Glen Strachan is a raging belljester, currently working on long-term project The Love Rivals, 36 character portraits celebrating the individual.

24/05/17 I've been asked a load of "What next?" type questions over the past couple months, with regard to what I want from my life as a musician or artist. I say I'm just trying to make something of worth; something good, and the response is usually "So are you just making music for yourself then?". I mean, it's a complex thing right, art, and it doesn't help that the vast majority of work being promoted in that field is primarily focussed on style & hype. Perhaps I avoid these angles so as not to get mixed up in that psuedo-success of a mess. I believe that a true piece of art shouldn't be directed at anyone, or made for anybody, the artist included. I like to think my music represents true outsiders, for example, as those are the feelings that drive me to create, but I don't consciously make music that I believe weirdos want to hear. It's one reason I disbelieve in the purity of Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness; once I could see the angle aiming it at 15 year olds, I perceived the spy behind the visor. Gish is far superior. "I don't give - I unveil." 16/05/17 The rehearsals & experimentation definitely paid off at the Berlin show the other day, I feel ready to play a solo electric set anywhere now, with simply a pure amp & mic set-up or any combination of the very many pedals I've accumulated in search of this new soooound. I think the tweeters on the PA at Schiller's are completely blown, so it may not have sounded quite so spectacular, but I played well enough, can't do more than that! Since booking this trip, it's the next stop in Budapest that has stood as the biggest step forward, and I've been busy decluttering in preparation. Up at 8am in Berlin, I've not sacrificed my hard-earned health or vastly improved singing voice for the sake of a night of rusty revels. Praise the dawning. 11/05/17 Paris was a lot of fun, but when my set started there were only two people in the room! I had only prepared half-hour set, but found out too late that in typical Paris style they expect you to play for an hour, so after I'd already played my best songs a ton of people came into the venue & I was left with some far from perfect material to perform :p All big steps for me though, these, and was great hanging out with Laura Anti before & after the show. That's the first time I've ever enjoyed being in Paris, despite 2 Mojotos costing FIFTY EURO at a bar that's clearly not for the likes of me, as I learned too late. In Berlin now, slipping comfortably back into my daily rehearsal schedule at Noisy rooms. Still a lot of work to do. 08/05/17 Came all the way to London only to meet someone cool from Athens, ain't that always the way. My live set is changing with every show, going very punky, minimal electric at the moment. Weird to be rehearsing so much every day & still some distance from where I wanna be, but can only mean there's some magic in the works. Playing Pop In in Paris tomorrow with a fab lass called Laura Anti, also starting to get obsessed with visiting unfamiliar rehearsal spaces in different cities, can't wait for that either! 07/05/17 Wow everything has been so hectic, but in a cleansing rather than congested way. Been tearing about London, sorting various remnants of unfinished business & decluttering my increasingly buoyant spirits. Final show in London tonight at the re-opened Gladstone Arms in Borough, William Nein is also playing, 7pm kickoff. 03/05/17 Cheers to anyone who tuned into Hayes FM last night, I played Anna Yu Takes Her Casio to the Park first, and it felt great to have such a positive response from the new material. Had planned to perform with a lot of gadgetry (what a word!) but the mood was a pure one & solo acoustic suited, it seems, so I stuck to older tunes for the rest of the show. New stuff henceforth, however. Dove into town with And. after that to catch Honey Lung at the Camden Assembly, they've really upped their game since I saw them last, amazing performance. Can't think of a band more likely to land a huge record deal & become overnight superstars in this difficult musical climate. It feels like so long since I was here that I hardly expected people to remember me at all, so was very touched when Jamie & I bounded into each other after the show & he sang the opening lines to Don't Rush Me to me. Was amazing to see Dan Tun also, so much talent in London, I do miss it here. Ran into Marcin at Joe's Bar after all that. Holy lord almighty. 18/04/17 Why hello there my little dumpling, things are looking up in general but it looks like I ain't gonna get 6 Love Rivals finished in time for my upcoming shows, but I'm happy merely being confident with what I'm presenting, I really believe people are gonna get it this time. Since it'll (still) be a while before I get to release anything, here's a track from 6LR showing the direction things are taking.. you can probably tell I've listened to a lot of Magnetic Fields recently! 11/04/17 I'm really excited about Athens, been there this past week or so rehearsing at Urban Studios in Psirri & scoping out the scene, see my Instagram page for some of that flavour. Experimenting with ways of layering harmonies or textures as a solo musician, but still haven't decided 100% on an electric set. Either way there will be lots of sound, so I'll escape that singer/songwriter tag for some time more yet! Athens is truly bonkers, there are riot police on the streets 24/7 and cars driving by throwing molotov cocktails at them is not an irregular occurrence, I saw some unruly realities. I've found & retained access to a place to stay for free on a notorious street where people openly inject heroin on the benches in broad daylight, but somehow it remains safe for such as you & I my love. Will move closer to Exarcheia in June but plenty to be getting on with before then. Previous to that, I found an abandoned hostel on the Turkish border in Nicosia, and lived there for a week.. I cleaned up, decorated a little and even found a box of keys in a cupboard downstairs (experience living in Ad Hoc property protection locations in London prepared me for this!) and so 'my' room is all securely locked up and ready for me to return any time.. I have some visitors this week and will offer them their own room there if it's still accessible. The whole vibe of Cyprus has completely changed since 'the season' started on April 1st. Bars & hangouts I never new existed before have sprung up all over the island, and the sleepy staff & locals have become energised & enthusiastic in response to the huge influx of holiday makers and those who only Spring & Summer here, hard to believe this is the same place that plunged me into despair last November. 31/03/17 Alright! Been a right strange ole' time, which might come as no surprise, but I'm back here to tell y'all about a little solo tour I got coming up in May. Many dates are still TBC, and I'll be playing some open mics along the way (join me & play some tuuunes), but I'll fill in the blanks nearer the time. Here's where we're at - MAY Tue 2nd - Live on Hayes FM (streamed globally from hayesfm.org.uk) Thu 4th - Parlour Party Open Mic at Trinity Bar, Harrow Sat 6th - Alan Franks album release party at Oddfellows Hall, Richmond Sun 7th - The Gladstone, Borough, London Tue 9th - Le Pop In, Paris Thu 11th - Venue TBC, Montpellier Sat 13th - Schillers, Berlin Sun 14th - Open Michael J. Fox, Berlin TBC - Prague TBC - Budapest TBC - Belgrade TBC - Athens Oh yeah here's a demo from the work in progress Cruises To The Holy Land record: 07/03/17 Gonna be a while before I can get any new music out so here's some stuff from before that's pretty ok: Previous