In our latest Band Spotlight, we chat to Ned Russin (also of Title Fight) about his new music as Glitterer, and personal inspirations.
S] How does ‘Destiny’ and your new material challenge you in new ways as an artist?
I don’t think I look to new material to challenge me necessarily, like these songs are a problem I have to solve or some situation I have to conquer. I’m trying new things – new instruments, shorter songs, somewhat different approach to writing – but it’s not something I purposefully do to create adversity for myself.
S] How do you feel about your earlier work like ‘Not Glitterer’ now?
I’m still fond of it. It’s not really old yet and I don’t know if I’ve had enough space form it yet, but I think it’s a good batch of songs. It’s where I felt like I started to understand the songs and the band. I was more comfortable with recording too which I think led to a better sounding record.
S] How, aside from it being a band, is the creative process different for you from Title Fight?
Doing Glitterer has been challenging because the creative process has changed pretty substantially. I no longer have a bunch of people to bounce ideas off of, which is honestly my preferred way to work. I like collaboration and group work. But this project started this way, being just me, out of necessity and I’ve had to learn how to just keep working on stuff on my own which has been a good thing.
S] What advice would you give to emerging artists on how to build their profile as you have been able to do?
Something that I think about a lot is the way the landscape has changed since I’ve been involved music. There are a lot of things now that seem like they are important, mainly being an active and constant, conscious user of social media, that I don’t find much importance in. Those are outlets that are not looking to support people, they are looking to support their own business. So with that said, I don’t think it’s an evil to have those things – I have and use social media for Glitterer – but it’s not something to rely on. The most important thing is writing music you care about and taking it to people as much as you can.
S] How are you looking forward to the UK dates?
I’m really excited for these shows. Stages in Faith is a really cool band that I’m excited to get to play and more than anything I’m just happy to be able to get the opportunity to play shows. The UK has always been a place I’ve enjoyed playing and it’s nice to have the opportunity to be going back.
S] How do you define success?
That’s a really simple but difficult question. The most obvious reaction I feel is that success is some binary between accomplishment or failure, rewarded by money or personal satisfaction or what have you. It’s easy to say that success is just being happy but I think thats an over simplification, too. I think that’s an incredibly hard goal. For me personally, I think success is when you avoid such binaries and are able to do something regardless. You can fail and still be a success, that’s always important to remember.
