A long time ago, we asked for questions to pose to Daryl Palumbo, singer of Long Island progressive hardcore group Glassjaw. He finally got around to answering them, and, if you take away nothing else from the interview, you will take away this - THE MAN LIKES TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS. Click READ MORE to see all the in-your-face Glassjaw madness.
Please say who you are and what you do.
MY NAME IS DARYL PALUMBO, AND I AM THE VOCALIST FOR THE BAND GLASSJAW FROM
LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK.
You're currently on tour with American Nothing, the Blood Brothers, and
Christiansen. How are the shows going so far? What city has been the
best? The worst?
WELL, THAT TOUR HAS BEEN OVER FOR QUITE A WHILE, BUT NONETHELESS, IT COULD
POSIBLY HAVE BEEN THE MOST FUN I HAVE HAVE HAD ON THE ROAD. THE TOUR WAS
LONG, SO WE ALL GOT A CHANCE TO KNOW EACHOTHER AND BECOME FRIENDS. I HAD
SAID THIS ON STAGE EVERY NIGHT, BUT IT'S NOT OFTEN THAT YOU GET TO BE A
PRAT OF A TRAVELING ROADSHOW OF SORTS IN WHICH YOU ARE A FAN OF ALL THE
BAND'S MUSIC AS WELL AS A HUGE FAN OF ALL OF THEM AS PEOPLE.
With that many bands on tour, you have to have some good tour
stories. Please share - bonus points for nudity.
I HONESTLY DON'T HAVE MANY TOUR STORIES. I AM RATHER CALM ON THE ROAD, AS
ARE THE REST OF MY BAND MATES. AS FOR NUDITY, THAT SHIT DEFINITLY DOESN'T
HAPPEN. BESIDES, IT'S RATHER SILLY IF YOU ASK ME.
What are some of your favorite songs to perform live and why?
I GUESS THE TUNES THAT HAVE STAYED FRESH TO ME AS FAR AS RECREATING THEM
LIVE EVERYNIGHT WOULD PROBABLY PRETTY LUSH, APE DOS MIL AND CONVECTUOSO.
THOSE ARE THREE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS THAT WE HAVE CREATED IN THE LAST TEN
YEARS, AND THE MEANINGS BEHIND THOSE NUMBERS ARE SO STRONG, THAT THEY KEEP
THEIR NEW CAR SMELL, EVEN AFTER BEING PLAYED EVERYNIGHT.
Since most of your lyrics are pretty personal and emotional do you find
performing them live to be somewhat of a drain or do you think about what
you wrote to just get out your feelings and perform better?
IT'S A LITTLE OF BOTH. SOME NIGHT I WILL ACTUALLY FEEL A LITTLE BIUT TIRED,
AND I'LL DREAD STARTING CERTAIN SONGS IMPARTICULAR DUE TO HOW EMOTIONALLY
AND PHYSICALLY DRAINING THEY ARE. BY ABOUT 10 SECONDS INTO THEM THOUGH, I
SNAP OUT OF IT AND THE HIGH HITS.
It's becoming fairly common knowledge that you have Chrons Disease - have
you ever thought about doing a benefit show for Chrons? What about a tour
with other bands who are affected by the same condition? I know the singer
of the Gadjits has Chrons as well.
I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY A BENEFIT FOR THE CHRON'S AND COLITIS FOUNDATION, BUT
IT HASN'T BEEN PROPOSED TO ME, AND I HAVE NEVER REALLY SAT DOWN AND WORKED
OUT SETTING UP ONE DUE TO MY SCHEDUELE. AS FOR A TOUR WITH OTHER BANDS THAT
HAVE MEMBERS WITH CHRON'S…IT JUST SEEMS SLIGHTLY FUTILE UNLESS IT WAS A
BENEFIT TOUR, AND I IMAGINE THAT WON'T BE HAPPENING ANY TIME SOON.
Why do you go down a more melodic route on your new album compared to
Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Silence?
I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT WHEN I WAS WRITING FOR THIS NEW RECORD. WHATEVER
CAME OUT, CAME OUT. IT'S MERELY A DYNAMIC BETWEEN RECORDS. THE INTENTION AND
FEEL IS MOST DEFINITLY STILL THERE, THOUGH IT MAY JUST BE CONVEYED SLIGHTLY
DIFFERENTLY.
What are your touring plans after this tour? Anything in the works with
the Movielife? Rumor has it there's some sort of Glassjaw-Movielife
connection…
WE WILL BE STARTING THE SNO CORE TOUR NEXT WEEK WITH SPARTA AND HOT WATER
MUSIC. THAT WILL LAST FOR ABOUT 6 WEEKS AND THEN WE WILL BE EMBARKING ON A
EUROPEAN TOUR FOR 3 WEEKS TO MAKE UP FOR ALL THE DATES THAT HAD TO BE
CANCELLED BOTH TIMES I FELL ILL WHILE OVERSEAS.
