The setting is Chicago, the Windy City, where the March air was just right and Glen Hansard has just returned from a shopping spree at the stores surrounding the famed Metro. Hansard is an approachable character that is just as animated face-to-face as he is on stage. As lead singer and guitar responsibilities for the rising band The Frames, Hansard has the ability to do what he loves, make music and play it live.Lumino had the chance to speak to Hansard after he returned from his stroll.
Your fifth studio album, Burn the Maps" is something of a departure from your last ANTI release, "Set List." Where did the range of emotions come from for this record?
Glen Hansard: Oh I don’t fuckin’ know! [Laughing] If I knew, we’d have another record every couple of months! I guess it’s just summing up the years we’ve lived. It’s a residue of life - the silver trail behind the snail.
You toured with Damien Rice last year. How did that exposure help with the making of this record and headlining your own tour now?
It helped mammothly! Is that a word?
I’m not sure, but it should be!
Well, Damien actually toured with us after Juniper broke up so he wanted to bring us on his tour when he could. That tour was challenging and brilliant and definitely helped this tour.
Did that relationship help get Lisa Hannigan on this record?
No, we’ve been friends with Lisa [and Damien] for a long time. We actually did parts of the record here in the U.S. and we’d record ideas as we’d go while we were on the bus.
Being Irish and touring in the U.S. during the month of March, are you ever classified as an "Irish" band instead of a rock band?
No, we’re classified as a rock band. We don’t gravitate to the Irish culture in the U.S. You know, we’ve been playing in the U.S. for the last 6 St. Patty’s Days and we try not to take it too seriously. Like instead of sitting in an Irish pub before of after a show, we try to lay low and go to maybe a Mexican restaurant and have Coronas!
Rob [Bochnik] is from Chicago. How does it feel playing to a home crowd of sorts?
That’s funny. Rob says it took joining a rock band to play the Metro! I know he’s very excited and so is the rest of the band. Rob’s engineering background here in Chicago is great and it was Steve Albini who was influential in getting Rob in the band.
Did your early days as a busker help prepare you for the corporate music world?
Well, it teaches you important things about people. You can recognize trouble and you become sharp. Your bullshit radar becomes more acute.
The band just played Carson Daly. How was that experience for you guys?
It was strange to do American television. It was odd to do rehearsals to camera and then the audience is brought in. The audience wasn’t there to see us so it was strange. Luckily there were some Frames fans so it was nice, but odd. Carson was sweet though. We recorded another song for him that he wanted to air next week or something. It was strange though.
You were recently quoted for saying "In Ireland, U2 are a bit like the Catholic church, we both fear and respect them." Any plans (and/or desire) to work with U2 in the future?
Oh, we’d love to gig with them. Their audiences are huge! That’d be amazing. That adrenaline rush would be just amazing. But we avoid any comparisons to U2. There’s a hush when they’re bought up in Ireland and any band that’s compared to them, usually fails. It’s the death nail to be compared to U2 because they’re so big.
You’re playing SXSW [in Austin, TX] this year. Any more touring plans after that?
We’re actually playing Australia afterwards and playing festivals. Then we’ll be in Colon, France and then Italy.
[The tour manager enters and quietly nods. I find out that nod means sound check is looming and our time is through.]
Hours later, and after two openers, The Frames take the stage to a full house and slowly turn up the tempo by dipping into their catalogue of heartfelt songs as well as blazing guitar-driven rock. The audience was in for more treats though.
Methodically premeditated, Joe Shanahan, owner of Chicago’s Metro/Smart Bar, celebrated his birthday on Saturday, March 5, giving himself the greatest gift of all; a live set by The Frames. Nestled atop the audience of fans, Shanahan smiled from the balcony as Hansard and his band of merry men sang ‘happy birthday’ to him. This was of course after Hansard invited a young lady from the audience onstage with the band. To the band’s surprise, as well as the peering audience, the young lady asked for Hansard’s guitar and didn’t skip a beat!
Maybe The Frames are used to making magic happen when they play live. Maybe it’s because they don’t take themselves too seriously. Maybe it’s because they’re thankful for what they have and enjoy what they do. I’d like to think it’s because of all those reasons that The Frames are a success story. Well, that and because their music is that good.
Photos by Daragh McDonagh and Mario R. Martin
