Glassjaw : Fear the jawbreakers

The title of their 1st LP, "Everything you ever wanted to know about silence ", might make you think Glassjaw are quite harmless. Well, you would be wrong because the New York quintet is extremely powerful, as shown by their first European tour, opening for none other than the Deftones. Taken under their spell, Ross Robinson, famous for his exceptional work with so many bands (Slipknot, Machine Head, Sepultura 's " Roots ", Korn, etc, etc...), produced the album. The band managed to reconcile its hard core origins and heavy metal - straight edge tendencies with a certain brand of European indie rock.
We met a very nice Daryl Palumbo, singer of the Long Island combo, before two more months on the road with the " White pony " riders. Knock-out.

- Where does the name Glassjaw come from ?
-Daryl : In fact, my father was a boxer, glassjaw is a boxing term, that's where it comes from. We tried several names before, but they didn't fit, and this one is explicit enough...

-Your first LP, " Everything you ever wanted to know about silence " is out now : do you see it as a kind of exorcism of your previous years ?
-Daryl : Yes I do, that's the whole point of it : we did it as a catharsis of our experiences, and it worked to exorcise all the demons out of me.

-Women are often depicted as demons or bitches in your lyrics : how do you see them ?
-Daryl : Actually I've never said the word demon on the record, or bitch, but I said cunt, whore, but I don't attack women or men in particular, rather persons, men or women, who fuck up your life : have you never been fucked up by anyone ?

-Oh yes, sure ! And what about Godzilla, who walks through this Lp : were you a Godzilla fan ?
-Daryl :Of yes, that's my favorite thing in the world, the best thing in the world which makes me happy : I've got everything from the movies, in every language, on every format, thousands of figurines, hundreds of models. For the movies, the Japanese ones are far better, fuck the American one ! I just came to watch it and found it miserable.

-Ross Robinson as a producer : it happened very quickly ?
-Daryl : Yes, he called me at my house, wanting to meet us, and then saw us and said right away : " that's it, I want to produce you " and that happened, just like that.

-Was it the one you preferred for your record ?
-Daryl : I've never thought about that : we like to do remixes and B sides with many people we know, but for the lp, Ross has done the greatest job possible, and of course he will produce the next album.

-You come from the New York hard core scene but you seem much appreciated by the metal audience : how do you feel about it ?
-Daryl : In fact, we've never been a hardcore band, but we've grown up doing harcore shows, so we've never been perceived by any one type of crowd anyway, we always tried to make intimate music for people to relate to what I'm saying.

-It appears you're a great Morrissey / Elvis Costello fan : what influence does it have on your lyrics ?
-Daryl : Yes a very very very big fan of Morrissey, Elvis Costello, Depeche mode, Cure, and they influence everything : it's as if those people were writing about things that happened to me, like Squeeze too, and Tori Amos and Robert Smith, Steven Marcy...

-I've read that you're suffering from something called Crohn disease : what importance does it have on your compositions and your way to write and sing ?
-Daryl : It makes me insane, it makes me intense, it is why I sound the way I sound : it is me, it changed my life and it makes me look at every second of my life and it just makes me me : miserable sometimes, sad, suicidal some days, that sickness and the relationship that I'm in.

-Do you feel close to straight edge bands ?
-Daryl : Yes, I like straight edge bands, I'm straight edge and I'll be for the rest of my life. I love people singing about it. I don't sing about it that much, maybe in some lyrics where you can find references to straight edge, but I'm not preaching at all. I like when bands are sincere about it, I hear it !

-How is it to tour with the Deftones ?
-Daryl : Simply amazing ! Yesterday in Paris was the last date of our tour in Europe, and tomorrow we 're leaving for a two months US tour with them.

-It's your first European tour : how was it with European audiences ?
-Daryl : Great, amazing ! It was our first real tour ever ; kids loved it, and it was great to see thousands of kids every night jumping everywhere.

-As a young band, what are your wishes and ambitions for the future ?
-Daryl : To be happy. I want nothing more than to keep doing my music and being happy. Making music makes me happy. That might seem selfish, but I don't give a shit, I just want to be happy ! ! !

(Interview mode in Paris on the 12th June 2000 by JP COILLARD and Mister X)
(Photos : JP COILLARD)

Back to table of contents