Glorious Sons’ rock reputation lives on
Ontario band shows no signs of slowing down
Ali Hardstaff
Contributor
“I just got to make sure that people aren’t having sex,” says vocalist Brett Emmons entering The Glorious Sons’ RV.
The Reflector joined the band in their trailer for an exclusive interview.
Brett Emmons lit a cigarette in the passenger seat of The Glorious Sons’ RV, filled with empty beer bottles and cans (where there were 10 people altogether travelling with the band.)
Brett Emmons explained why he quit school in 2013 at 21 years old, to start his own music career.
The rockers from Ontario, The Glorious Sons, are quickly becoming regulars on the music scene with the release of their CD, The Union, that was released on Sept. 16, 2014.
Photo: Ali Hardstaff
“I’ve been playing music for a while at that point, it was basically all I liked doing. I loved English and that’s what I was going to school for, but I just woke up one day, I was sick of doing essays about the meaning of shit.”
“I wanted to write stuff and actually take a chance on something so I just got up and I quit. And I haven’t looked back since.”
Youngest in the band, Brett Emmons is joined by his older brother gutarist, Jay Emmons, guitarist Andrew Young, drummer Adam Paquette and bassist Chris Huot to form The Glorious Sons, they are also joined by keyboard player Tony Silvestri.
The rock band from Kingston, Ont. has blown up quickly in the past 18 months in Canadian music. They played at Cowboys Dance Hall in Calgary on Sept. 19 with Flash Lightnin’ and Airbourne on a national tour.
Their new CD, The Union, was released on Sept. 16 and was a follow-up to the seven track debut EP Shapeless Art, which they released last year.
They have all now quit their day jobs to tour nationally and focus on their music, though still admitting that it is all a learning experience.
Vocalist Brett Emmons says, “All of a sudden you’re on the radio and all of a sudden you’re touring across the country and you’ve done it four times in basically a year and a half, and you got to learn as you go … it’s starting to get a lot more fun.”
Jay Emmons was jamming with the other three members when he called Brett Emmons to ask if he would join them back when he was studying to join them, at the University of Halifax. Brett Emmons was going through rough times, and had a certain dynamic that the group wanted — which apparently, was his craziness.
“I’m a crazy guy by trait. I’m naturally pretty nuts,” he says. “It’s kind of a good place to go out there and be insane on stage rather than be insane in the RV. In the RV all I do is sit around in my underwear and drink water.”
What the band really wants, Brett Emmons explains, is a sound that is nostalgic but original, which came before everything was being done by computers and is unlike what is popular nowadays.
“Nothing against Katy Perry and stuff, sometimes I like to dance to Katy Perry myself but I want people to hear music that makes them think again. I think we achieved that for the people that are going to buy our album and listen to it,” said Brett Emmons.
“What we write about is what we know. The working class is what we write about, that’s what we’ve experienced. I thought it would be stupid to not give an ode to our roots and where we came from.”
Soon enough, they all had sweat beads and long hair sticking to their faces after hitting the stage at the early time of 8 p.m. Brett Emmons was singing with a naturally rustic voice beyond his years while spastically dancing and hair whipping around stage. He has a high energy that he says comes from adrenaline when he gets on stage. This energy results in a high budget on broken harmonicas and microphone stands that he likes to whip around and hitting Jay Emmons in the eye.
But even with their diet of cigarettes, beer and fast-food, and starting out their first tour with a short bus that is still broken down in Lethbridge, the band is enjoying life on tour.
“It’s a scary, scary time for everybody because it got to the point where you can’t work anymore and all you can do is survive on what you make it. The band starts to build, but it can wear down if you’re starting to think about it too much. You got to keep a positive attitude and look forward to the future.”
