Homemade record will be online-only
A near-dark theatre in Kamloops provided the setting for recording Glynn’s latest album
As befits these times, Adrian Glynn recorded his latest album in an empty theatre. The Vancouver actor and musician was set to appear in a March run of Chelsea Hotel: The Songs of Leonard Cohen at Kamloops’ Western Canada Theatre when the pandemic put the kibosh on those plans.
Nevertheless, Glynn — who is also a member of local band The Fugitives — took the opportunity to make Ghostlight Sessions at the theatre, recording both old and new songs in a solo acoustic-guitar-and-vocals format. We talked to Glynn about the project, his Leo-nominated starring role in the Vancouver-shot indie film Volition (scheduled for VOD release on July 10), and the next Fugitives album.
Q You recorded this new release while in Kamloops for another gig. Did you have the songs with you? What form were they in?
A I always have old voice memos of songs. Sometimes I’ll have rudimentary demos. I think the oldest song, Driftwood Love, is probably almost 10 years old. It just never fit on a different record. It just didn’t fit the vibe. A few of them are kind of old like that. Some were more recent. All the ones that I chose were ones that held up just being played on an acoustic guitar. Q One of the songs, It Might Just Rain Like This for Days, has a Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen sound.
A That’s one of my favourite records of all time. About a year ago I got a Tascam recorder, which is what Nebraska was made on. I wanted to start doing some recordings just on tape. That was the first song I tried recording. It’s difficult though. I like the idea of tape forcing you to do one take. What’s hard is all the uncontrollable noises and pops. I have kind of given up on that since.
Q You’re the lead character, a clairvoyant, in the new science fiction movie Volition. How did that come about?
A I’ve known Tony (Dean Smith, director and co-screenwriter) since high school. He made a video for a song called Seven or Eight Days (from Glynn’s 2011 debut full-length Bruise) which is similar in a way to the movie. I’m in the video and the character I’m playing has the exact same look that James has in the movie. So it was a pretty natural progression.
Q Obviously you can’t tour for Ghostlight Sessions. What are your promotional plans?
A This album was always just supposed to be a homemade record, a soft-release sort of a thing. So I’m not printing it. I decided to just do a Bandcamp release, on one of the days when it doesn’t take fees. This is what I was thinking two months ago when money was super-tight for all of us artists. Now things have changed a bit and Bandcamp is doing a day (Friday) where they donate their fees to the NAACP, so I figured that would be a good day to release it.
Q With Ghostlight Sessions, have you run out of old songs? A There’s always old stuff kicking around, either in the journal or the voice memos. But I will have to get back to writing. I’m actually recording a Fugitives record right now.
Q Will there be any songs on the Fugitives album directly about the pandemic?
A It’s actually World War I-themed. My bandmate Brendan MacLeod was publishing a poem every day about COVID-19 so I think he’s pretty tapped out. (You can read MacLeod’s pandemic poems at writebloodynorth.ca). I want some distance before writing about it.