DIY, January blues and global devastation: Glass Caves in conversation

Image: Glass Caves

There’s not a shadow of a doubt the first month of 2017 will go down in history as a real game changer. For better, or worse. 

For Skiddle, though, it will forever be remembered as the time we had a chat with Matt Hallas. Vocalist in one of the north’s hardest working rock outfits, he and comrades in sound Elliot Fletcher, Connor Thorpe, and Will Groves are as dedicated to their cause as they are to keeping their feet firmly on the ground. 

A day after we catch the Glass Caves lead singer on the phone he’s off to throw himself into the freezing cold sea off the coast of Yorkshire. All in the name of making a decent video for forthcoming single, 'Swim' (not just a clever name, then), it’s a case in point. 

Three years ago, or thereabouts, when BBC radio jocks Huw Stephens and Sara Cox were discovering the track 'I Knew it' on air, this troupe could be found on the streets of cities like York and Leeds, busking to get themselves out there, whilst bringing in vital readies to self-fund recordings, PR campaigns and less important things, like food and rent. 

Skip back forward to the here and now and in many ways little has changed. You’ll still catch the four piece playing live, for free, on high streets across the region. Their ever-growing fan base remains home brewed, their tones unadulterated by label and management intervention. Honest as the day is young, perhaps even more so if you consider the days in which we now live, this combination of straight talk and natural talent is about to hit the road again in February, calling at

Honest as the day is young, perhaps even more so if you consider the days in which we now live, this combination of straight talk and natural talent is about to hit the road again in February, calling at  Lending Room at The Library in Leeds (18th), and legendary York haunt Fibbers (18th March). 

Hi Matt, how are you today? 

All good, just doing a bit of writing and now taking a little break to chat with you guys. 

How are the January blues? 

Bluesy, to be honest. Not a penny to my name but that’s January for you.

Sounds painfully familiar. Poverty aside what’s been happening this month? 

Well we took Christmas off, but recently it’s been all about writing really. Just trying to sculpt a second album, smash some killer singles and what not.

How far down the line is that? It has been a couple of years since your debut, Alive. 

I’m not sure on the plan at the moment really. Without proper backing you’re struggling to get your stuff spread far enough really. The plan at the moment is to release a couple of singles and then get someone on board. But we’ll see how that goes.

You made a name for yourselves through busking - is that still standard practice? 

Yeah, we were out on Wednesday actually. 

And in five years time, if things blow up, will you still be out on Wednesday? 

We discussed this recently. I think it’s what we’re known for more than most things really, people see us do it all the time. It would be a shame to lose our roots, even if we got huge I think we’d still be out there. one way or another. 

It’s funny- things almost come full circle. You see major acts out playing train stations for free now, just to keep their momentum. 

That’s it, it’s really hard to keep that going. Once people have heard a song it starts to fade. When they have heard it enough times they stop listening to it. So I guess playing live in the street is another way of engaging with people. It creates good content, and obviously can generate cash.

Aside from busking, how is Leeds life? 

All good, yeah. The music scene is starting to emerge again I think. Manchester has had it for a long while but things are coming back around again over here too now. A lot more bands are emerging, some of them are great. 

Any recommendations? 

We love a band called Forever Cult, and we’re good friends with King No-One. Both of those are good shouts. 

You’ve said things are quite up in the air with The Difficult Second Album, but what time frame are you hoping for? 

I’d like to have it out by the end of the year really. But that depends on planning, strategy, so really its fingers crossed going to be the end of 2017.”

A lot has changed in the world since your first LP- we’ve just been watching preparations for Trump’s inauguration. 

Have you? How do you feel about that?

I think we’re the ones who are supposed to ask the questions... how do you feel about that? 

Ha, he’s a mad man. I don’t know, I’m in two minds about it because at the end of the day the majority voted for him. So you have to take that on the chin, like him or not.

You don’t buy into the theory that Russian hackers rigged the election then? 

Yeah, but I also buy into the theory that they have American hackers too, and they can swing the vote back again. So maybe he just played the actual game of voting? Who knows. Maybe he worked the system properly. 

Don’t get me wrong, though, he’s a mental fella. But at least he is saying exactly what he is thinking. A lot of other presidents are proper puppets. At least you know he has no barrier - whether he is being abusive or whatever, he’s not hiding his feelings very often. 

So in six months time where will we be? 

Who knows. Scary times. And that’s without talking about Yellowstone going up in flames. There’s a volcano under there that’s well overdue for eruption, which isn’t good. So that’s another for your January blues.

That, and the dawning reality that outside the E.U., the U.K. is likely to become America’s little minion. 

To a degree, yeah, as they are a much more powerful country than we are. But then at the same time are the governments really in control of things, or are the banks? The politicians are talking to someone else. That’s what I feel anyway.”

And the solution? 

The solution? That’s a harder question than the meaning of life. Anonymous will tell you to get in your masses and bring down the corporations, but people are too scared for that I think. Who knows, we’ll see how it pans out won’t we.”

Would you say people are politically active enough at the moment? 

I think people accept too many things because it’s easier. Then again, when you’re faced with something like the Iraq war, and all the people who marched against it, and then nothing happens, maybe that takes the wind out of the sails. Knowing that things can’t be changed even if you wanted them to. It’s all getting a bit deep this isn’t it?

We try. 

I’m enjoying it.

Good. To bring it back down to music though... well, not back down... 

Back down!

OK, back round to music, how does this relate. Bands have to fight harder than ever to get noticed, how hard is it to keep on keeping on in that climate? 

It’s definitely difficult. Again, perhaps it’s easier with label backing. But then they take most of the profits when you’re signed. It’s just a really hard industry to break. We’re doing well with the DIY approach, but it can wear you down. 

Something like 95% of radio plays come from artists signed to labels. If you’re outside that model it’s tough. We’ve worked constantly for four years now, built a fan base, so it’s there but now it’s about getting to that next level. The issue being labels can often start trying to pull strings.

Does it worry you that signing might mean losing artistic control? 

It’s one of those things you have to take with the job. You could be an anomaly and breakthrough head and shoulders above the rest on your sound alone, but the chances are less than a lottery win. Three or four bands in every lifetime manage that. 

To land in a niche market of your making and have people jump on board is difficult. You don’t hear many new sounding bands at all. People regurgitate, trying to write catchy tunes.” 

Timing is everything, they say. 

It’s definitely part of it. Things have to fit with the sound of a certain era. But you can’t overthink these things. Just do it, there are a lot of depths to it all.

In terms of time, it’s not long before you’re back on the road- Manchester, Leeds, London and York. Are you familiar with all the venues? 

More familiar with the areas. York we always play Fibbers, it’s a great place- independent venue, with an owner who is just a good guy. He has supported us from the start. York is where we began busking, too, so it’s like our home city- as a band. As for Manchester and Leeds, they are always good shows.

What about London, obviously you’re more active in the north than anywhere else? 

We’re down there every three or four months, and did a few shows with This Feeling that were really busy. We do have mostly really busy shows down there, especially considering how far it is from home. There’s a group of people that know who we are down there. The last show we did was well out of central but loads of people still turned up, which was great.”

Finally, then, what else is coming up? 

We’ve a new single coming out, in March hopefully. We’re just getting the mix done at the minute actually. The track is called Swim, so there’s an exclusive for you.” 

Glass Caves, Leeds - The Lending Room, The Library, Saturday 18th February 

Glass Caves,  York - Fibbers, Saturday 18th March

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