Q: I love the name “Glowstate”! What’s the story of how you chose that as your stage name?
GLOWSTATE: We wrote songs for almost a year together before a name emerged through the copious options. Having written many songs that are introspective and sentimental, Quinn had been trying to incorporate a name with the phrase ‘flow state’, a common term describing a very heightened sense of focus. Simultaneously, Larsen had been exploring the use of the word ‘glow.’ When she heard flow state, she threw Glow on the beginning and Glowstate was born.
Q: The production for “Liquid Self Help” is fire! What was the inspiration behind it?
GLOWSTATE: Liquid Self Help was recorded in the closet of a one-bedroom San Diego apartment. Quinn is the sole producer of the song and actually wrote its foundation in one sitting while waiting for a tardy student. Set to 120 BPM, the stock setting of Logic Pro, he was manipulating Alchemy, a stock Logic Pro plugin, and found the catchy, swinging arpeggiator that can be heard in the intro and several parts of the song. After laying down the groove, he went into the booth to try vocal melodies using the first words that came to mind: “Why you always here in my mind when I lose it.” Next he tried a simple chorus melody that he figured would be a placeholder, but in the end earned the permanent spot that would be lifted with a massive choir of harmonies. Having looped the arpeggiator too long by mistake, the beat continued after the final chorus which led to a final spark of inspiration to conclude the song’s story and bring a musical refrain from the rest of the song. There is no specific inspiration from any outside source, just a mistake that somehow found its way into our discography.
Q: What are your favorite moments making “Liquid Self Help”?
GLOWSTATE: One of our favorite parts about this song is that, while it is our 12th song released, it’s one of the first songs we ever recorded together. It happened pretty organically and was a sign of our potential to work together.
Q: My favorite part of making music is experimenting with different sounds! What is something you haven’t incorporated into your music but want to?
GLOWSTATE: Oh man, this is a tough question. With modern recording software this can take you down a multi-day rabbit hole where you end up experimenting with absurd un-usable noises. While that’s fun, we think we’ve begun to really hone in on what our sound is, which is super exciting. Something we intend to use more are interesting vocal chops and samplings of our own vocal recordings. We also expect to get even more synth heavy than we already are with new plugins. Can’t wait to keep exploring, while staying within what makes us Glowstate.
Q: Do you guys play any instruments? What’s an instrument that you would like to learn?
GLOWSTATE: Quinn plays guitar and Larsen plays piano. We’re not super instrument heavy in our songwriting, but we’re always open to exploring the use of creative things. Quinn would love to learn ukulele.
Q: What is coming up next for you?
GLOWSTATE: We release at least one song a month and don’t plan on stopping that any time soon. Keep an eye on our social media and Spotify! What we’re really looking forward to is developing our live show and hope to start playing San Diego venues in August 2023. Shoot us an email if you ever want to chat glowstateband@gmail.com, want stems, or just want to say hi!
Interviewed by Alina Tran
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