Glass Hammer

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“Coming to Europe would be a dream come true for us”

Interview by Christoph in july 2005 pics by permission of Glass Hammer (website)

I have a new favourite Glass Hammer song and it’s called “Having Caught A Glimpse”. Perfectly built as a mini symphony (with variations on a theme), things develop towards a grandiose choral finale. This is music that touches the heart and moves the soul. What more do you want? An interview with the composer, perhaps? And yes, GH icon Steve Babb was more than willing to take his time for Prog-Nose. Because after “Lex Rex” and “Shadowlands”, the band from Tenessee produced another masterpiece, in barely a year. Prog-Nose tried to find out more about “The Inconsolable Secret”.

PN: This record is more than music. It is also literature, art, history. How did it all start? Where does your fascination for “The Lady Of Shallot” come from?

Steve: An ancient myth inspired an Arthurian legend which inspired a poem, which in turn inspired painters, which in turn inspired my poem which then begat this album. The very idea is built upon a history of inspiration spanning hundreds if not thousands of years!

For me, it started with the painting, “The Lady of Shallot” by John W. Waterhouse. We wanted to use it as the cover for “Perelandra” in 1995, but didn’t know how to go about obtaining the rights for it. About a year ago (and by coincidence), a print of the painting ended up on our studio wall. Years before, another painting of the same lady had managed to make it to my dining room wall. But these weren’t the only two. I did a little research and found out who she was and what the story behind the many paintings of “The Lady of Shallot” was.

Tennyson’s poem, “The Lady of Shallot,” sparked the Victorian fascination with this tragic maiden, inspiring many famous pre-Raphaelites to paint scenes from the poem. I will admit, I am more a fan of the art than the poem. But, being a fan of Tolkien’s epic poetry (“The Lays of Beleriand”), and other epic poems written over the centuries, I wanted to try my hand at it. “The Lay of Lirazel” (19,000 words and included on the enhanced disc of our new album in pdf format) is the result of all this inspiration. The Lay tells the story behind the music and the lyrics of our new album, which serves as a soundtrack to the poem.

PN: I myself write poetry from time to time. So I’m curious: how did you write your poem “The Lay Of Lirazel”?

Steve: The opening section came in a very quick burst. Beyond that, I took some time off between the major parts, but mostly I worked around two hours a day for around three months – maybe a little more. There was much rewriting, of course!

For the most part, I knew the story before I sat down to write. A few things actually popped into the tale as I was working on it. For instance, the carved faces of “The High Place”. They just appeared!

There was no real method beyond making myself sit down to do it. Over the years I have read a lot of things in the hope that it would prepare me for ‘doing something big’, but until I actually wrote the Lay, I never knew what the something big would be.

Glass Hammer

PN: Telling fantasy stories in the vein of Tolkien, the King Arthur saga… Is it a boy’s dream?

Steve: My true loves as an adolescent (beyond girls) were high-fantasy and progressive rock. I would say that all of the best influences I experienced around the age of seventeen have come into play in my thirties and forties. Namely, C. S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien to name two literary ones, and ELP and YES to name two musical ones. There are others, of course.

I would love to try my hand at turning The Lay of Lirazel into an actual novel, that is the next dream – and I have begun some rough drafts.

The whole Glass Hammer experience is essentially, a boy-hood dream come true. I realize that I am very fortunate – very blessed. I am one of the few who can ‘have his cake and eat it too!”

PN: As the album’s title is concerned: what is in your personal view the inconsolable secret of life?

Steve: It is the very same secret to which C. S. Lewis referred when he coined the phrase in the following quote: “I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you--- the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Nostalgia and Romanticism and Adolescence...” ( C.S. Lewis, “Transposition and other Addresses” ch. 2 / The Weight of Glory)

There is a desire planted in every heart for something greater, and we feel it tugging at us at certain moments in life. Maybe it is triggered by our response to certain music or a favorite story. But at some point I’m betting that nearly everyone has felt it, and at that moment they may begin to experience some profound thinking. It is obvious to everyone that this planet has problems, something has gone wrong. Dreams are crushed, great plans fail or fall short, lives are ruined, wars are fought, evil runs amok. Some of us begin to yearn for a far-off country, a place we were made for. And some of us catch a glimpse of Heaven. Think on it long enough and it will break your heart with longing.

