Interview: Glass Candy

August 20th, 2010

Glass Candy

When you contemplate an inmate dominating the prison system through violence, charisma, and a luxurious handlebar moustache, what song pops into your head? If you’ve seen the UK prisoner biopic Bronson – now making new ripples with its international DVD release – you’ll immediately call to mind the urgent disco throbs of Glass Candy’s “Digital Versicolor.” The track is more haunting than catchy, featuring lyricist Ida No chanting ominously about primary colors over producer/keyboardist Jonny Jewel’s pulsing 80s-cop-show-theme undulations.

Chanel F/W 08-09, Glass Candy “Beatific”

“In Europe, about six months ago, everyone was like ‘Wow wow wow!’ And just now it’s hitting the States and so now everyone’s texting or emailing, ‘Wow wow wow!’” Johnny says, gesticulating over the steam from his coffee, his eyes wide. It’s a cold sunny day in southern Portland, where he and Ida have come together to gear up for their European tour. There, the hype of Bronson will meet buzz generated on the runways of Chanel, Diesel, and Chloe, who have all snagged Glass Candy tracks for their recent lineups. Operating without a publicist or manager, the band has come to prefer this method of getting the word out. “You develop a charisma, and people are just magnetized to you,” Ida says of their laissez-faire attitude towards self-promotion. Johnny, the head of their Italians Do It Better label, agrees. “When our songs are used we prefer to not really advertise. We just let it be this surprise. I think it’s cool.”

They’re also easygoing about less high-profile uses of their music, which has appeared in everything from YouTube mashups with Snoop Dogg to Jarvis Cocker samples. As Johnny puts it, “We embrace people butchering our songs. All good art is that malleable.” When “Digital Versicolor” was completed, they considered putting it out as their first video – but a YouTube user beat them to the punch, composing a grainy, absurdist sequence that pays homage to laundromats and polyester. It’s retro, it’s vampy, and it wasn’t quite what Glass Candy had in mind, but the band didn’t complain. They’ve discovered that the best way to cope with the problem of image is to ignore it altogether. Johnny points out, “It’s a compliment. Whether or not it’s our specific taste, we don’t get hung up on it.”

Glass Candy - Feeling Without Touching

The duo cooled their heels, instead releasing their first “official” video this past March for the title song off their 2010 EP, Feeling Without Touching. Complete with leotard and smoke machine, Ida gyrates across a black background in soft multicolored light, swaying and posing as she gazes into the camera. Her image is silhouetted and tripled by turns, recalling the stripped-down disco and pop video aesthetics of the 70s and 80s. Whether it’s an homage or a satire is up for debate.

Whatever you call it, the song is Glass Candy at its finest. Friction is a major element of the band’s music, where self-described polar opposites Ida and Johnny temper and hone each other’s creative energy. You can hear it in the Feeling Without Touching EP, where Ida’s abstract meditations meet Johnny’s surefooted pop melodies over four of the six songs (two are instrumental), with two versions of the song “Sugar & Whitebread” offering a startling, pleasurable contrast. Johnny acknowledges, “That result is where we exist sonically. The clash is important.”

Words Dree Millar

Glass Candy – Digital Versicolor