FOLLOWING A TOUR AROUND EUROPE, GLAIVE IS BACK AT HOME – IN ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, TO BE EXACT. SINCE LEAVING THE TOWN IN EARLY JANUARY, THE AMERICAN SINGER HAS BEEN EVERYWHERE FROM LONDON TO VIENNA TO WARSAW. NOW, DURING SOME MUCH-NEEDED REST, HE’S PREPARING TO WRAP UP HIS LATEST ALBUM. THOUGH BEST KNOWN FOR HIS SOMBRE SONGS, THIS TIME AROUND, THE FEELING OF JOY SEEMS TO BE PREVAILING, IN BIG PART THANKS TO HIS CURRENT SPIRIT ANIMAL, FOOTBALL ICON MARIO BALOTELLI. INSPIRED BY HIS BADASS ATTITUDE, GLAIVE IS CREATING MUSIC EVOKING THE EUPHORIC STATE OF A BUZZY STADIUM. WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING HOW HE SCORES!

You recently wrapped your European tour. Did you get to see any of the cities you performed in?

We always try to see the places we’re in, but sometimes there’s not enough time. I remember we had a day off in Milan and we went up to Lake Como, or when we were in Zurich, we drove to this village called Lauterbrunnen, which was a stunning place. Whenever we have the time, we go, but I’m not in charge of the calendar, so I don’t have control over that.

Do you find it comforting in any way to not be in charge and follow the lead?

Oh my god, it’s so nice! That may be the main reason why it’s hard to acclimate when you come back – there’s no rigid schedule. I like being told what to do. [Laughs] Now, I’m back in North Carolina and there’s people working on my house here and I have to make decisions, for example about replacing door knobs. When you’re on tour, you make zero decisions other than how you sing and what your performance is like. It’s really peaceful, in a way.

What do you do before each show to get in the right headspace?

I wish I had some deep, profound answer, but for this European tour, I had one of my best friends opening for me, so we would just sit there before the show and tell each other really bad jokes that are not funny. [Laughs] There’s no grand approach of, oh, we’re gonna sit here and meditate, then do 20 pushups, and write our names on the wall. It’s just like, “Let’s do the thing.”

It's mental pushups.

Yeah, you just kind of sit there and get ready. That said, I do have a playlist of EDM remixes of American pop songs that I listen to 10 minutes before the show. I will just jump around and get really excited because I love these songs.

What songs are on that list?

There’s a remix of this song by Zedd called Clarity. Then it goes to Hot N Cold by Katy Perry. And then it’s Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen. I probably know those songs better than the artists who made them because I listen to them every night [while on tour].

Left Necklaces **Celine Homme**
Right Full look **Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello**

You should sing them on stage one day.

I did think about it. In my last show on tour, in Poland, I was like, “I should just go out there and try to sing these.” And then during the soundcheck, I tried and I was like, “Wow, I cannot sing these songs at all.” [Laughs]

In your latest video for ik, you’re in your nature-boy era. What’s your favourite spot to hang outside?

I come home, and there are so many trees here, it’s so green right now. Everything is very pleasant. There are a few waterfalls that are closed to the public because there were landslides [at one point], but if you hop over the fence, you can get to them. Being there feels like heaven. That’s what it looks like in my mind because it’s just so serene. I’m a very big North Carolina fan – you’ll probably never meet somebody who likes North Carolina more than me.

You end your song As If by saying, “I’m gonna find my place in this world. Count on it.” Have you found it? What does it look or feel like to you?

I definitely have found it more than I did when I made that song. I was probably 17 or 18 at the time. I’d like to think it’s doing what I’m doing now: being with my family and creating. But I still have doubts, sometimes I think it’d be a bit easier if I didn’t make music and did something quite normal. Late last year, I was just very upset, and I told my manager that I was going to quit music and go to college. So that could always be a possibility. [Laughs] When I get very emotional, I’m like, “I can’t do this right now.” But at the end of the day, I’d like to think that it always comes back to me making music. My full purpose is yet to be seen, but at the moment, the only thing I care about is creating.

Have you been writing any new music while on tour?

I’ve never written a song on tour in my entire life. I very much struggle with being creative on the road. But before I went away, we actually already made a whole album that is almost done.

That’s cool! What themes have you been drawn to with this body of work?

Oh my god, I have a whole thing, I’ve never really told anyone about this, but I’m really into Italian soccer. Do you know who Mario Balotelli is?

Not really. [Laughs]

It’s all good, I’ll explain it. He’s just this super cool soccer player. So yeah, the whole thing is based on soccer, or football, as you’d say it. I’m getting custom jerseys made. You should look up how Mario Balotelli used to dress, he used to wear some crazy shit. It’s just a cool swag, it’s a winning vibe. Like, I love the feeling of a guy scoring a penalty, and then the moment of celebration, it kind of feels like a show, to be honest. Even just watching it, you’re like, “Wow, this is so powerful.” Other than music, sport is probably the most powerful connector of people. But music is better because if you go to a show, everybody agrees that it’s good. Whereas if you’re at a soccer game, half the people agree that it’s good and half the people think it’s bad. But they both create this very visceral, almost animalistic reaction in people.

Coming back to Mario, he had this one jersey that I’m trying to recreate. When he scored a goal at a time he was getting dogged in the press, he pulled up his jersey, and underneath, he had a long-sleeved top that said, “Why always me?” He’s so cool, I could talk about it all day. He’s so tough. [Laughs] So yeah, that’s my whole vibe right now.

Right Full look **Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello**

How does this vibe transpire into the sound? Are you inspired by Mario’s energy?

I will say that throughout my whole music career, a lot of the songs have been very sad. And while there are still some sadder songs on this album, a lot of them are less so… As a person, I’m less sad, I suppose. It’s a little more fun. The feeling of it is more similar to soccer, which is why I think it’s going to match really well. It’s a lot of rhythmic nice shit and the lyrics go hard, everything goes hard!

Interview by Martin Onufrowicz

Photography by Yaël Temminck

Fashion by Patti Cramer

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