So, it is all about desire and longing and heartbreak, and the need for a happy ending. It is my belief that those feelings are planted in us by our Creator. I believe that God has communicated his plan for the human race through the Bible, and through the revelations of his apostles. But I also believe the same story and its essential truths are hidden in everything from movies and literature, to art and nature. I’m not the first one to express this notion.

PN: Speaking of inconsolable: Glass Hammer is considered a Christian Prog rock band. In what way is faith consoling for you?

Steve: I always stop anyone who tries to attach the specific marketing label "Christian prog-band”, or “Christian band" to Glass Hammer. Glass Hammer's music is for everyone that likes prog, including Christians - but not exclusively so. The lyrical subject matter of our music covers many areas. To limit our audience to such a small sub-genre would not be in our best interest, and the label just doesn’t apply. However, individual members of Glass Hammer, including myself, profess to be Christians personally. There are Christians at my local bank, but it is not a ‘Christian bank’. Same for our local grocery store. At the local mall, you can purchase a Christian bible at the book store, but it isn’t labeled a ‘Christian mall’ or a ‘Christian book store’.

We insist that we are a symphonic-progressive rock group first and foremost, and that is the label we are happy with. Glass Hammer lyrics cover everything from drunken dwarves to man-eating horses. We are ‘diverse’ in the messages we present! Even with “The Inconsolable Secret”, I have left the central message of the album ‘secret’! Look for it, or skip it entirely. Enjoy lyrics about battling knights and fair maidens, or look for the deeper meaning.

Now, to actually answer your question! Faith in God – faith in Christ - how does it console me? Well, putting my faith in mankind never got me anywhere. Once, I found myself in need of a saviour, and I found him. There is a Creator who has a plan for my life and for each of us. I can rest in the knowledge that He is looking out for me. The ‘secret’ may be inconsolable, but my heart and spirit are very much consoled.

Glass Hammer

PN: I feel a lot of positive emotional energy in your music. How does this happen, you think?

Steve: I think there are some very dark moments in GH music too. But yes, I love a happy ending and I love to resolve music on a positive note. It is a reflection of that faith we were talking about.

Beyond that, I just cannot stand to hear overbearing and oppressive music with consistently evil-sounding lyrics performed by tortured, angst-ridden vocalists. It just comes off as whiny and juvenile to me. I like to be happy and to make people happy. I don’t want to waste Glass Hammer’s music by writing about my ‘darker side’ or the disappointments of my life. Good music should provide an escape – like a good movie. Life is tough enough without having to hear a prog-band remind you of it. Listen to GH and get happy!

PN: How important is YES for the Glass Hammer ‘philosophy’?

Steve: There is no denying that we love them. YES made some of my favourite music. But they didn’t corner the market on music with pipe organs and steel guitars. Just because they did it, doesn’t mean someone else thirty years later can’t try their hand at it. We don’t want to be YES imitators - Roger Dean aside! But they are my favourite prog band of all time!

Other artists (like Bjork for instance) inspire the music I write. Fred (Schendel – CL) and I list a number of inspirations, from music to movies to literature. Even classical composers for film, like Howard Shore play a part in the inspiration for “The Inconsolable Secret”. Critics compare some of “The Inconsolable Secret” to Debussy, other’s to YES and ELP. We know we tend to be very retro historically, but there’s a noticeable shift on this last album to move forward into uncharted territory. Adding the symphony and choir is a big part of that.

PN: In songs like “Run Lisette” and now “Having Caught A Glimpse” I can hear YES resounding. Am I right? Has there been an attempt to a Glass Hammer’s tribute to YES?

