Music Feature
Glasvegas Interview
Friday 15 April 2011
Read Glasvegas lead guitarist Rab Allan's assessment of the band's talents and the temptation to roll weary eyes skywards may be hard to resist, but any music fan would enjoy a yap with the Glaswegian - even just out of bed he's a man whose deadpan wit and willingness to call it as he sees it - good and bad - make him very likeable.
Allan also has good reason to be Glasvegas' number one fan: their just-released second album, 'Euphoric Heartbreak'. It's a far more convincing and colourful collection than their wildly over-hyped debut, and one which sees Allan come into his own as a guitarist. From the stadium-sized and titled 'The World Is Yours' to beautiful closer 'Lost Sometimes', there's no sound of difficult second album, and Allan credits some old dogs with teaching young pups a very valuable lesson before they made it.
Back in the summer of 2009, Glasvegas supported U2 on a batch of their 360° dates. The experience was, Allan says, a real eye opener, not for the size of the stage, 'The Claw', the crowds or the catering, but the realisation of the hard work Glasvegas needed to do to fulfil their potential.
"I walked away from the gigs quite embarrassed about how bad we were," he recalls. "I think musically we had good songs, but we weren't a very good band and I think we didn't really take ourselves too seriously. It [supporting U2] was the best thing that happened during the whole album cycle and the most inspired I'd been. So thank you, Bono."
Nearly a year later, Glasvegas had lost drummer Caroline McKay, but Allan, singer-guitarist James Allan (his cousin) and bassist Paul Donoghue were about to cross paths with someone who had helped bring out the best in U2 and many other acts. While writing and demoing the songs for 'Euphoric Heartbreak' in Santa Monica, Allan chanced upon one of producer Flood's most acclaimed works. It convinced him and the rest of the band that they had found the man they needed at the desk in the studio.
"One morning I woke up in Santa Monica and I went upstairs and there was an iPod lying there and on it was [Depeche Mode's 1989 album] 'Violator'," he says. "I'd never heard 'Violator' before; I sat and I listened to the album four times and it just blew me away. So when we were looking for producers and who we should get, straight away I said: 'We need to get Flood. Flood's the guy'. Funnily enough, he had actually contacted the record company as well and said he wanted to do the record, so at the same time we both said that we wanted to work with each other. James met him in London and the two of them just fell in love [laughs] - that was a bit of a romance! The guy's great; the guy's a genius."
You can hear the growth in confidence in Allan's playing on 'Euphoric Heartbreak'; the songs are stronger, but he's also a better guitarist. And he credits Flood with helping to bring out the best.
"He's like a wise Buddha. He just makes people feel relaxed. He makes people feel like they can do anything. I guess he brings a sense of calm, which was quite strange. He seems to hear things and see things differently from other people. Some days when you'd think you're not going anywhere he'd just say something and the song would spin upside down and it would be amazing."
Now back to a four piece with new drummer Jonna Löfgren, Allan is just as excited about what they can achieve with the Swede as they did as a trio with Flood, and while he's facing two years of touring, he's eager for Glasvegas to record again.
"Musically, she's incredible," he says. When Jonna joined the band she became the best bass player, the best drummer and the best guitarist because she's better than us! Live, she's incredible; everyone loves her and her style of playing really suits the band. Every day we ask her not to leave. Every day we say: 'Please stay with us'. Having someone who hadn't been in a band before... Having someone with that kind of freshness - really upbeat, really excitable, - kind of rubs off on everyone else as well."
He pauses.
"So I told the bass player I was going to sack him and get a new bass player in for the third record!"
'Euphoric Heartbreak' is out now on Columbia. Glasvegas play The Academy in Dublin on Thursday, 28 April.
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