Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Gladboy
The first time I saw Gladboy live, I didn’t know what to expect. Whispers around the Leeds scene promised great things, and my familiarity with the band’s sister project of ambient aficionados, Bug Teeth, reaffirmed those expectations. They already had support slots with the likes of The Orielles and English Teacher under their belt, which were certified claims to cool, but I had no idea what Gladboy actually sounded like. But from the second they took to the stage at the beloved Brudenell, I was immediately convinced.
Gladboy have previously described themselves as a group of groovy, plunderphonic, Junkedelic misfits, a flop group for hire and, in this interview, as “dangerous and jaded”. But none of those words, at least not in isolation, can aptly describe their chaotic, cowboy-friendly sound. It takes endless streams of adjectives and excessive hyphenating to do Gladboy justice, but even the most perfectly stringed-together sentences can’t quite capture their vivid collection of influences and interests.
Frontman George Orton channels the intensity of David Byrne, minus the flailing dance moves and big suit, declaring his fears of Frankenstein actor Boris Karloff and desperately begging for the radio to be turned off. Guitars flit between soft, country-tinged twangs and blistering, fuzz-laden flares. The percussive elements are similarly frenetic, either loud and brash or playful, with duties shared by Janani and Sonny.
Gladboy are one of those bands who feel like a gift to discover live, particularly because they only had one song attached to their Spotify page until today. Their new single, ‘Johnny Come Lately’, joins the twitching, twinkling ‘Karloff’ as one of few studio releases available from the band. It shows off their softer side, with George addressing the title character over gorgeous guitars and softly swerving vocals provided by Bug Teeth frontperson PJ, and reasserts Gladboy as one of the most entrancing bands in the Leeds scene right now.
Ahead of the single release, we caught up with the band to chat about the validity of gatekeeping, the endless types of berries they request on their rider, and dinner parties with Björk and Bob Mortimer.
Quick-fire Questions with Gladboy:
1. Describe Gladboy in three words.
Janani: “Playtime, yeehaw, artillery.”
George: “Dangerous and jaded.”
2. What are you reading at the moment?
Sonny: “Currently feeling a bit moored in terms of my reading, flitting between a few different books on my lunch break at work, including Fassbinder: A Thousand Mirrors by Ian Penman, rereading excerpts from Afropean by Johny Pitts, and flicking through the Rough Guide to Provence & Cote d’Azur and Letters from My Windmill by Alphonse Daudet ahead of a sojourn I’m planning to Marseille this coming summer that will hopefully bury in sun-baked sand the bitter-grey winter-pill that lies in waiting ahead. Christmas makes me sicky in my mouthy.”
3. What was the first song you ever learned?
George: “My uncle is a goth that lives in Brighton and makes games for Android phones. He taught me ‘Come as You Are’ by Nirvana.”
4. What’s a classic album you’ve never listened to?
George: “It’s not an album, but I heard ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ for the first time last week, and my partner is convinced I’m lying. Also never ventured into Steely Dan.”
5. What would be your dream festival to play?
George: “Manchester Psych Fest would be a nice time. Or maybe Melton Mowbray Food Festival.”
6. What’s on your rider?
Sonny: “Earl Grey. Peanut punch. Blueberries and raspberries and bananas and satsumas and pears. Walnuts. Ginger shot. Supermalt. Vitamins.”
7. Do you believe in aliens?
Alex: “I find it hard to believe that we’re alone out here. There’s a theory called the Dark Forest hypothesis that suggests intelligent life is out there but stays hidden out of fear of conflict with other planets. Should we discover alien life, it might be in our best interests to do the same, as who knows their intentions if we did make contact. With all the signals we’re sending out to space in search of life, it’s pretty haunting thinking of who might be silently listening.”
8. When are you at your most creative?
Alex: “I tend to get big bursts of creativity at really inconvenient times, usually at 2am when I need to get up early the next morning, so I’m forced into this choice between recording an idea somehow or salvaging a decent night’s sleep. Usually, it’s the latter that triumphs, but I’d still say most of my favourite ideas have come from seizing that late-night inspiration. I dread to think how many ideas have been lost to the void though.”
9. What’s the best album of 2024 so far?
George: “Liam Bailey – Zero Grace.”
10. Who are your dream dinner party guests?
Alex: “Björk, Bob Mortimer and Willem Dafoe.”
George: “Kyle MacLachlan.”
11. Have you ever cried at a gig?
Janani: “My sweet Amma saw me perform for the first time as Janani.fx at the Windmill. We managed to seat her right at the front, surrounded by a few of my closest friends and the rest of the standing audience. It was a privilege to sing with my mother’s hands in mine, and during a song dedicated to my late father and, of course, her late husband, she started to cry. I struggled to hold it together, and soon after, a few people in the audience who had similarly been touched by grief began to weep, too. It was an evening of collective release and healing, and it reminded me of why I do music in the first place. Janani.fx helps me communicate to my ancestors, while Gladboy nurtures and holds space for my inner child. I sometimes wonder what it’d have been like if the Glad-gang had met in kindergarten. I’m sure it wouldn’t be too dissimilar to how giggly and silly we all get while playing together now.”
12. Are the Beatles overrated?
Janani: “I will always have a soft spot for Sgt Pepper’s, but overall, I’d say yes. Uh oh. What do you think?”
13. Where is the best venue in the world?
George: “I think the venue that’s had the most profound effect on some of us would be Wharf Chambers. It re-wired a lot of possibilities for us. We’re indulgent at the best of times, but I’ve never been the same since I watched Sonny do a solo didgeridoo performance at one of Heinous Whiner’s noise nights. Get diddgy with it.”
14. What was the last movie you watched?
Sonny: “The last film I watched [at the time of publish] was King of New York by Abel Ferrara, which featured some pretty tasteful slow-motion gunplay. The last film I watched that I thought was quite good was The Passenger by Michelangelo Antonioni, but I am a bit of a slag for Jack Nicholson, so it’s hardly surprising that this burned itself a bit deeper into my psyche.”
15. What is your most controversial culture opinion?
George: “Let people gatekeep. Also, less cowbell and more guitars.”