Steve: There is no attempt at doing a tribute to YES in our music, the one exception being “Chronometree” which featured nods to several of the great prog bands of the seventies. It’s the pipe organ and the layered vocals that really make us sound like YES and “Awaken”. But keep in mind that some of the influences for early YES, may well be the same influences for us. What you hear in YES and Glass Hammer is ‘high-church’ music performed by a rock group. That’s the common thread - classical, churchy prog. Fred and I were both church musicians at a very early age. He played the pipe organ and I was a church pianist by the age of 9. Now we have tended to reverse our roles and it is probably me that favours the pipe organ and he does most of our piano work. But when church musicians make the transition to rock, they carry their early influences with them (or did so in our case.)

But, we are YES fans. I am not saying that the YES sound isn’t at work in our sub-conscious brains – and it probably creeps into our music more than we realize.

Glass Hammer

PN: Speaking of YES: how did legendary cover artist Roger Dean come across your path?

Steve: Roger, Jon Anderson and Glass Hammer share the same promotions company. We had met a couple of times through the years, but it was the promotions company that put the deal together for us. Roger was a joy to work with, and we are honoured to have his art grace the cover of “The Inconsolable Secret.”

PN: Do you find it annoying: always being compared with YES, or ELP?

Steve: Yes I do! Please stop bringing it up! Okay, I am just kidding – mostly.

No, I don’t really mind too much. Much worse could be said about GH I suppose. Comparing us to our favourite groups is really kind of a compliment. If you really listen to YES and ELP, then listen to GH for comparison, you will probably find that we aren’t all that similar. We are a keyboard fronted group (unlike YES but very much like ELP). We have a group of strong female vocalists and neither of those groups did. We do concept albums and I’m not so sure either of them did. If they did, I can’t tell by their lyrics.

I think Glass Hammer stands on its own, and I think we have a unique sound that is all our own. Do YES fans like GH? Yes. Do ELP fans? I imagine so. Are there comparisons? Certainly. But we are not a tribute band and we have no intention of ever being one.

PN: You and Fred Schendel are an inseparable prog duo. How do you guys divide the creative work? Who does what?

Steve: We both write music on keyboards. Sometimes I write a piece using bass to get me started – like “Run Lisette”. Fred often picks up an acoustic guitar to start with as on “So Close, So Far”. Sometimes I take on the task of writing all of the lyrics as on “The Inconsolable Secret” and “Lex Rex”. Other albums feature both of us writing lyrics; “Shadowlands” for instance. Regardless of who does what, we divide our song writing credits 50/50.

We both get involved in mixing and mastering. I usually schedule all of the sessions with the other musicians. Fred usually masterminds the drums, and in the case of “The Inconsolable Secret”, he did all the mic’ing for the drums and coordinated all of the parts with Matt Mendians. I normally take charge of the album’s storyline or concept, and I also run the record label with a lot of help from my wife and our promotions team. Glass Hammer is a full-time job for me.

Glass Hammer

PN: The Adonia String Trio was introduced on “Shadowlands”. This time we get a full-blown orchestra and choir. Was that premeditated ambition or did it just come along in the course of creation?

Steve: We thought about doing this as early as December of 2003. I remember talking it over with our string players while GH was travelling to do a show in Toronto.

Fred and I have recorded several orchestra sessions over the last year or two, for projects beyond Glass Hammer. Since we have a recording studio we thought it would be a waste not to use it to its fullest. We wanted parts of this album to have a huge sound, saw that we were capable of recording an orchestra and choir, knew that we had enough know-how to score the parts, and could find no good reason not to dive in to a full orchestra sound for GH.

We are very pleased with the outcome, and I imagine we will do it again in the future.

PN: Is the American market still very difficult for prog?

Steve: Some would say so. But it is probably more difficult to be a modestly successful pop group in America than it is to be an incredibly successful prog band like Glass Hammer. There are thousands of competing pop, rock and rap groups in America. Everyone wants to be a rock star! Very few attempt to be well-known for prog.

Now if you’re a prog band beating on the doors of the big record companies, or trying to get a gig and a supportive audience at the local night-club – you are probably wasting your time. But it’s still no harder than it is for the pop or rock groups. Being in a band is hard, no matter the genre.

