Lee Allcock spoke with Teesside singer-songwriter Glad Town Ghost about his inspirations behind new track ‘Riverband’, the influence of Teesside on his work, and how parenthood has shaped hiscreative outlook.
Your new single ‘Riverbank,’ out on Friday 17th April, is described as a love letter to the mother of your child and to “fiery lovers everywhere.” What kind of emotional space were you in when you wrote it?
All my lyrics start as short stories, and this one had a fairly autobiographical foundation. It’s a road map of people losing and finding themselves over and over, which has been true for me and, I imagine, many others. The end instrumental section is something I’ve had for years; it always felt like a hopeful ending. I don’t often write hopeful endings, so when it presented itself in a love song of sorts, it made sense. I wasn’t in a particularly emotional state – I just wanted to write a nice folk song that was challenging on guitar to impress a woman, which is how nearly all my compositions begin.
Your music often blends American folk influences with the post-industrial landscapes of Teesside. How does your hometown shape the stories and imagery in your songwriting?
It’s absolutely everything to me. I try to retain a regional aspect at all times. Teesside and East Cleveland have so many interesting folk tales, archetypes, and cultural histories. I also think our region is still stereotyped nationally, so I consciously try to move away from the ‘mean streets’ pity party image. A lot of my influences are Americana, but that music also comes from Celtic traditions – I think it’s all folk, really. The performer who first turned me onto this kind of music was Vin Garbutt. I’ll never be as good a player as he was, but I’m actively trying to do something similar in terms of connecting music to the area.
Fans have compared your work to artists and writers like Jackson C. Frank and Cormac McCarthy. What draws you to that kind of stark, poetic storytelling style?
That’s very flattering – they’re both definite influences. Many of my favourite writers are maximalist and melancholy, which probably explains why my songs jump between joy and despair so often. I like leaving the lyrics open to interpretation. They’re all stories, but I want listeners to find their own meaning. One track from my last EP was written about a pretty chaotic, dark set of characters. Matt from the band Boy Found Sound told me he associates it with walking at the gare with his son – that made me so happy. Songs will present themselves differently to everyone. Who am I to tell them otherwise?
Your 2020 concept album ‘The Endless Heavy Sleep’ introduced many listeners to your songwriting. Looking back, how does ‘Riverbank’ connect to – or differ from – that earlier body of work?
These days I work much harder on music overall. I like my old recordings – they’re a good snapshot of where I was – but my process now is night and day different. I draft and redraft, actually demo my songs, and consider textures ahead of time rather than winging it on the day. It’s paying off in the new recordings. ‘Riverbank’ also has some great contributors who have elevated the work enormously.
Fatherhood seems to play an important role in your creative outlook. In what ways has becoming a parent influenced the themes you explore in your songs and the future you imagine in your music?
Parenting makes you walk alongside mortality every day; it informs everything we do. I don’t write much directly about parenting, but my main motivation for consistently writing and recording music is to leave a substantial body of work for my daughter, and to hopefully inspire her to continue making things, whatever that looks like.
You can listen to ‘Riverbank’ from Friday on all major streaming platforms.
