What a night! As a huge fan of Kids in Glass Houses, and having grown up listening to their music, I was like a kid at Christmas having been given the opportunity to not only photograph and review the show, but to also meet Andrew Shay and talk through some of the questions I had for them. I got to the venue early to meet Shay and was treated to the most almighty sound check. I'd basically had a full blown performance for one and it was at this point, I knew the night ahead was going to be exceptional.
First off, lets run through some of the questions I had for Shay:
Thank you for sitting with me today, I am a huge fan so it's an honour to be able to ask you some questions. So, how would you describe Kids In Glass Houses as a band?
"That's a pretty wide ranging question. I mean, it depends. We've sort of evolved so much as a band and as people since, you know, we first started this. God, how many years ago would have been, you know, probably 20 years ago, you know, so it's very hard to sort of pin down. And I suppose we've been different bands at different times. But, I suppose as a band, how would you describe us right now? We're enjoying reflecting on our sort of older stuff. We had a lot of fun writing new music with the Pink Flamingo album. But I suppose we're a band that just sort of have nothing to prove, really. I say that's how you would best describe us right now."
Yeah, makes sense! As this is the 15 year anniversary tour for "Dirt", what's your favourite song on the album now? And has that changed since 2010?
"It's always been a solid "Hunt the Haunted". Like, that's always been my favorite song on the album, both to play live and to listen back to. Like, it's never changed. That's probably one of my favorite songs that we've ever written. And it was strange because that song almost never made it to the album. We kind of finished the album and were writing B sides, as you do, and that one just kind of came out of a practice session. It was one of those ones, you know, back in the day we used to write all together in a room and it just kind of clicked. All of us kind of got it immediately and it just came together really quickly. And then we thought to ourselves that this was kind of too good to waste as a B side, I suppose. So we recorded it very quickly. Yeah, it's kind of glad that we kind of captured it in that moment and got to do it."
Can you describe the album and what it means to you?
"Dirt was the kind of first. I mean, yeah, it was. It was our sort of first proper experience of recording an album, I suppose. And I say that with no disrespect to "Smart Casual", but "Smart Casual" was kind of written in the most organic way, in the sense that we were just in a practice room. Well, it wasn't even a practice room at that stage. We were in a sort of industrial unit, you know, finishing school and coming up with songs and, you know, sending ideas via MSN messenger. That's how that kind of came about. It was obviously, you know, we were a signed band. We were an established band. We were doing it for a living at that point. And so it was kind of the first time we had to sort of knuckle down and come up with something. So, it was in that sense, there was a lot of pressure on us going into it, but at the same time, there's a lot of excitement with, obviously, with the success of "Smart Casual" and, you know, the fact that we were getting, you know, proper money to go away. We recorded a lot of the album in Texas and it was just really exciting. I can't remember what the question was. Sorry, I feel like I've digressed quite a bit."
That's all right. Can you describe the album, what it means to you?
"Yeah, it means a lot. It means a hell of a lot to me. We did the rounds on that for years, but it was the first one that kind of got really mainstream attention, you know, Radio 1 and whatnot. So it really kind of was the album that kind of established us, I would say. So it means a lot to me, the songs on that album, you know, playing them just through in soundcheck and, with some of them, we haven't played for probably 15-20 years. Obviously, for some of them, we haven't played since we probably launched the album. So, yeah, it means a lot to me. And I feel like it's nice to kind of go back after all this time and play the songs again, because I feel like we've finally learned how to play them live, which is fun."
If a fan is coming to an anniversary show, having never seen you before, what should they expect?
"I really don't know what to expect from these shows at all. You know, I was thinking about it, obviously we kind of announced this tour such a long time ago, and it kind of, it's all of a sudden sort of crept up on us. I really don't know what to expect from these shows. I'm just kind of very quickly having to sort of get my mind into what we're about to do over the next week, you know. So, maybe I'd be better placed to answer that question in a few hours time, but right now, I have no idea what to expect."
Kids in Glass Houses took a break for a number of years. Was the plan always to reunite, and how does it feel to be back together as a band?
"No. When we called it a day, there was never any thought of us getting back together purely because we didn't think people would care. We assumed that once we finished, people would just forget about us and move on with their lives. And so, when we came back, when we did Slam Dunk and did the sort of Smart Casual anniversary tour off the back of Slam Dunk, I suppose it was just that we booked Slam Dunk because we'd kind of been asked for many years by the promoter to kind of come back and do that. And we finally thought, well, it feels like 15 years on from "Smart Casual" at least felt like a good time to do that. So we did that and didn't have any real expectations. I mean we were buried in a mid-afternoon slot on the main stage or second stage, but it actually turned out to be one of the greatest shows we've played in our lives. And the audience, the reaction to that show, was insane. So that was kind of the moment, with the first show in Hatfield, that kind of inspired us to do more as a band. And here we are still, you know, celebrating the band and in the kind of nicest way. As I say, there's no pressure. We're just kind of doing it for ourselves really, no one else."
