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Glass Animals perform in The Current studio

Glass Animals perform in The Current studio
Glass Animals perform in The Current studioMPR photo/Nate Ryan
  Play Now [4:06]

by Mark Wheat

September 09, 2014

Glass Animals, 'Hazey', performed at The Current
by MPR
Glass Animals, 'Black Mambo', performed at The Current
by MPR
Glass Animals perform in The Current studio - full session + interview
by MPR

Back in 2010, Glass Animals put their songs on MySpace (remember MySpace?), resulting in a bunch of emails and positive feedback on the music. "It freaked us out," recalls Joe Seaward, "So we took everything offline and decided to finish university."

After graduation, Glass Animals put their songs back online and things went from there. "We started making music, noise came out and we put it on a record," says front man and guitarist Dave Bayley.

Now on their second visit to the Twin Cities after a previous well-received gig at the 7th Street Entry, Oxford-based Glass Animals — comprising Seaward, Bayley, Edmund Irwin-Singer and Drew MacFarlane — are in town to play at the Cedar Cultural Center. Before the show, they stopped at The Current to play some tunes off their album, Zaba, and to talk to Mark Wheat.

According to Bayley, Glass Animals' album title is inspired by the book The Zabajaba Jungle by William Steig (whose other works include the book Shrek!). The Zabajaba Jungle is set in a tropical land — making it an appropriate title for the album, given that a reviewer on Okayplayer describes the music on Zaba as "poppy jungle funk."

Listen to the complete interview as the members Glass Animal describe what it's like being a band in the global melting-pot of Oxford and how their current U.S. tour is going so far — including details on a surprising cover they recently performed in St. Louis.

Songs Performed


"Gooey"
"Hazey"
"Black Mambo"
All songs off Glass Animals' 2014 release, Zaba, out now on Harvest Records.

Hosted by Mark Wheat
Produced by Lindsay Kimball
Engineered by Michael DeMark
Web feature by Luke Taylor