Glasshouse Red Spider Mite’s debut single 'Erstwhile' experiments with post-rock dynamics and slowcore textures to create something devastating and beautiful. 

Childhood friends Ethan Barton (vocals, guitar), Alex Turner (vocals, bass) and Benji Reeves (drums) were raised in Devon and have evolved into a new era of exploration in Brighton. Various musical projects have come and gone over the years, but the trio’s collaborative development of Glasshouse Red Spider Mite has crawled beneath their skin and embodied a shared sense of integrity and authenticity. In their latest iteration, the band have permitted themselves to delve deeper into what it means to move through life with a softer exterior. The result of this undoing is a sound more shadowy, more atmospheric and more open to the elements than any of their previous projects.

And yet, through their debut single’s brooding mist of instrumentation and sombre introspection, there are real moments of tenderness and light. This influence from contemporary folk music is unmistakable in both the band’s sound and ethic. Folk music is the music of protest. It speaks to those wanting to instigate and experience positive change in the world. This change is underlined by and with humanity. Glasshouse Red Spider Mite follow this folk tradition and are donating all Bandcamp sales of 'Erstwhile' to the Emergency Gaza Fund. They stand with thousands of fellow musicians using their art to raise consciousness and advocate for a permanent ceasefire in a free Palestine; from giants such as Brain Eno, Fontaines DC and Massive Attack, to the dozens of up-and-coming musicians who recently boycotted SXSW festival after it was discovered to be sponsored by weapons manufacturers and the US Department of Defence responsible for fueling unfathomable atrocities against Palestinian civilians. These are necessary sparks of radical hope in a world dominated by callous political leaders.

Solidarity and a brotherly bond are vital to the band’s composition both on stage and off, as Rapture discovered over a pint at The Heart & Hand following their debut headline show at Green Door Store (Saturday 30 March). The packed-out venue was warmed up by some of the band’s nearest and dearest - ambient alt-noise outfit Plainmoor and Brighton’s own dreamy folk-rock quartet Van Zon. Glasshouse Red Spider Mite’s set felt earnest and crafted, with shared lead vocals and gorgeous harmonies blissfully captivating the audience. Unhurried, the trio gave each element of their musicianship the time and space to roll and surge into crescendo, only to crash and subside away together, ready to raise waves of sound again and again. Oscillating between delicate and domineering and everything in between, Glasshouse Red Spider Mite’s live show is something to experience and feel.

I’ll kick things off with a huge congratulations on the release of your debut single 'Erstwhile'. How does it feel to have it out in the world?

Alex: It feels really good as it was a really long time coming. We put so much work in during the first 6-8 months arranging our songs and trying to make sure that everything felt right and necessary and honest; I guess like a real reflection of where we’re at as ourselves, our friendship and our influences. To come out the other side of the process that was a lot of hard work - and to have the first song come out - feels like a big relief. The reaction from friends and friends of friends has made it all feel super worthwhile.

You say the first 6-8 months were the toughest part of the process, but how long has Glasshouse Red Spider Mite been a project? 

Benji: We’ve been playing music together for years, but a lot of these songs are only really a reflection of us over the last year and a half. “Erstwhile” really felt like it was the first song of our new evolution as a group; the first song that set the tone of what we wanted to do, which is why it felt suitable to record it first.

It’s exciting that you’re releasing new music that reflects where you’re all at now, despite probably having a lot of material from over the years.

Alex: Some of the songs we’re working on are quite a lot older but because of the way we work we’ve found a bit of a groove with how we can write together. We’re sort of in a process of renewing things and realising how songs can change to fit a new format.

That’s super interesting and 'Erstwhile' is a really beautiful debut single. I wonder how you’ve drawn together your influences to create such a sophisticated sound?

Alex: The three of us have so much common ground in terms of our influences. It’s not that our influences are on our mind when we’re writing new music, it just comes naturally that we settle on a sound fairly quickly. 'Erstwhile' was definitely that. Most of the song came together in two or three practice sessions so we all really felt charmed and on the same page with it.

Ethan: Like Benji said, we've been doing music together for ages, but a lot changed throughout and after Covid because of some big life changes. I think for a long time we had been putting off playing darker or sadder music. I think we finally gave ourselves permission to be the band that maybe we wished we were, but we weren’t doing it because it felt inauthentic before. It feels like 'Erstwhile' was a good song for us to lead with because when it came together it was a realisation of what we had been waiting to sound like. 

