INTERVIEW > Alan Glass

You might not know his name but you'll certainly know his music. Welcome to the world of Alan Glass...


From the outside, Alan Glass'flat looks kind of ordinary - just one home in another development of purpose-built dwellings in the north London suburbs. Parking spaces for a few cars, a few shops over the road… that kind of thing. Even when you step inside, there's nothing that really stands out. Nothing that tells you this flat is a virtual pop and r'n'b factory.
But this is the place where ex-pat American Glass has crafted tunes for everyone from the Lighthouse Family and Mis-Teeq to Liberty X and Jocelyn Brown. And it all happens in that little room at the end of the corridor. Hung on the wall by the door to that little room is the first hint of what goes on inside - a handful of gold and silver discs that Glass has picked up in a career that kicked off back in the 1970s.
He started off his career as a session guitarist, adding funky 'n' jazzy bits to albums by Kenny G, George Benson and Aretha Franklin, but he quit playing in the early-80s to concentrate on his real passion - writing. Along with his brother Preston Glass, who made a name for himself with songs for George Benson, Alan set up a fledgling songwriting company, first working with Narada Michael Walden and eventually landing a publishing deal with Thom Bell of Gamble, Bell & Huff fame - the guys behind the legendary Philadelphia sound and writers/producers for some of soul's greatest ever names.
'All of a sudden,' grins Alan, 'Preston and I were being asked to write songs for the Stylistics and the Spinners. I was like a kid in a candy store. Because these were bands I'd grown up with.'

But it wasn't long before the ambitious Alan was looking further afield.

'I'd worked with a couple of British artists and they told me about the whole European scene, so I decided to check it out myself. I couldn't believe it. This whole market of creativity and music. Places like France, Germany and Spain? places that most Americans don't even think about.

'It also gave me the chance to hook up with people like the Lighthouse Family - I got a couple of tracks on the Ocean Drive album which more or less paid for this flat. Cheers, guys! - and Mis-Teeq. I co-wrote their first two singles, Why and All I Want. That's the great thing about being over here in Britain. You get the chance to work with so many different styles of music. I hate the idea of limiting myself as a songwriter. Jazz, pop, r'n'b, hip-hop, garage… it's all music.'
While final mixes of Alan's songs are done at larger studios, he does all of his writing and pre-production at home. He also records most of the vocals there as well.

'Bands come up here and they really like the vibe,' he explains. 'If they want to take a break, they can go and make a sandwich or watch TV. It's meant to feel like home. And I think that gets people to relax.'
Even Korg Magazine is surprised at just how little there is in here. Just a computer running sequencing and audio software, Alan's guitars, a mic and - taking centre stage - the Korg Triton Extreme.
'This is such an incredible studio tool,' he says, calling up a few sounds from the Extreme. 'Listen to that. Nice big fat drums. Lush strings. And this is my favourite
string patch. Low Bows.

'It's just packed with great sounds, which, as a songwriter, is exactly what you want. The Triton is all over those first two Mis-Teeq singles. You want to be able to switch a machine on and for that machine to start inspiring you. You need that machine to cover all bases. And you need it to sound good in the studio. The workstation side of the Extreme gives you a whole load of loops - jazz, pop r'n'b, whatever - that give you a basic template with maybe drums, a bass line, and some strings. Very often I will just come in here, pull up a loop and hear one little hook or rhythm that catches my imagination. With the Extreme, it's easy to isolate that one sound and use that as a building block for a whole new song. It's all so quick and easy.'
Alan has recently got quite a bit of extra help from the Korg Legacy package - a software bundle that features three classic Korg machines, the MS20, the Polysix and the Wavestation. It;s also possible to combine the
MS20 and the Polysix in the Legacy Cell - a veritable monster of sound.

'I used all of those original machines at one time or another. There was a lot of Korg analog stuff in the studio when we were working with Aretha Franklin. I know what those machines sound like and, to me, the Legacy is every bit as good. The filters, the LFOs… it all has that real analog feel.

'And, again, it's so easy get exactly what you want from the Legacy. Somebody will ring me and say they want a song that sounds like so-and-so.

There might be some big, fat, squelching analog bass on that particular track. With the Legacy, I've got it all right here at the touch of a button. And the most amazing thing about it is the quality of the presets. I do occasionally tweak things for a song, but a lot of the time, I'll use them straight. That's how good they are.

'In fact, I think that's one of the real joys of Korg gear. With a lot of equipment, there is a lot of time spent making a sound fit in a song, but with the Legacy and the Triton, you can almost always find something that you can use without too much fuss. When your publisher is asking you to come up with over 100 songs a year, that makes life a whole lot easier'