Mission Ballroom, Denver, CO Ages: 16 & Over:
“Glass Beams, the enigmatic Melbourne-based band, draws inspiration from their Indian heritage, infusing their serpentine psychedelia with cosmic instrumentation and worldly polyrhythms. Their debut ‘Mirage,’ self-recorded in a home studio, is a captivating fusion of 70s-era Indian classical, disco captured through the lens of DIY electronica.
“I was looking for new energy & inspiration to write a bunch of new music. I recalled a childhood memory of my parents and I watching a DVD they had bought: ‘Concert For George’ (a tribute concert for George Harrison from the Beatles). George’s long time collaborator and friend Ravi Shanka put an Indian Orchestra together for that concert, and even though I hadn’t even started playing music at the time that I watched this, the experience was very formative.
My father was born in India and moved here when he was 17, and after recalling this memory I decided to look up musicians from my father’s hometown and surrounding areas. I found a wealth of Indian classical, disco & freaky jazz music that formed the building blocks for this record. As soon as I had that vision of what I wanted to write and why I wanted to write it, the songs just flowed out.”
Recognised by industry stalwarts like Gilles Peterson, Glass Beams were named an essential emerging artist by NME 100. Their immersive live performances at Primavera Sound and Best Kept Secret have created waves internationally, where the masked trio cast a hypnotic sonic spell over their audiences.”