Pop-rock band glimmers features members Alex Downtain, Alex Norrell, Jeremy Russell, Ari Patwary and Maggie Schneider . We had the pleasure of sitting down with lead singer Schneider to discuss the band’s latest single “Scared to Lose” – a modern take on the beloved Beauty and the Beast tale with a twist.
BTS: How did you meet/ start working together?
Schneider: There’s five of us total! Before glimmers, I was a solo artist. For about 5 or 6 years I played at different coffee shops and stuff like that. I was doing the singer/ songwriter thing. I always loved rock/ punk music though and wanted friends around me on stage to play with. I knew all these guys from different bands in Atlanta I’ve played with. It all came together when we played a Paramore cover show in 2018, I believe. That sparked us wanting to be a band.
BTS: What does “glimmers” mean? How’d you come up with that name?
Schneider: It comes from all of our positive perspectives – a glass half full approach to life. We’re all best friends and are happy to travel and play music together so we wanted a name with a happy connotation. I was half asleep one night and the word “glimmers” came to my head. I immediately typed it into Spotify to see if anyone else had that name already. It’s who we are as people – it’s us finding glimmers of hope and positivity in every situation.
BTS: What was the process like for your latest single “Scared to Lose”?
Schneider: I wrote the foundation of the song over a year ago – basic lyrics and melody. I really liked the song and held onto it. Typically, I come up with the general structure and bring it to the guys to come up with the full band feel. It’s nice to know I have bandmates who can bring the song to life with more than one instrument. Our lead guitarist tracked all our songs this far – we had our friend Zach come in to add some final touches. We brought it to life at my house. It’s a very hopeless romantic song, but I’m definitely a hopeless romantic so I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
BTS: What was filming the music video like?
Schneider: Our drummer, Jeremy, and I figured out the concept together with Deanna Elise. We wanted it to feel like a modern take on Beauty and the Beast! It’s a modern story of falling in love around books. The lyrics have to do with storytelling and starting a new chapter of life or relationships – we wanted the video to reflect that. It’s the first of many videos; they’ll all connect in a way. In this video, Jeremy is my love interest and he is not the most loyal character. My character finds her own strengths and decides to move passed this and be a better version of herself.
BTS: What do you hope listeners take away from it?
Schneider: You deserve better. Everyone should experience the fairytale they deserve. You just have to find the right person and stick up for yourself.
BTS: How would you describe your overall sound?
Schneider: I would say early 2000’s pop rock songs meets that Original Disney Channel music that we all know and love. I’m a huge fan of the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato who is going back into their rock phase and I am so here for it. It’s the innocent romantic vibe of those two genres. All of us collectively love everything from heavier bands to pop stuff and everything in between – we like to take inspiration from a little bit of everything.
BTS: How have your childhoods/ personal lives impacted your music?
Schneider: Aw I love that! For me, personally, I love writing from my own perspective or other people’s stories. I feel most connected when I share from my own experiences – I want to share from my heart. I write about my childhood to my supportive parents to unfortunate relationships or “situationships” of the past. They all come together and give me good material to write from. In terms of the band, we’ve always loved music and have always wanted to do this so that passion influences everything. At the end of the day, we do this because it’s fun and we love doing it together. All those moments of listening to music way back when inspires us now. We’re very very lucky.
BTS: What can we expect from you next?
Schneider: More music! We have a bunch of songs ready to release, just putting a couple finishing touches on. We’ll also be touring a lot more. We’re touring with Rarity and Telltale in August. I’m excited to get back in the studio at the end of the year and write more songs!
BTS: What are you most excited for in the future?
Schneider: I’m most excited to continue traveling to new places and meeting new people. We played a Midwest tour once and haven’t been to most of those states before so it was awesome to meet those people and hear how our music has inspired them. So yeah, making more friends, continuing to travel and doing what I love!
BTS: What final message do you want to send to fans and listeners?
Schneider: A big one I’d like to say is never let anyone tell you what to do or who to be. I think it’s so important to follow your dreams and do what makes you happy because at the end of the day you only have one life, so you need to do what fulfills you. Follow your dreams and don’t let anyone get in your way!
We can’t wait to see what’s next for the band. With more stories and rockin’ music, glimmers is bound to bring out the inner angsty teen in all of us!
Stream “Scared to Lose” here!
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