motel void

MOTEL VOID: You’ve just released your debut album, in case i forget you. What was the writing and recording process behind this record?

GLASS EGG: in case i forget you is an odd conglomerate of songs I wrote over the last 7 years that somehow go together in their warped melancholy. A big part of why the album is titled in case i forget you is because I have a habit of moving on and not looking back with songwriting, so there are all these lost glass egg songs that now don’t fit the current vibe, but these six are songs I didn’t want to lose. Most of the songs are newer: vern song, clearly, choke, and tightrope, but back to me and patterns are from, I think, 2018ish. The other part of the title is that each song is attached to a specific person, some still in my life and others not, and I wanted to encapsulate specific memories or feelings of those people and, for a few of them, release those feelings.

Recording wise, we recorded the guitar and vocals over two days in a little cabin in Olympia, WA. My moms side of the family has had this precious one room cabin passed down through generations and I feel really privileged to have such a space. It’s my favorite place in the world, I’m truly sentimental and the cabin holds so many memories, you can feel the energy of the people and memories radiating around you when you’re there. It smells like the most delicious dust and the walls are raw wood, it’s just soft and warm and peaceful. It has a certain nostalgia that I think is audible on the record, and that’s why we recorded there. Julian and I both have a background in audio so we just do everything ourselves. We produced the album together- we trade who takes the lead on songs, but I’m the mean boss who will shred something if it’s not right.. And I mixed the album as well. This was my first big multi-track project for production and mixing and I learned a lot that will make every record that comes after that much better. Julian and I like to say: “this is the worst glass egg record there will ever be” because we will only get better.

MOTEL VOID: You’re from Seattle, Washington. I spent four months there working a few years ago and loved the local scene. I hope to come back soon. Could you recommend a few of your favorite local artists and venues? How would you describe the current indie music scene?

GLASS EGG: We love Seattle, we both grew up just outside of the city- I grew up in Fall City in the Snoqualmie Valley (Read: Twin Peaks) and Julian grew up in Woodinville (Read: wine and strip malls). We both spent a lot of time in high school escaping to the city from our rural/suburban zones, so we have a deep love for the venues and scene that shaped us!

My favorite venue in Seattle is The Sunset Tavern– they have the best staff and it’s so artist friendly in every way (shout out to Dave the best sound engineer in the city- he makes the cleanest monitor mixes I ever heard and his attention to detail is chef’s kiss). We also love Belltown Yacht Club, Neumos/Barboza, and seeing shows at Neptune!

The scene is really rich right now with next level musicians. I think the scene took a pretty hard hit with the pandemic, but it’s rebuilding, and fast. Absolutely love: Somesurprises, Pantsuitguy, Powerstrip, SemiSoft and TV Star. We’ve been able to play with SemiSoft a few times now and we love their sound and everyone in the band, big love to SemiSoft. We played with Powerstrip at our release show and it was transcendent! Nellie and Tony are truly on a level that feels so inspiring to witness and I feel so grateful to be building community with them! Really just been feeling a deep warmth about the Seattle scene lately.

MOTEL VOID: On your Spotify, there’s a playlist called glass egg obsessions. I love how diverse the playlist is, featuring charli xcx, Herbie Hancock, Billy Idol, DJ Sabrina the Teenage DJ, Jens Lekman, Duster, Fishmans, Sade, IAN SWEET, Hand Habits, Duran Duran… I imagine you listen to a lot of music! Who is your biggest inspiration at the moment?

GLASS EGG: We are all over the place! That playlist is a range from musicians and albums that inspire us to songs we’ve fully obsessed over and could write dissertations on. There was a whole “Silly Love Songs” summer because Julian was so engrossed with Paul’s bass line, we listened to that song hundreds, maybe thousands of times. I was deeply enraptured by 10cc’s I’m Not in Love for a good few months- the time I first consciously really heard it was at a PetSmart and it was so deeply sad and felt almost liminal to hear there? Like, PetSmart’s are so depressing, the overhead lighting and gurgle of sad fish tanks filled with sad fish… and then the first ahhhhh of the intro? Unreal. Go to a PetSmart and listen to that song, it’ll make you feel like you’re in a coming of age film. But that playlist is quite the indicator of who we are as people/musicians/appreciators.

Currently, and always, inspired by Cate Le Bon. She is one of the best songwriters/musicians/producers out there. I love deep, intentional listening to her music, particularly her lyrics, they’re so well crafted. We saw her live a few years ago and I swear to god my knees went weak when she walked out onto the stage!

MOTEL VOID: In a week, you’re playing a show in Seattle with Fleur Bleu-e, whom I interviewed earlier this year. What are your other plans for the rest of the year?

GLASS EGG: We’re so excited to play with them! Their music is gorgeous and it’s going to be a great show.

Plans for the rest of the year are primarily more recording! We’re working on a single that I think feels like a bonus track to in case i forget you, but will be out hopefully in winter. And we’re working on the next album and I’m really excited about it! It’s a bit more collected in concept and energy than “in case i forget you” – it feels these songs are responding to in case i forget you from a more thoughtful, mature vantage point, there are some deeper realizations happening within.

MOTEL VOID: You’ve been long-time collaborators with Julian Stefanzick. When did you meet, and what was your first project together?

GLASS EGG: Julian and I met when we were living in Bellingham, sometime in 2017. I had been living in British Columbia for my first two years of college and transferred to Fairhaven at Western Washington University to study in their Audiotechnology, Music, and Society program- which Julian also took some classes in, so we had some studio recording and other music courses together. But we became best friends pretty quickly, we have a lot of shared interests and are both really nerdy when it comes to the things we’re passionate about. Summer of 2018 I think we spent everyday together? Haha. That hasn’t changed much.

Our first collaboration was a little band together, Frances Dietrich, that we played maybe one show for? But it was a fun Belle & Sebastian/ Yo La Tengo vibe and we wrote much less serious songs together and it was silly and just a natural collaborative energy. We have plans to eventually bring back Frances Dietrich but in a different form than before. We’ll see… But glass egg was my solo project for years- I played a lot of shows but never recorded anything! Julian started playing bass with me in 2018/19. We started talking more seriously about making an album in 2022, and started crafting our current atmosphere. I’m really proud of where we’ve been able to take glass egg together and how much the project has grown because of how we’ve adapted the sound, but it has remained true to my solo days at the same time. Julian really helps push me musically, while also respecting my vision, it’s a really beautiful partnership.

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