An Evening with Westin Glass

The car careened around the corners of the dark city streets and in reply to my question, Mr. Glass merely turned again. Dark curly hair and handsome, the talented singer/song writer of The Reformation, former drummer for both Model Photographer and Say Hi and current beat-masta for The Thermals smiled as he said, “I think we’re almost there.” We parked and then exited the car.

“No, I meant about the magazines. You and the three bands you are in were all written about in a bunch recently, like Rolling Stone, Filter magazine, The New York Times, SPIN. The Stranger did a feature on you as The Reformation last year; I remember thinking…How’s that feel?” We walked through Capitol Hill towards the club. Damp streets and dusky skies, the traffic was just enough to keep you from sleepwalking through the intersection. I looked at him with a gleam in my eye, for we both knew this was my first time ever doing an interview.

With a deep grin he replied as we crossed the street, “Say Hi’s new record, The Wishes And The Glitch, was recently reviewed in Rolling Stone and Spin, among many other publications.  ’Sophisticated psyche-tinged indie rock … an eclectic collection of blissed out, bass and synth-heavy ruminations’ is what Rolling Stone had to say about it. Filter wrote about Model Photographer and mentioned the other two bands I’m in: The Reformation and Say Hi. So yeah, that was pretty cool. That’s the first time I’ve ever been talked about in such a big magazine.” He smiles with sincere and innocent charm.

We find our way to the Capitol Club and climb the stairs to the lounge, laid rich with Indian satin cushions and tiny candles all over the sand colored walls. Delicate tin lanterns threw intricate, beautiful patterns of light into the corners’ shadows. I ordered a glass of wine and began fiddling with my new Polaroid camera. “Be prepared. I am gonna use this, you know.” I looked at him all smiles. “So what’s on the horizon for you? You’re in three bands and they’re all going somewhere. You are obviously the common denominator. That’s a lot of balls up in the air. What if you had to choose?”

There was a pause in his reply. Ordering a Corona with a thoughtful look, he turned and answered with a deep vibrancy in his voice, “Wow. That’s a good question… I just take it one day at a time. Right now, I’ve got Say Hi’s tour which includes a performance at SXSW. We return to Seattle in April for a live performance on KEXP and the Sasquatch Festival. Model Photographer is doing well despite the fact that Alex Rose plays keys in Minus the Bear and I am on tour more and more often with Say Hi. Alex and I first began as “Bum Out Patrol” back in Albuquerque, NM. We would take turns singing and playing different instruments. After moving to Seattle we began playing together again with me on drums and Alex on guitar and vocals. Model Photographer was born. I’m very excited to be putting out a second album as The Reformation, however. Ultimately, expressing my thoughts and ideas through songwriting that I love best.”

We sipped our drinks and gazed around the room, looking out onto the balcony through the high glass windows where the city lights glimmered. The skyline majestic and dressed modern, we strolled outside and took in the cool night air, the starry city sky… I stood holding the Polaroid and said, “Stop. Stay there.”

He turned and looked at me smiling.
*FLASH!

“The first Polaroid. We clinked our glasses in a toast to celebrate the irony of the first picture taken on a newly bought camera that was sentenced to a life of extinction by Kodak less than a month ago. C’est la vie…

Westin looked at me smiling in earnest. “Touring. Let’s start by saying touring with Say Hi is very different than touring with The Reformation. Sometimes you have a few luxuries but yes, it can be very tough. Tough in all kinds of ways, including on romantic relationships…. but in the end, there is nothing I’d rather be doing than playing music. I can’t imagine what I would do with myself if I couldn’t play music all the time. I love it more than anything.”

I remembered suddenly, “Yes, actually one moment especially captures that spirit and dedication for me, which was last summer when you played as Revival Revival. You guys playing in the summer sun last year at the Cascade’s Block Party. Man, that was for real! The crowd was loving it! I was actually interviewed by the Seattle Times about the crime rate and homeless demographic in the neighborhood at one point and you were just having a ball with it all.”

“Yeah, that was great thank-you. What a day! Yeah, that was probably the best show Revival Revival ever gave. We just had so much fun playing the songs of Credence Clearwater Revival, it was purely a labor of love. We just had a great time performing throughout the summer of 2007 and gave our grand finale performance in September at the S.S. Marie Antoinette. It was a fun time.”

We took our second round of drinks and the Polaroid camera downstairs to the empty dining rooms. The exotic Indian décor and seductive lighting made the perfect backdrop for the photos… As the flash went off, we continued to chat between sips of wine and beer.

“Stand by that lantern…”

Find Westin at, www.myspace.com/reformationseattle

Written and photographed by January Fieldz