WE DON'T CURRENTLY HAVE ANY PLANS TO TOUR WITH THE MOVIELIFE AS OF RIGHT
NOW, BUT WE HAVE EXTENSIVELY IN THE PAST. THERE IS DEFINTLY A HUGE
CONNECTION THERE. VINNIE THE SINGER, IS MY BEST FRIEND AND HAS BEEN SINCE WE
WERE YOUNG. HE'S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THE WORLD TO ME AND WHERE ONE
OF US GOES, THE OTHER IS NOT FAR BEHIND. THEY ARE ON TOUR RIGHT NOW WITH
FINCH AND THE USED. PEEP THEMOVIELIFE.COM FOR TOUR DATES AND INFO.
Will there be a Finch/Glassjaw tour in the near future? You seem to have
taken a liking to that band, too.
THEY WILL BE ON SOME WARPED TOUR DATES WITH US, BUT THERE ARE NO FURTHUR
TOURING PLANS WITH THEM EITHER AS OF RIGHT NOW.
What are the top 5 CDs receiving the most play from you right now?
MASSIVE ATTACK "100TH WINDOW"
KEITH MURRAY "IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING"
MAJOR FORCE WEST "THE ORIGINAL ARTFORM"
ERICK SERMON "REACT"
THE MOVIELIFE "40 HOUR TRAIN BACK TO PENN"
Which did you like better - Warped Tour or Ozzfest? Who were the best
bands on each tour? The worst?
WARPED TOUR WAS MORE FUN, BUT WE HAD RECIEVED A BETTER REACTION FROM THE
AUDIENCES ON THE OZZFEST. I WASN'T REALLY A FAN OF 99.9 PERCENT OF THE BANDS
ON EITHER TOURS.
How did you relate to the bombast of both tours, compared to the band's
usual club setting?
HEAT GETS TO BE ANNOYING AND THE DUST STICKING TO YOUR SWEATY BODY WHILE
OVERHEATING GETS TO BE QUITE ANNOYING AS WELL.
CLUBS CAN BE QUITE AN UPHILL BATTLE AS WELL, SO JOIN A BAND AND
MAKE THE CALL.
Here's a user submission: "why do you suck so much? and why are you damn
overrated?" Any comments?
TO EACH HIS OWN. ODDS ARE IF THAT CAT HAD A BAND, IT WOULD EITHER BE
POP-PUNK OR M2 JOKER METAL, AND ODDS ARE HE WOULD BE OVERRATED. AREN'T ALL
OF HIS FAVORITE BANDS M2 MEDIA DARLINGS THAT ARE OVERRATED? ODDS ARE THEY
ARE.
Here's another: "What's your favorite anime? Can you explain the true
meaning behind Neon Genesis Evangelion?"
MY FAVORITE FULL LENGTH ANIME OF ALL TIME WOULD BE GOLGO 13: THE
PROFESSIONAL. AS FOR NEON, I OWN THEM, THOUGH HAVE NOT WATCHED THEM YET.
And another: "Do you know how much of a badass you are?"
NOPE.
And here's the last user submission: "How in the world did you come up with
that incredible vocal melody for Ape Dos Mil. That is fucking insane. Also,
how do you get rid of an annoying kid that keeps pretending to be you?"
THE MELODY WAS THERE ALREADY. IT JUST KIND OF PRESENTED ITSELF TO ME WHEN I
WAS WRITING THE GUITAR LINE. THANK YOU THOUGH, FOR THE COMPLIMENT, THAT WAS
CUTE.
I DON'T USUALLY SEE TOO MANY KIDS TRYING TO BE ME. IF THEY'RE
DOING IT, THEY NEED A LITTLE MORE WORK, BECAUSE I CAN'T EVEN PICK THEM OUT.
THE PROBLEM IS MORE WITH THE PEOPLE THAT I'M TRYING TO BE.
What are your thoughts on the band's sudden burst of success? Have you
acheived everything you want to with this band? IF not, what is your
ultimate goal with the band?
WELL, THOUGH WE ARE DOING WELL RIGHT NOW, I WOULDN'T NECESSARILY CALL US
SUCCESSFUL. CCOMPARING US TO WHAT WE STARTED FROM, WE HAVE EXHIBITED
SUCCESS, BUT I WOULDNT DEEM US "SUCCESSFUL" YET.
I HAVE DEFINITLY NOT ACHIEVED EVERYTHING I WANT WITH THIS BAND. WE HAVE
HOWEVER, ACHIEVED WAY MORE THAN I THOUGHT WE COULD HAVE YEARS AGO, BUT NOT
QUITE AS MUCH AS I WANT TO.
MY ULTIMATE GOAL BOTH IN LIFE, AND MUSICALLY (NOT JUST WITH GLASSJAW) IS TO
HAVE A LONG CAREER PLAYING MUSIC AND BE PRESENTED WITH THE OUTLET TO CREATE
FOR THE GREATER PART OF MY LIFE.
If you could prevent one death, would it be Kurt Cobain's or John Lennon's,
and why?
JOHN LENNON IS THE GREATEST MUSICAL AND SPIRITUAL MIND OF OUR TIME. BOTTOM
LINE, THOUGH IT DOESN'T MEAN HE DESERVES TO LIVE LONGER THAN KURT COBAIN.
Don't you hate pants?
NOPE.
Okay, go crazy. Write whatever you want here.
GLASSJAW.COM THEMOVIELIFE.COM HIGHNOON CLOTHING NEW YORK.
Thanks for answering!
THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME. GODBLESS, AND STAY WARM.