Glenn Donaldson is an American artist engaged in many musical projects. He was also running his own label Jewelled Antler, where he released his friends albums. Glenn stands outside the musical business and just creates beautiful music. What kind of sounds does he make? Free folk, psychedelic, improvisation? Yes, but it's quite a simplification. First of all he creates music between dreams and reality. Enjoy the interview.




1. Hello Glenn, for a start, please tell me some words about beginning of your musical passion. What decided, that music is enormous part of your life?

Glenn Donaldson: Hello Tomasz. Thank you for the interview. I grew up in a very conservative place down in southern California, music was some way to deal with the dreaded suburban malaise.


2. When did you decide together with Loren Chasse to create Jewelled Antler Collective? Can we name Jewelled Antler a label, or something more? Maybe something like a movement?

G.D.: It was created as a CD-R label around '99 or '00. Like Factory Records, Xpressway Cassettes or Independent Project Records, we wanted to create our own little microscopic universe. We were consicous that the art & music of all the bands would be linked aesthetically. It's not a movement; it's just the shared music & art of a few friends.


3. Why did you release records on very limited CDR? Were these financial reasons, because it could be hard to find enough customers to buy 200-300 copy's from each one title (it's common knowledge that print CD's in smaller editions is unprofitable), or maybe you wanted to create more elite releases?

G.D.: Yes, you can make many different kinds of albums with a very small investment, so we let our imaginations run wild. We were quite naive at the time. We conceived of the label when CD-R burners were just starting to become affordable. That was less than 10 years ago. I didn't have a home computer when we started. We had no idea that people would want to buy these things. I thought maybe we'd give 20 copies away to friends! It was really an art project, designed for obscurity, but it took on a life of its own.


4. You mentioned, that your label doesn't exist any more. Why? Is there any chance in future for reactivation? Maybe someone has plans with re-releasing some of your albums?

G.D.: Jewelled Antler as a broader concept still exists, but we don't make CD-R's consistently. We were never very good at the business side of things, so it's nice to let other labels take over for us. We've been very lucky to work with labels like Soft Abuse, Family Vineyard, Jagjaguwar, Fat Cat, Music Fellowship, Porter Records & more.



5. Today most Jewelled Antler releases are real rare items. Most of them is sold out, and is not easy to find them in various distributors, but these records are passed around Internet and if someone is interested in, can download these ones without any problems from P2P programs such as Soulseek, Emule etc. Do you have something against it, that people download your music for free? Of course not for re-sale but only for listen at home.

G.D.: This is a big issue for some people. It's getting harder for bands to make any money at all to cover costs. I never made a lot of money from music. I've always had a job, so it's not as big an issue for me. But it's tough on labels & record stores. I'm glad people are still interested in our music enough to download it or mention it on their blog, but it's good to make a habit of buying new releases now & then. I think that it's worth supporting bands you like. I download out of print music too; I also try to buy new releases. I think we can all work it out...


6. You were a part and you still are an active member of many bands, for example THUJA, THE BLITHE SONS, THE BIRDTREE, THE IVYTREE, SKYGREEN LEOPARD, MIRZA. I don't want to ask you about details concerning albums of each above-mentioned groups, beacuse in this case our interview could take you too much time, please describe only in few words, each of these bands. Are there other bands which I didn't mention?

G.D.: Well, MIRZA is long gone, that dissolved in 1998; it was an improv band, very loud psychedelic rock & then in the studio we experimented with field recordings & acoustic instruments. Steve Smith & I formed THUJA right after that, to explore those quieter sounds, & we recruited Loren Chasse & Rob Reger. BLITHE SONS: is a duo of myself & Loren Chasse. IVYTREE & BIRDTREE were my solo projects, mixing minimal songs, outdoor recording sounds that went with a series of collages that I had done, that evolved into GIANT SKYFLOWER BAND, an ongoing project with Shayde Sartin. SKYGREEN LEOPARDS started as a duo in 2001 with Donovan Quinn, & has since evolved into a full band with 4 or 5 members at different times. The idea of that band was to record an imaginary pop band on an old 8-track reel-to-reel machine, a lost band. Yes there are ton of other bands, too many to mention. Loren Chasse has his OF & OV projects as well as the CHILD READERS with Jason Honea, & Steven R. Smith has HALA STRANA, all very much in the Jewelled Antler universe.



7. Personally I adore all THE BLITHE SONS records, and your solo projects like THE BIRDTREE and THE IVYTREE. Are these bands still active? Maybe we'll have a chance to listen to new records in near future?

G.D.: We have a new THE BLITHE SONS LP coming out on Family Vineyard later this year. I feel like it's our best work. It's a combinations of indoor & outdoor songs. I doubt there will be more 'Tree music, but I will make a new solo project, not sure yet of the name.


