Glaswing - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the opportunity to interview Aaron Marsh of Glaswing. We discussed how he started Glaswing, how his songwriting is different than it is with Copeland, the practice of visualizing music, the new single, filming during quarantine, and more. Check it out below.
First, thanks for the interview.
Of course.
Can you tell me a little about why you started Glaswing?
I started writing music for a company called Soundstripe around the time quarantine started. They provide this ever-expanding music library to videographers, so they were commissioning a lot of music from me and different writers and producers. I had the Glaswing moniker for years. I knew it would be an electronic project with lo-fi hip hop elements, and writing music for Soundstripe seemed like the perfect use for it. Electronic music is kind of the perfect medium for producing music in isolation. After about 6 or 7 months of writing for the company, we decided to put together an album of the best stuff that I’d turned in thus far.
How does the songwriting process differ from Copeland?
Because I write the Glaswing stuff very quickly, the ideas stay very true to their original form, where-as Copeland songs I may write and re-write, and record and re-record. Glaswing is simpler, and therefore more concise. This album feels like a collection of singles rather than a fully conceived album. To me, that’s not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing, just a different process.
You just released your new single “Yesterday, I Lost A Day”. What was the writing process like for that song in particular?
The title line popped into my head. I liked that it had an internal multisyllabic rhyme. A phrase like that makes for a great jumping off point because it has a natural rhythm to it. I built the instrumental arrangement from that line and filled in the rest of the vocals after the beat felt finished.
I really like the title of the song. Can you tell me about the meaning and story behind the title?
Thanks! Like I said, the internal (near) rhyme of “yesterday” and “lost a day” set up the entire song as a musical motif. Lyrically, my wife and I both work from home, so we’re together ALL the time during this pandemic. I wrote this on a weekend she went out of town and I was missing her, trying to not take the joy of common everyday moments for granted.
I also really like how you recorded the vocals on the song. What kind approach do you take with the vocal performance and presentation with Glaswing?
This vocal is doubled, very tight and very wide, which means I sing the verse a ton of times and from those takes, I put together 2 performances that are as close to being identical as possible. I put one performance in the left ear and one in the right ear to give a sense that the vocal is surrounding the music.
You released a video for “When You're Smiling My Way” that you filmed in quarantine. Tell us about this experience.
The video is just some lovely footage of my wife, Megan and I singing a very romantic song to each other. I’ll take any excuse to point a camera at her. We have fun making things together.
Mood and vibe seem really important in this song and project. What kind of feelings does this song invoke for you? What do you hope listeners get from it?
Absolutely. It always helps me to think visually when writing music. There’s almost always a picture in my head. For Glaswing, I’m writing all of this music specifically for videographers so that practice of visualizing the music is very helpful. This song gives me feelings of isolation, longing, and moments slipping away.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
I made another quarantine video for “Yesterday, I Lost a Day” that I’ll release soon. I have more Glaswing music on the way. Thanks so much for being interested in it.
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