Introducing Get To Know… Glassio

The New York musician mixes lush vocal harmonies with electronic arrangements.

28th February 2019

Hello and welcome to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… With two new acts a week, the feature pretty much does what it says on the tin: getting you a little bit closer to the buzziest new acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.

We’ve recently introduced you to Oxford’s Lacuna Common, Coventry newcomers FEET, bilingual synth-popper MUNYA, shimmering folk singer Elena Setién, Brighton’s DITZ and New York’s Gus Dapperton.

New York City based Glassio draws from a range of influences in their music from early Philadelphia soul and new wave to hip-hop and house, to create a self-described ‘orchestral pop’ bedroom sound. They’ve recently released new EP ‘Age Of Experience’ via their own indie imprint Dolphin Arcade.

“At its core, ‘Age of Experience’ is brutally honest,” Glassio explains. “The influences are widespread. I have melodies that are Paul Simon-esque with production and arrangement being soul and disco driven. You can even hear a bit of a hip-hop hi-hat groove whereas the ending almost has a Magnetic Fields/Brian Wilson touch to it.”

Check out our Q&A with Glassio and listen to new EP ‘Age Of Experience’ below!

Describe your music to us in the form of a Tinder bio.

Brooklyn-based. I love hanging out with my oscillators on Friday nights. Oboes to the left. Born at Good Room in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. My mother worked at Factory Records in Manchester, my father was a studio engineer in Muscle Shoals. Cancer, Gemini-rising.

What’s your earliest musical memory?

Visiting Dublin (where my mom’s side of the family lives) and my uncle playing Wichita Lineman by Glen Campbell through the living room stereo. I distinctly remember what the clouds looked like when I was listening to it. The line “I hear you singing through the wire” still haunts me.

Who were some artists that inspired you when you were just starting out (and why)?

Paul Simon made me want to write songs when I was 13. I was obsessed with him, wanted to write like him, look like him, and went as far as became upset that I wasn’t short like him, or didn’t have a receding hairline like he did. So that was songwriting. When I started to properly pursue producing music, it was a mix between Brian Wilson, lots of DFA bands, Magnetic Fields, and 90s electronic acts like Air and Massive Attack. I liked the landscapes that came to mind anytime I played any of these artists. Brian Wilson’s harmonies for me were clouds, Massive Attack the Earth, and Magnetic Fields the Claymation stories of adulthood drama. When I make music now, I like to picture some of these things coming together as much as possible. It makes being stuck on the same chair and in front of the same computer screen for 12 hours more fun.

You’re based in New York - what’s the music scene like there at the moment? Are there other artists breaking through at the same time that you take inspiration from?

New York is literally a factory line of creativity and I am currently so thankful to be amidst it and seeing so many friends of mine come up with brilliant music. One of the reasons I’ve started up the label, Dolphin Arcade, is to showcase stuff I’m excited about. We are releasing a single from NAKAYA that I co-produced this February. It’s an A/B single. Her songwriting is next level. I’m loving the music being released on some of my friends’ labels too: dance label HOMAGE has put out some really great stuff to DJ, and Sorry Records are putting out gems. My friends in the group Drinker have great music coming out, as well as everyone on Alyse from Pronoun’s label Sleep Well Records: Charles fauna, Sulene, Cape Francis. There is so much. I am taking a lot more active inspiration from Balearic beat and Yo La Tengo lately. Been experimenting with marrying those worlds a bit. One downside is the closing of DIY spaces. Scenes start there. It sucks to think of the styles of music that COULD have erupted had a space not closed.

Who would be your dream collaborator?

Elizabeth Frasier. Without the shadow of a doubt.

Musically or otherwise, what are you most looking forward to in 2019?

I am looking forward to not worrying so much about the future being so horrible like I did in 2018, making music that I won’t die regretting having made, and organising some exciting Dolphin Arcade releases and events.