease out the rest.
OSR: What are the benefits and challenges of pursuing a solo music project?
Glenarvon: The benefits and challenges are often the same. For instance, I don’t have to wait for anyone else to contribute a part; but I’m also not accountable to anyone, so I can procrastinate. I can also do whatever I want and however I want without anyone telling me I’ve lost perspective. But then I don’t benefit from objective contributions, which can really enrich a song and take it in much more exciting directions.
OSR: How would you describe your music?
Glenarvon: I think all my songs are informed by the same ballad tradition, really. I just opt to make some faster or approach them differently. But if you slowed the songs on this album down and performed them acoustically, they’d translate, I think. I actually performed many of them that way in London and Oxford. Otherwise, I think my music is pretty diverse because I take different production approaches.
OSR: What can you tell us about your album Idle Thrashing?
Glenarvon: This album started with a song (‘Not As The Way Things Are’) that was a consummate ballad, really. Then I sped it up and thought it’d be fun to approach it as Weezer might have during their Blue Album period – lots of crunchy power chords. I then found myself approaching other songs that way and decided to release the record I would have loved to make as a teenager before I had the means. In fact, quite a few of the songs were written in my teens, but they benefitted from whatever improvements I’ve made as a lyricist. It was kind of like collaborating with my younger self. I’ve also gotten into the habit of adding bridges to my songs lately, which I never did when I was younger.
OSR: What do you hope people take from Idle Thrashing?
Glenarvon: I’m thinking more in terms of catalogue and archives lately. So, if people enjoy my songwriting, I think they’ll enjoy the variety and genre-crossing. I really want to continue releasing albums that sound very different from one another. But I also hope that people recognize this record is a celebration of another time in music – that it’s wilfully derivative, in a way.
OSR: If you could change anything about Idle Thrashing, what would it be and why?
Glenarvon: I would have liked to record this album with a full band and track it live in the studio versus playing all the instruments myself. That’s it, really.
OSR: What is the story behind your favourite memento?
Glenarvon: I don’t really keep mementos. When I’m really present and content, I just try to imprint certain details on my mind. No pictures, even. Recently, I was watching my fiancée in the garden and she had no idea I was watching. I just leaned against the wall and took a breath. I wanted to capture her expression and the way the sun was hitting her. If it’s the only thing I take away from our time in Oxford, I’ll be content. I know it’s the sort of thing that will wash over me suddenly when I’m really old or on my way out.
OSR: What’s the worst piece of advice you ever received from someone?
Glenarvon: I actually can’t think of anything. Maybe I’m too stubborn for any of it to stick, good or bad.
OSR: Do you have future plans as Glenarvon?
Glenarvon: I’d like to continue releasing solo and even collaborative projects as Glenarvon. I adopted the name, in part, because I wanted to form a band around it and not continue as a solo artist. That may still happen, but it might be more appropriate to form an entirely new entity as I’d want it to be a democracy. Glenarvon might already have too much traction as a vehicle for my vision.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Glenarvon: “Fear is the mind-killer.”
Many thanks to Glenarvon for speaking with us. For more from Gelnarvon check out his official website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
