photo by James Wesley Nichols

Athens/Greenville-based trio Gláss came to us via our friends at Post-Echo, the South Carolina label that’s home to Concord America, Dear Blanca, and Pan — just to name a few artists they’ve worked with that we’ve enjoyed.

In February 2016, the trio will release Accent, their debut full-length album that features “Glass(-accent)”, a single recently premiered by Stereogum.

We chatted with Aáron Burke, the band’s lead vocalist and guitarist, about the move to Athens, recording the new album, and their love for Post-Echo.

How did you all meet one another and what’s your time living in Athens been like?

Me and Sám met through the Greenville music scene. We would play shows together in other projects at The Handlebar (when it was open), Cabin Floor Records and The Radio Room. We eventually started hanging out when we realized we had a similar music taste, and eventually wanted to start a band. We would hang out almost every night and go to shows,smoke in Waffle House and talk about records. Aryán and I met through mutual friends, and I had kind of known him for a while. When Reuben (who plays in The Francis Vertigo, Sám’s other band) quit the band, I asked Aryán if he’d be interested playing with us. 

It’s actually just me who’s living in Athens, me and my girlfriend moved here in August as she is going to school here, so the band has just been commuting. I really like Athens so far. We haven’t gone out that much, but we’ve got a great house. I’ve noticed that people tend to take a lot more U-Turns here than in South Carolina, I don’t really know what that’s about. It seems similar to Greenville in a lot of ways but, obviously, with a bigger music scene.

Stereogum recently premiered the first track from you upcoming album, due out 2/5/2016. What’s the feedback you’ve received so far been like, whether from friends or family or people that found the track online?

It’s been great. It seems everyday another positive review pops up and starts to bounce the song around social media even more. But yeah we’ve had nothing but compliments, for which, I am grateful. We even got a few little write ups from Japan. One of them ended with the Line “It was Sibi in the imagination of double expressionless”, which one day, my epitaph will read. Google translate is a powerful tool.

How did you get connected with the crew at Post-Echo and what’s it been like working with them? Any recent releases on the label that you all are really enjoying?

We were pretty confident with the record when it was done. Lots of our friends are on Post-Echo, so we had known about them for a while, and always had the intention to send them the record. So we did, and it worked out! Working with them has been extremely eye opening for me. I’ve always been pretty complacent in knowing how to release a record properly. But I was very wrong. Franklin at P-E has been extremely helpful in putting things together for us, and showing us the best way to put out an album. I’ve loved Dear Blanca’s ‘Pobrecito’ since it came out. I still listen to that pretty often. I think we’re all excited about the new Art Contest record too. 

What was the writing and recording process for the upcoming album like? Is the album complete or are you all still working on it?

I usually tend to write songs alone after coming up with a guitar part and write lyrics in a sort of pseudo-stream-of-consciousness way before bringing it to Sám and Aryán. Lots of late nights of playing really quietly. Teaching the boys is almost effortless. They have a really good way of immediately reacting correctly to whatever I throw at them, be it a guitar riff or a fit. Sometimes I will record little parts to songs and send it to them so they can think about it before practice. 

Recording with Jay at the Jam Room was a blast. He has a really good way of taking you through everything he’s doing so you know exactly what’s going on. We recorded live, other than the vocals, and ended up getting everything done in 2 days. It was crazy. But Jay has been doing it for so long, he’s a master. 

What’s your favorite place around Athens to hang out when you have free time?”

We’ve got an incredible screened in porch that me and Amy usually spend our time in. It has a massive fire place too, we made the first one the other day. I haven’t spent enough time in Wuxtry yet, but I got a Pop Group record and a Bush Tetras record from there about a month ago, they have a really good selection. Other than that we like Caledonia and Flicker. For food, Last Resort hits the spot.

Upcoming Shows

10/22 – Soundbox Tavern (Greenville, SC)

11/14 – Flicker Theatre and Bar (Athens, GA)

12/17 – Flicker Theatre and Bar (Athens, GA)

12/19 – Snug Harbor (Charlotte, NC)

Gláss – “Glass (-accent)”

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