We have a chat with GLAMBOY as they release debut single ‘What She Wants’
Our friends at CloseUp have a penchant hooking us up with the most cutting edge and exciting in music from the UK and beyond, and today is definitely another of those days. We’ve had a chat with GLAMBOY, an emerging artist who is based out of Leeds after relocating from South London, and has released his debut single just today.
‘What She Wants’ is the name of the track, and it is one that bursts with eclectic promise and an exciting, unique sound. The track is a mixing pot of genres, borrowing from things like bedroom-pop, hip-hop and even glam rock, to create something that fizzes with contemporary appeal and nuance. This is just the first glimpse of GLAMBOY, but the artist is gaining acclaim from tastemakers and listeners in rapid fashion and looks to have the talent and style to carve out a real name for themselves.
GLAMBOY! It’s great to have a chat. We love your music as you well know. Tell us a bit more about the world of GLAMBOY?
The world of GLAMBOY is the catalyst for me to write about the things of every day life. Love, loss, mental health, sex, drugs and alcohol. It almost feels like an alter-ego. In every day life I’m just Ol, whereas when I need to let some things out that are clouding up my mind, I can switch to the GLAMBOY persona. I can let out my inner ego and make music about life that people can dance to. Some people have described my life as slightly ‘off the rails’; my decision making and self control isn’t the best. But it’s those moments that inspire me to make music, because I find they’re the most poignant things to write about.
What part of the musical process do you enjoy most, and why? is it performing live, creating your tracks, or..?
I enjoy it all, but I’d probably say making music is my favourite thing to do nowadays. It’s the basis of everything that comes along with this persona. I’ve always enjoyed playing live, cause it feels like therapy; particularly when you’re singing songs about the shit that’s currently on your mind. But that doesn’t come without sitting at my laptop for hours, trying to find melodies to go over the top of chord progressions, or writing lyrics that sometimes feel like a tell-all passage about my life. Maybe I should stop this music thing and write an autobiography. Haha.
The last 18 months and the pandemic have been crazy for musicians, how much has it had an affect on your music?
Yeah man, the pandemic was crazy for me as an artist. I spent most of my days just listening to new music and just finding out about myself. That isolation from every day life was really fucking cool for me after I got used to it – I feel like I found out so much about myself after spending that much time with me, myself and I. I think it definitely made my lyrics a lot more poignant, cause I feel like I understand myself a lot better now. I didn’t really make a lot of solid music over that time… I just spent most of those hours just playing around with new plug-ins and learning new production techniques. Shoutout to Steven Slate and them guys over at Slate Digital. They really put crack in some of those compressors hahaha.
If you could create a ‘GLAMBOY Festival’ which 3 artists would you have headlining? (Fri, Sat, Sun) p.s, can we come?
Hahahahahaha. Me doing all three nights, obviously. Nah but seriously, I’d probably say…
Friday? Snail Mail. Lush is an album that changed my life. It’s so glossy, it’s honest and I find it hilariously relatable. I think Lindsay is one of the greatest songwriters of this generation, and I’m so excited to see what she’s doing next…
Saturday? Burial. He’s never played live. Not even once. I need to see Untrue played in full. The pain would fill that room alone.
Sunday? Lil Baby. He’s my favourite rapper, I hope one day he does a song with me… Ngl man, the way he says in every song that he’s gonna pay for that surgery… I respect it.
And of course you can… just don’t tell people about the secret rider…
Your new single ‘What She Wants’ was a co-write with Zuzu and has just dropped as the first of the project. What’s the inspiration/meaning behind it, and why did you want to put this out first?
What She Wants is all about the coping mechanisms I leaned towards after some significant happened in my life. It’s a telling of my wants, needs and my bad habits rolled into a three minute pop song. When somebody leaves a hole in your life, it’s hard not to fill it with the taboos of society to help bridge that gap that stands between feeling broken and feeling okay. It is a chasm of vulnerability and the front I put up when things are going wrong for me. I hope that in people hearing this, it will only further my profession in being a sort of therapist to the self. I want people to be able to dance to my catharsis.
