In the beginning, how did Glass Candy take form?
Ida No: In 1996, I met Johnny at the grocery store he was working at. I went in to buy carrots for my bunny. We started talking about Andy Warhol and modular synthesizers . . . a week later Johnny's girlfriend kicked him out of their apartment, so we moved in together. A week after that, I had to have an emergency operation and left the state for three months. When I got back, we started working on music. At first it was kind of like Nico's recordings with John Cale, then it was kind of like the Rolling Stones with Brian Jones, then it was kind of like the Link Wray song "Deacon Jones". A few years later, it started sounding really strange; that's when Glass Candy officially began. For three months, the only record Johnny listened to was Radio-Activity by Kraftwerk. I worked at Dairy Queen with my mom, and he still worked at the grocery store across the street from our apartment. On the way home, I found a bass at Goodwill for fifty dollars. I knew it was meant for Johnny, even though he didn't know how to play a bass or a guitar. He only played one note like on Radio-Activity. I gave it to him, and that night we wrote "Brittle Women". A year later, it was our first single; that was 1999.
When did the shift in Glass Candy’s sound take place from the more rough early stuff to the down tempo disco songs like “Rolling Down The Hills”?
Johnny Jewel: Mostly when Mike Simonetti bought us better recording equipment. We try and make every song different, and we hadn't done a track that sounded like Charlie's Angels yet, so we gave it a shot.
You also perform in the band Chromatics. How did this project come about?
Johnny Jewel: I recorded their first LP in 2002. When the band was on its last legs in 2004 . . . Adam asked me to help produce a new record. We both really loved Human League and Bryan Ferry. So we started leaning in that general direction. After everyone else in Chromatics either quit or stabbed Adam . . . I was the only one left. So I joined the band in order to support the recordings because the band was going to end right there if I didn't. I never really wanted to be in two bands.
Is it hard distinguishing a song you write for yourself and Ida and Glass Candy and a song you write with Adam and Ruth for Chromatics?
Johnny Jewel: Not at all. The Chromatics material is more vocally melodic, and I usually direct the guitar-oriented material towards Chromatics. In Glass Candy, I always write the music based on Ida's lyrics. She writes the lyrics as an a cappella poem, and then I find the right music for the lyrics visually. I always start with drums for Glass Candy, and I always start with piano for Chromatics. Chromatics songs are more traditional in the sense that . . . the melodies and music are written first, [and] in most cases . . . the lyrics are a conceptual afterthought. There is no Glass Candy song that could be a Chromatics song, and there is no Chromatics song that could ever be a Glass Candy song.
Are there any other side projects either of you are working on?
Johnny Jewel: I make beats for Farah, and I am producing John Root right now. Ida's project's include teaching all of us yoga and doing everyone's Mayan charts.
In the past most of your releases come from Troubleman Records now there is a Blog set-up for a Label called Italians Do it Better who has been releasing the bulk of new material form both bands. Please tell us a how Italians Do it Better came into fruition?
Johnny Jewel: It started as an illegal edits label. Mike wanted to keep the name separate from TMU for legal reasons, and then it kind of snowballed into this partnership for Suite 304 and Italians. There is so much stuff coming out of our studio that we decided it would be better if it all shared the same stamp, and Mike asked me to handle the art department because all of our favorite hip hop, dancehall, and disco labels have such a cohesive visual aesthetic. We wanted to do something really conceptual blurring the lines between artists like Warhol's Factory.
Chromatics have released an official release with “Night Drive,” will Glass Candy release an official release Glass Candy release? Or is Beatbox Tour CD it?
Johnny Jewel: Beat Box is being pressed for the third time due to popular demand, and we are doing both records on vinyl now. Out in the spring. So Beat Box is the LP now.
Will the song “Rolling Down The Hills” ever be released on vinyl via an album or on the “After Dark” compilation?
Johnny Jewel: There's a triple gatefold LP on white vinyl coming out of the After Dark compilation, out in April 2008. The Beat Box version of the song will be on the Beat Box LP.
Did you direct the new Glass Candy video “Digital Versicolor?” Where was it shot? How long did it take you from concept to finish to create?
Johnny Jewel: I didn't do it. We have no idea who did it. I did the "In the City" video, which took forty-five minutes to film and twelve hours to edit.
What are some of your favorite bands on the scene in 2007?
Johnny Jewel: We love Justice and Mirage in the dance circuit. For other new stuff . . . we only listen to rap music.
I recently caught your live show at Studio B in Williamsburg. Ida’s stage presence was amazing she had the audience captivated in the first minute of your performance. Ida where did you learn how to tame an audience so well?
Ida No: Maybe ballet lessons? I try to imagine there is no stage and no walls between me and the audience.
Did you always feel so confident with a crowd?
Ida No: No. I still get nervous sometimes.
What is a big inspiration of your lyrics real life or fantasy?
Ida No: To me there is no difference.
What’s next for Glass Candy?
Ida No: We're working on a trio of conceptual 12" EPs. The first one is out in April. We are also doing a few videos and getting our passports so we can finally cross the Atlantic.
Any Closing comments, recipes, dance tips?
Ida No: Drink water, dream of sheep and dance barefoot.
We love you!
xoxo
Ida No & Johnny Jewel |