A Chat with Glass Lux
In anticipation of their show at Thalia Hall, I chatted with Emily Morse, half of the Chicago based Italo-Disco/Electronic duo, Glass Lux. I got the scoop on her favorite Chicago hangouts, her thoughts on the Chicago music scene and what inspires the Glass Lux sound. On the Glass Lux sound: Alfonso sold me on Italo-Disco, he puts the beat and synth on everything and the lyrics and melody are more me. I grew up listening to the radio in the 90s like Spice Girls and classic rock like Heart, Tesla and Led Zeppelin. I’ve always been really fixated on what makes a song catchy and popular and hone into that, I like to make the song somewhat epic. Alfonso brings in the special and unique beat and sound, very new wave. He brings in all of that 80s sound, which I totally love because of him.
On her favorite Glass Lux shows: At SXSW we opened for Mos Def, which was a very crazy experience. I felt like “Woah! We are really opening for this guy”. We also played a show with this band College who has an awesome song on the Drive soundtrack called “A Real Hero”. It’s so ridiculously catchy, and I was in the crowd for that one!
On the Chicago music scene: There are so many awesome Chicago bands, there is an underground thing going on, lots of up and coming stuff and people are just popping up. Its good because I felt the music scene was struggling or becoming a very DJ centered scene but I think its rad that things are becoming so diverse. Now you see new genres like alternative rap, I have a friend named Clinton known by showyousuck and he goes under that genre, its super awesome.
On where she likes to hang out: Danny’s in Wicker Park, they have a lot of italo-disco, new wave, and underground music. You can also never go wrong with the regular spots like Big Star.
On where she might be after her show at Thalia Hall: In Pilsen, I like hanging at Punchhouse and Maria’s. Nothing secret about those places, but everybody loves them!
On her other passion: If I weren’t doing music at all, I would own a vintage store or be styling somebody. I am very into fashion and vintage finds. I would need to be doing something creative and that’s the only thing I can see myself doing as a second option. I am really into any thrift store, I’m talking the Salvation Army or Good Will, not the ones where someone owns the store and brings things in after shopping at Salvation Army. I like it when you can be creative; no one is shopping for you. You have to go through everything and find the good pieces; you have to put in the work.
On what’s next for Glass Lux: Short term we have been in and out of Chicago Recording Company doing some demos and getting creative with the engineers there. Getting everything ready for the colder months when we do our recording, we like to play shows in the summer. Right now we are doing a mix of both, we have been lucky to get to play some really good shows and also be recording in the studio. Hopefully in the future we want to get onto a national tour opening for someone awesome like The Knife or Ladyhawke, someone electronic and someone we admire. Way down the line we would love to hop around Europe and play shows there, we feel like that would be a great audience for us.
Catch Glass Lux opening for Generationals at Thalia Hall October 30th. You can grab tickets here.