“I guess we’ve all come together in this band because of our adventurous nature,” says vocalist/guitarist Justin Ashworth. “But I think that comes from more than just a disheartened relationship with pop music. There’re so many other streams of music to explore. Cinema/film music is a big one for us, and probably as diverse and malleable a format to play with.”
Indeed, no matter how irreverent or adventurous you are, no musician can deny the impact of their influences. For Glasfrosch, these are many and varied.
“There are artists whose work has an aesthetic influence, and then there’s all the stuff in the process, and the politics,” says Ashworth. “My favourite artists are the ones I find trying and embracing new things consistently. Bjork is a big one for me, but we’re all constantly consuming new music like hungry hungry hippos. Zorn is another big one for me – Bowie, Liars, Radiohead. The example to be gleaned here is that in order to maintain a fulfilling career in music you need to continue exploring sound the way you did when you started.”
Considering Glasfrosch are intent upon continual exploration, it makes sense they describe their music as ‘post-genre’. Now, an issue that often plagues overtly experimental music is that it takes itself a bit too seriously. There’s nothing wrong with taking a serious approach to music making, but it can be difficult for people to relate to something that conveys an imposing solemnity.
“We try to be playful and enjoy ourselves, and that playfulness and experimentation is part of what leads to the serious discoveries,” Ashworth says. “I think that’s what experimental is – it’s a process. If you’re not experimental, what the hell are you doing? The reason we adopted ‘post genre’ is because we don’t have one, this is the kind of music you can only make after you give up thinking about where you fit. I feel we can say that honestly, and I am not interested in sound bites to more easily pigeonhole us for the casual Spotify user.”
In early August, Glasfrosch will release their third album, Nocturnes. It’s actually a companion piece to the band’s previous release, Aubades, which came out in 2013.
“Both albums were massive processes and learning curves,” says Ashworth. “It was tricky writing the nocturnal side and being conscious of the self-referencing we were doing in linking/mirroring the tracks without just going through the motions. I still think it was more efficient to explore the dual concept in this separated two album way.”
While these two records are directly linked, with each album, Glasfrosch endeavour to apply new techniques and uncover new stylistic elements.
“Our first album was really eclectic and that’s because we weren’t really a live band yet,” Ashworth says. “It was all assembled from a haphazard recording process and developed to the stage afterwards. With Aubades and Nocturnes we’ve been exploring what it’s like being a live band in Melbourne and making work that challenges that setting.”
On that note, Glasfrosch will launch Nocturnes at Howler next week. Given the band’s fervently creative mindset, you can expect a night of unashamed eclecticism.
“We’ve got three of our favourite local acts with us, all from completely different music worlds, but they’re all flavours that make up the Glasfrosch palette. We’ve got a bunch of generative audio-visual experiments to accompany our music, mixed in with some video work that we’ve had collaborators make. There’ll be some homemade instruments and some guest players, and lots of gear on stage. So much gear.”
BY AUGUSTUS WELBY