8. Please tell something more about composing process of songs for THE BLITHE SONS. I have read, that this is kind of magical process, right? You together with Loren and your music instruments, get out of your flats and go to a park or a meadow and surrounded by sounds of the nature you improvise and create beautiful songs, silent and intimate tones.

G.D.: Much of what we do is improvised, we try to quiet our minds & make sounds that flow with the environment. It's meditative. I sometimes bring a lyric or melody that was written before hand, the rest is free flowing. Then we edit it later to make it more coherent.



9. Do you think that living in real world, whether relaxing on the silent meadow, or walking in the park, you can find your own refuge and forget about all things around you?

G.D.: I think it's the opposite sometimes. Things get more intense. Some of our outdoor experiences have been harrowing in an emotional sense. I feel like that music is very emotional, not mellow or escapist, though on the surface it sounds calm. It's really us working through some dark times.


10. Is your music kind of escape from reality for you? When you compose, do you try to forget about real world problems and follow directly to fairy imaginations?

G.D.: Sometimes thinking about music, bands or graphics can be an escape, & we enjoy weaving stories & mythologies, but when the music is actually being created & has momentum, I feel like we are very aware & in the present. That could mean sadness or joy, tangible emotions. Our music means something to us, but there is a lot of fun & playfulness in what we do. Ultimately the idea of bands & albums is absurd if you think about it.


11. Do you have any band which now is the most important for you? I suppose, that the bigest one at least is SKYGREEN LEOPARD, which play kind of pop / psychedelia. Am I right?

G.D.: Skygreen Leopards is probably the most well know. It feels good to sing songs, & we can play live shows, so I probably have put the most effort into that project because of all the rehearsing, writing & occasional touring. A lot of the Jewelled Antler projects are based around recording outdoors or specific moments in time; it's difficult to recreate the atmosphere in a rock club.



12. Why beside SKYGREEN LEOPARD none of your bands don't have an Internet website? Are you not interested in this kind of promotion?

G.D.: I don't know how to make websites, I still make our graphic designs on xerox machines with scissors, glue & tape. If I had the time & the knowledge, I would probably make some websites!


13. Do you feel a part of psych folk scene in USA? In my opinion, music of Jewelled Antler is quality of its own and the scene at the same time. What do you think? Does this kind of music, that you are involved in, have many fans?

G.D.: I think there are a few people that know about us, but we weren't really part of the New Weird America thing from a few years back, that was more an East Coast scene. I've since met a lot of those people & they are very nice & talented, but i don't think we were ever a part of that club. Our stuff was always maybe a little too frail & sensitive for some people. :) Also we are influenced as much by "pop" as "folk", if that makes any sense.


14. Could you recommend any interesting bands, which are able to create similar aura to this which we can find in your music?

G.D.: The New Zealand music of the early 90's was a big influence on what we do: The Garbage & the Flowers, Dadamah, Alastair Galbraith's Morse & Gaudylight. Definitley Brian Eno's On Land, AMM, the mood on those 80's Robert Wyatt albums, the Neil Young song "Will to Love", Charlie Tweedle, Television Personalities The Painted Word. I highly recommend MARU SANKAKU SHIKAKU, a Japanese outdoor improv theater troupe from the 70's; it didn't influence us, because we heard it much later, but I see some similarities to our improv music. The lyrics to "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" by Bob Dylan were a lauching pad for me. Many of our influences are non-musical: the poetry of William Everson & Robinson Jeffers, the art of Charles Burchfield & Max Ernst, Moomintrolls. You find threads of all these things in Jewelled Antler.



15. Do you now something about music scene in Poland? Surley you know Mirt and BRASIL AND THE GALLOWBROTHERS BAND. Some time ago Mirt did an interview with you for one of our magazines.

G.D.: Yes, I have heard BRASIL & the GALLOWBROTHERS BAND, very original, really interesting with strange keyboard sounds. I also know DEAD RAVEN CHOIR, who we released on our label, & i did some recording with him as well.


16. What plans for future do you have? When can we expect new songs recorded by Glenn Donaldson? And where can we look for informations about recordings from Jewelled Antler bands?

G.D.: We are always recording. Some of it comes out anonymously, & some of it never gets released. Donovan & I are making a new SKYGREEN LEOPARDS album. Loren & I are planning to make a "studio" THE BLITHE SONS record next. I am producing/mixing for other bands too. Thuja has a new album on Important Records. Things are moving forward. Unfortunately we don't have a central place for info on all our projects, but check out - www.softabuse.com


17. At the end I would like to thank you for your time, and also for this, that your music introduced new quality into my life. Would you like to add something else?

G.D.: Thanks for listening. I've said too much already.


rozmawiał: Tomasz Borowski







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