GlassTear's experience of the debut album: From Writing to Recording and Release

This latest blog post sees the other perspective of the duo's new release. Here's GlassTear's experience of the debut album

The Art of Bilging

When we began this musical adventure, we weren't sure what to expect, but we knew exactly what we weren't prepared to do, what we weren't willing to accept. So it was like reversing our approach to composing and producing music. We didn't want to lock ourselves into a well-defined genre. We didn't want to start with a simple guitar riff like most rock songs. We didn't want to create songs with the classic structure (intro, verse, chorus, etc.). Instead, we focused on the sound—keyboards, a bass line, or a short drum pattern. We built a multilayered collection of ideas around it, bouncing pieces back and forth until we were both satisfied. Above all, we wanted to convey an unequivocal message, without too many turns of phrase.

Over the past 15 years, my musical activity has been entirely self-produced. However, it’s only in the last four years that I feel I’ve managed to reach an acceptable quality. This was also possible thanks to the experience of the Bilge Music Project and the constant collaboration with Eros, my dear companion on this journey and in life.

About three years ago, we first started discussing this project. We decided, before we had written anything, to name it after the bottom of a boat's hull, where all the oil and dirty water collect. The bilge water needs to be pumped out regularly to keep the vessel afloat. And so we decided to build our project with the aim of "cleansing" our lives of that 'dirty water' - the negative thoughts, the disappointments, and the confusion we're immersed in, every day. However, it was January 2025 before we really went full steam ahead on the album.

We felt the need to produce music together and to do so with complete freedom, without even thinking about numbers (streaming, followers, etc.) and similar bullshit. It was a need that was entirely ours, intimate, liberating.

And I must say, we succeeded. This album is the result of a journey that began with a constant exchange of ideas, and which gradually developed without any real difficulties. We were free from any mental constraints, whether of musical genre, labels, or otherwise.

Looking back at Looking Forward........... GlassTear's experience of the debut album

From a production standpoint, I must admit that the collaboration with Eros has been smooth since the beginning. With us living 1,000 miles apart and recording everything remotely, somebody needed to be the person responsible for the mix. Eros took on the mixing and a lot of the structure from early on. Since the project started, his skills in mixing and producing have grown significantly.

I felt particularly enthusiastic about contributing to the production of our album. I felt free to add parts, conceived outside the classic tropes and sounds. We constantly exchanged ideas verbally and by recorded examples. Gradually, the songs took shape in unexpected directions.

I really enjoyed the process of building a complete song by combining our individual contributions. It was thrilling to witness my ideas blossom into full songs, like a guitar riff (All Faces Lie Pt. 1), an instrumental verse and chorus (Looking Forward). I kick-started the vocal melody and lyrics on 'Oh Sisyphus' when Eros had writer’s block. This reinvigorated the song and uncorked Eros' creativity again. The end result earned its place as the opening track on the album. Sometimes I felt content writing and recording a bassline to enhance a song's mood (and sometimes surprise Eros), especially on Sunrise, Grip, and All Faces Lie Pt. 2.

I was proud that, when pushed, I left my comfort zone of writing on guitar and bass, which resulted in my writing the majority of what became 'Let the Light In' and 'Strangest Days'. When Eros was creating 'PastPresentFuture', I didn't think I could add anything to it, but I came up with the idea of doing a 'reply' track called 'Hope' - two sides of a coin, dark and light moods, and hard and soft musical arrangements. Eros only had to add a vocal refrain, and it became the closing track. Closing things on a positive note felt right.

What we made together on this album is so different to what we have done before as musicians. Especially in terms of sound design, song structure, and the production process. We literally could do anything we chose to do, and it was a brilliant way of collaborating.