A Chat with Glossy Boy (03.11.23)
Earworms – the songs we hear and love and then can’t get out of our heads for ages afterwards. Glossy Boy is an earworm. Powerfully indie-pop with passionate vocals dripping from hard-hitting guitars and drums, Chris (vocals and guitar), Ryan (backing vocals and bass), and Zak (backing vocals and drums) capture the highs and lows of life in jovial melodies. We speak with the UK-based trio about their self-titled EP, what music means to them, fictional foods and future plans.
OSR: Cliché but a good opener. How did Glossy Boy form?
Glossy Boy: Just as cliché, a tale as old as time – three childhood friends growing up together, playing in cover bands at our mate’s parties and local town festivals. Fast-forward 15 years and we’ve all ended up in London together after uni, lockdown is just coming to an end and we realise we’ve all been really missing music and being in a band together. Our singer Chris was starting to gig around London as a solo artist, but always felt drawn back to the fun and energy of playing together! And the rest will hopefully be history… (EMI we’re right here!!)
OSR: What do you think makes you unique as a band?
Glossy Boy: Well, our Spotify bio reads “indie bangers, cos no one’s done that before”, so… I guess if it ain’t broke don’t fix it?? No but in all seriousness, we were definitely born from the 00’s British indie classics, growing up with the best era of Arctic Monkey (sorry AM stans, but it’s true), Franz Ferdinand, The Kooks etc. But we hope to be updating that classic sound with some “Gloss” – mixing indie pop guitars with elements of Beach Boy-esque backing harmony, and bringing it together with infectious and instantly singable lyrics.
OSR: What can you tell us about your self-titled EP? Is there a backstory or theme?
Glossy Boy: The Glossy EP is a bit of an “end of an era” collection – it for sure captures the foundation of our sound, that we’d love to build on and develop. But it also represents a load of songs that have been in our singer, Chris’s head for years. It’s a retrospective on his (/our?) life since being at uni a good few years ago now, but filtered through a feel-good, gets in your head and won’t leave you alone vibe. We think it’s definitely the sound of Glossy Boy’s arrival and a hint at what’s to come!
OSR: What were the most exciting and least exciting things (for lack of a better word) about creating the EP?
Glossy Boy: Honestly the most exciting thing was getting in a proper studio (with a producer who was a totally new set of ears – big shoutout to Jim at J&J) and seeing how far we could push the songs. Adding little touches like fun backing vocal breaks and Rhodes parts was just a joy.
Chris: For me, it was seeing where these songs could go with the creative input of all 3 of us. As said before I had the foundations of most of these tunes from back when I was at uni but they never felt right until now!
OSR: What does music mean to you? Why do you make music?
Glossy Boy: At the end of the day for us music is what we all have in common. We played music at school, went to gigs together and now we write and create music together too. The fact that we can still do this is the best thing. The more music we make the more music we get to play together.
OSR: If you could change anything about the EP, what would it be?
Glossy Boy: Nothing it’s a perfect, classic EP. No in seriousness we’re super proud of this body of work but creating it taught us a lot about the whole process and gave us room to think about more we can add to the next songs and maybe try some more experimentation.
OSR: What do hope listeners take from your music?
Glossy Boy: We want these songs to stick in people’s minds. Earworms that they can’t get out of their heads! We want them to be songs they can come back to and put on when they want to dance or sing or generally just have a good time. Tunes that they stay in the car to listen to all the way through.
OSR: If you could read the mind of one celebrity, who would it be?
Glossy Boy: Alex Turner – then we can work out how he writes all those lyrics.
OSR: What is a fictional food you would like to try?
Glossy Boy: It’s gotta be butterbeer surely?? The stuff of childhood fantasies. I know that you can actually buy it now, but there’s surely no way it’ll taste as good in real life as in our heads. Also any kind of Willy Wonka chocolate.
OSR: Are there future plans for Glossy Boy?
Glossy Boy: We’re already working on a handful of new tunes. We’ve tested them out at our recent gigs and they seem to have gone down well so we’re excited to keep the Glossy Boy machine churning! Our goal next year is to play more festivals and keep on building our fanbase and brand – we have a lot of ideas kicking about and can’t wait to implement them all.
OSR: Do you have a message for our readers?
Glossy Boy: Go and listen to the Glossy EP! Learn all the words and we’ll see you front row at our next gig – stay glossy!
Many thanks to Glossy Boy for speaking with us! Find out more about Glossy Boy on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
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