Benji: In terms of influences, we cover a lot of bases, but we all grew up in Devon and love folk music; we have a real connection to that sound. I feel like the music that we’ve made only reflects the kind of emotions we’ve allowed ourselves to feel as human beings. Maybe we weren’t really allowing ourselves to face those emotions so much, so it didn’t make its way into our music before. As we’ve grown older, we’ve delved into our own selves and come together as a group and that’s what’s brought this darker sound. I guess 'Erstwhile' captured that, especially coming out of Covid.

You can really hear that in the track. Out of interest, what kind of music were you making before?

Ethan: It was mostly folk and americana inspired.

Benji: The three of us grew up mostly writing on acoustic guitars so that was a big part of it. Our favourite artists are usually the people that write amazing songs. 

Ethan: Neil Young has always been a huge influence specifically. He has so much variety in all his projects and his character shines through. He can be super vulnerable but also be aggressive. 

Benji: We all love artists that don’t hide away from evolving or going into darker realms, whether that’s like Wilco or even Ben Howard.

It’s funny you say Ben Howard because he was the first artist that came to mind when I saw you play live, and I mean that in a complementary way. He’s definitely a major artist of our generation and his sound has darkened and strengthened so much over the years.

Benji: His music is actually what drew us all together back in the day. 

That’s amazing. So, 'Erstwhile' is self-released and paired with a music video cut with clips of the band, retro video games and motorbike stunts. There’s definitely a creeping sense of doom. Could you talk a little about the video and your process of doing-it-yourself?

Alex: We made it with Asha and Flo from Flashaprod. Benji found a few cool locations for us to film, and he went to the arcade and got shots of the motorbikes and helicopters. 

Benji: We didn't really have a massive concept, it was more like “what can we afford to do within a budget?”, because we’re obviously a DIY band. 'Erstwhile', as you say, kind of goes through the spectrum of a handful of different emotions. We wanted a video that would just follow the flow of the music and the pace of the song. It’s quite cool that some shots that Asha and Flo brought along really reflected the kind of spiralling mental state of the song. But ultimately, we went out for a day and were just like “let’s get some footage that’s kind of gloomy." It was raining, fortunately.

Ethan: Considering the song is about 5 or 6 minutes long, we probably sent Asha and Flo about half an hour of footage. They’ve edited it in such a cool way. We were all familiar with the videos that they’ve produced, and it just seemed like they fit the mood of what we’re trying to do. It’s lo-fi, high effort. 

It was a great gig! And your shared lead vocals and delicate harmonies were really lovely, particularly against the post-rock backdrop. How does the writing process evolve for you?

Alex: I think the song arrangement and writing is the most important thing. Ethan’s got a lot of pedals and I’ve probably got more pedals than I should have for a bass player, but none of that stuff is important. If any of us have an idea, the textures aren’t important straight away, it's just about the flow of the song and how we can develop it. The process changes depending on what we can all add to it.

Benji: We’re definitely the sum of our parts.

Ethan: I think that’s another thing that’s changed in the new iteration of the band. When we came back to it and started again, we were all of a sudden able to write music differently and a lot more openly. We push each other to work hard at what we’re doing and it’s getting more and more collaborative. We’re very fortunate that we’ve been friends for a really long time so there’s an intimacy where I don’t think we can offend each other in search of bettering the music.

Benji: Or we just let ourselves offend each other. Maybe we’ve broken the boundary.

That’s reassuring to hear. You then went on to play an Easter Sunday show at The Windmill in London with a pretty stacked line-up. 

Benji: It was certainly a privilege to be invited to play and be amongst those bands and be at The Windmill. When we started the band it was something that would be a milestone, so it was cool. 

Alex: It was a real surprise to see how many people were standing there at 5:15 in the afternoon on Easter Sunday. We were invited to play by the guys in Flip Top Head, and that was really nice of them to consider us. Especially as we’ve wanted to play the venue for such a long time.

What’s lined up next for Glasshouse Red Spider Mite?

Alex: We’ve been recording a lot of music with Louis Milburn who produced and engineered 'Erstwhile', so we’re in the process of figuring out how we’re going to unroll that. For now, we’re just going to enjoy the release and enjoy the next few months of playing shows.

Benji: And hopefully get some Alt Escape shows and a manager if anyone’s reading.

You can buy a digital copy of Glasshouse Red Spider Mite’s debut single 'Erstwhile' on Bandcamp here and catch them live at Homegrown, Brighton’s new multi-venue festival on Saturday 13 April.