How are you finding balance in your new careers, families, and with being a successful touring band?
"Yeah, that's probably the worst part about it, because there's never a good time. I would say I've got a career and two children and a partner who's very understanding, but yeah, that's tricky. I suppose it comes with the territory. We don't want to do this full time. None of us want to do this band full time. We all have other career paths. We've all got other sorts of things that kind of make us tick, and other priorities. So none of us want to do this full time, but we all want to do this part time, so I think it's tricky for us all. And I don't think we'll ever be able to figure that out and work around our personal lives and our professional lives, and it's always just going to be really difficult. But, at the same time, we get to play amazing shows when we do, so it's worth the additional stress on your life."
What are the thoughts on future anniversary tours?
"To be honest, we as a band, we don't really think too far ahead. You know, we've got our next show with this tour finishing on Friday in Cardiff, and that could be it, honestly. That could be it for our band. We like to say we're all so kind of hectic with our other lives that we haven't really haven't discussed anything beyond Friday, you know, so who knows? I mean, I can't imagine we'd do an "In Gold Blood" anniversary tour, but we haven't discussed it, if I'm perfectly honest, and I'll say we're just kind of getting through one kind of thing at a time."
Any festivals next year again?
"Couldn't tell you. I mean, we'll see our agent at some point this week. He's a lovely man, and was kind of one of the first people that showed interest in us, you know, all those years ago. And, no doubt, he'll want to have a chat about things in the future and so that'll probably be the first opportunity for us to kind of all be together and talk about what we do after this. But nothing planned as of yet. Nothing at all."
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians in the current climate?
"Oh, it's tough, man. It's tough because, you know, where I'm from in South Wales, there's lots of bands that are just starting to play shows, and lots of kids start to play shows and form bands and things. And I often get asked for advice and guidance, and to be honest, the industry has changed so dramatically since we started out, so any advice I would give would be completely out of date. But all I could say is that if you want it bad enough, you have to give it a good shot. I mean, when we were kind of trying to break through, it was all we did. All of us put our lives into it and it wouldn't have happened for us if we didn't do that. We all kind of put everything on hold, and even put our education on hold, dropped out of university. If the only advice I could give you is that, if you're going to give it a shot, you've got to give it your all. You can't kind of half ass it and expect it to happen for you. You've got to put the work in. Otherwise, I think that still rings true today, regardless of how much the industry shift. If you want it, you've got to put the time in and put the energy into it. It's not just going to happen. No one's going to come knocking on your door and come find you. You've got to kind of go to them, haven't you? But be that digitally online I suppose, you know, social media, etc..."
We've already touched on this, but what is your favorite Kids in Glass Houses song to play, and any teasers for the set list?
"So, we are playing, obviously, the album in full to celebrate this anniversary. We've had a lot of those back and forth as to whether we should play "Artbreaker Part Two", or not. I was in for not playing it because I just think it feels, like what we've got planned for, like, the encore. But basically, we're playing the album in full and then we're playing some other songs afterwards. And I just feel as though it kind of stands out a little bit in that, but we'll see how it goes tonight. We're playing a few other songs after the album and just a mixture of others, just loads of stuff."
If you could have written any Christmas song, what would it have been, and why?
"I mean, the obvious one is "Last Christmas". Because that is just, you know, it's an incredible Christmas song. It's one of the greatest songs of all time, in my opinion. And I'm just, that's one of those songs I'm really grateful that I get to hear every year. Like, you get to hear it so much every year. Like you don't have to go out of your way to get your fix off that song. And every time, it never gets old for me. Also, "Lonely this Christmas". That's a classic. Yeah. There's so many. I love a good Christmas song."
Usually, I would write a longer review here, but I feel the focus should be on the interview. If I could sum up the show in 5 words, though, it would be "Please come back again soon!" Kids In Glass Houses looked and sounded like they hadn't had their hiatus, and their chemistry on stage was undeniable. For those of you who don't know, Kids in Glass Houses is formed of: Aled Phillips - Lead Singer, Iain Mahanty - Guitar, Andrew Shay - Bass Guitar & backing vocals, Joel Fisher - Guitar, and last but not least, Phillip Jenkins on the drums.
As this was the anniversary show for the album "Dirt", the set list was formed of the entire album played in order, and an encore of "Theme of Pink Flamingo", "Peace", "Give Me What I Want", "Saturday", and "Secret Santa", some of which haven't been played live since 2010!
I know I've said it already, but the musicianship displayed was incredible. It was an honour to be there with them, and out of all the bands I've had the pleasure of seeing this year, these guys were by far the best.
