It’s one thing for musicians to follow in the footsteps of a legendary band they grew up admiring. It’s another thing to actually go into the studio and record with that band’s producer.
Less than five years into their career, Glixen have managed to do just that. Twice.
The first time was with Nirvana producer Jack Endino. The second was with Sonny DiPerri, whose past credits include the influential shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine.
Released in 2024, the Phoenix band’s “foreversoon” single was produced by Endino, who famously recorded Nirvana’s debut album “Bleach” for $600.
Given the 35-year gap, “foreversoon” may have cost more than $600, although the band isn’t quite sure.
“I can’t really answer that, because our manager was friends with him,” Glixen guitarist Esteban Santana said in an early February interview. “Working with Jack Endino is priceless.”
The same can be said for getting to record with the same amp that Kurt Cobain played on “Bleach.”
“That thing sounded crazy good,” enthused Glixen lead vocalist and guitarist Aislinn Ritchie. “We recorded the leads, which were my guitar parts, with the ‘Bleach’ amp. It was the same amp that Kurt Cobain played through. His own amp was broken, so he ended up using this huge Twin Reverb that Jack had. So yeah, we got to use that, and it was pretty surreal. So “foreversoon”’s sounds so different. It’s really grungy and heavy.’
The band’s ‘quiet pleasures’ EP, which was released in February, is heavy too, but not nearly as grungy, with its stately wall of guitars and Ritchie’s ethereal vocals, which are often compared to the Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser, albeit an octave or so lower and a lot less prominent in the mix.
“Dino is incredible at what he does,” said Santana. “It was so cool to just have him have his ears on this new stuff, and just all this work he did, it was just insane. I’m so happy the way the EP turned out.”
While Ritchie and Santana aren’t originally from Phoenix – Santana comes from LA, while Ritchie grew up an hour away – they were quickly embraced by the city’s DIY music scene, which included Glixen bassist Sonia Garcia and drummer Keire Johnson.
“I wanted to get out of the suburbs so bad,” recalled Ritchie. “I lived in an area where there weren’t many creative people musically. No one was listening to the same music as me besides, like, my three best friends, you know? I’ve always been attracted to music that’s very dreamy and melodic, but also guitar-heavy music. And my parents were really strict, so I was always getting grounded for sneaking out and hanging out with my girlfriends. But I just loved music and I loved fashion, and I just wanted to turn 18 and move to Phoenix and start a band. So that’s what I did.”
Santana, meanwhile, grew up wanting to play speed metal with his best friend. “We both wanted to learn metal and we wanted to just play physically as fast as possible,” he said. “And growing up, it was no longer something I could really relate to. So then we started getting more into classic bands like My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive, and I became more obsessed with the world of pedals and amps.”
And while their echo-drenched heroes may have hated being called shoegaze bands, the members of Glixen don’t particularly mind.
“Before 2020, nobody wanted to call themselves a shoegaze band, and then I kind of got over that,” Ritchie said. “It is what it is, and I don’t know what else to call it. So for people who are outside of music, I just tell them I play alternative rock. And then they’ll ask me, ‘Okay, like what?’ And I’ll be like, ‘Well, have you heard of shoegaze?’ And then they’ll say ‘no.’ I mean, I don’t want to be put in a box — people can interpret it as whatever they want — but if it helps people find the music easier, I think it’s cool.”
Meanwhile, the band is excited to be out playing their first headlining tour. “I definitely hope everyone brings earplugs,” said Ritchie of what’s guaranteed to be a high-decibel experience.
And that’s not just to prevent the onset of tinnitus.
“I think that listening to really loud music with earplugs is actually more enjoyable,” she said, “because you can still hear it, and you can still feel it, and there’s still lots of guitars and heavy bass. We’re still working on getting the vocals up a little more, while still having loud guitars. So, I don’t know, just expect to see Glixen. We bring our own little world.”
Glixen
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, March 29
WHERE: Club Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, Tucson
COST: $19.83
INFO: hotelcongress.com