Glass Hammer never wasted its time trying to impress the locals, and we very rarely perform in public. When we do, we perform high-profile shows like NEARfest, ProgScape (long ago) and Progday. Our next show is in a two-thousand seat hall in Nashville. Glass Hammer never spent time attempting to be successful by the standards of others. We don’t want a record deal, we don’t want a club gig, and we don’t wish to force prog on the masses. If a talented American prog group can prioritize, record a well-produced album, get the word out (in other words –work hard!) they can be as successful as any of the others. Geography doesn’t matter in a world with the internet.

PN: The European fans are enjoying the “Lex Live” concert DVD too. So, the inevitable question: will Glass Hammer ever embark on a European tour?

Steve: If it can be done without going broke – we will do it! At least in a limited fashion. We are discussing some shows in the UK, Belgium and The Netherlands. I imagine we might do something in Germany as well. But remember, I said we are discussing it. Nothing is definite yet.

Coming to Europe would be a dream come true for us. We really want to, and I hope it all works out.

Glass Hammer

PN: I am wondering: where does the name Glass Hammer actually come from?

Steve: When we were looking for a name for our project many years ago, I came across the name Glass Hammer in a book that featured mini-reviews of several hundred science fiction novels. It seemed like a great place to find a name. When I saw “Glass Hammer”, I mentioned it to Fred.

“Fred, how about Glass Hammer”, I asked. “Sure, why not,” Fred replied.

It was that easy. And now that we look back on the name, we see it as an accurate description of who we are. Consider the female / male qualities of our group, consider that we do both beautiful ballads along side organ-drenched, hard-prog tracks, consider that we represent both the delicate and the powerful with our music, and you have a musical glass hammer. Of course, there is a certain ridiculousness about the very idea of a glass hammer, and admittedly there has always been a certain amount of ridiculousness associated with our band – from within and without!

PN: Did you know that in 1977 an Israeli symphonic band called Atmosphera released an album called “The Lady Of Shallot”, using lyrics by Shakespeare and Tennyson? I haven’t heard the album, but you can check it out at www.progarchives.com and I know you can order the CD at Greg Walker’s website.

Steve: I haven’t heard of it, but it isn’t the only music inspired by Tennyson’s poem. People are telling me now and then of other artists who have done music inspired by “The Lady of Shallot”.

PN: Pink Floyd and Rick Wakeman were also known for working with orchestra and choir. They even did side steps towards ballet, theatre, film. Considering your cultural interests, is this a possible path you or the band will be considering for the near future?

Steve: How about “Lex Rex – On Ice”? (joking)

No, I don’t think we’ll take Glass Hammer into any other area than progressive rock. I know that Fred and I would love to score for film, and we might even try our hand at a full-blown symphony or opera one day. We would do that as composers, not Glass Hammer. Glass Hammer is a prog band, and there is only so much patience that one should expect from one’s fans!

PN: With which prog legend would you like to work together, some day?

Steve: Well, we might entice Jon Anderson to sing with us one day. That would really get those YES comparisons going again! Both Jon and Annie Haslam have expressed a willingness to work with us, but it would all depend on the project and their availability. Andy Latimer from Camel also comes to mind. He told me once that he’d be into trying something with us, but once again – it all comes down to timing and the appropriateness of the material.

PN: Which music albums are you listening to at the moment?

Steve: Running a studio means I spend a great deal of time listening to rough mixes from projects we’re working on. It doesn’t leave time for much musical enjoyment. But in my car CD player today you’d find “The Return of the King” soundtrack by Howard Shore.

This last year my iTunes purchases are pretty odd. I’ve downloaded everything from Judas Priest to Goldfrapp; from Danny Elfman to The Medieval Baebes. I even downloaded a lot of old 80’s pop tracks that I used to hate. Call it nostalgia.

PN: Which book are you reading now?

Steve: I am reading “Phantastes” by George MacDonald and “The Mythago Wood” by Robert Holdstock. I also recently discovered an author who is nearly out of print named George Shipway. He wrote a ton of historical fiction in the seventies, mostly about knights or ancient Greece, but also on other military topics. I am a big fan of military / historical fiction, and am continually looking for the latest novels by guys like Bernard Cornwell or Michael Curtis Ford.

PN: Steve, thank you so much for your time!

Glass Hammer: The Inconsolable Secret (Arion Records, 2005)


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