Meet John Norman, the lead guitarist for the new Indie band Mad Glory. After joining the UK streamed Frontman Matthew Hipps, Norman has begun to show off the skills he has developed over the years. This summer John Norman, Kevin Turner, and Matthew Hipps will be releasing Mad Glory’s first EP. Check out their first acoustic single “Red Wine Blues” at madglory.bandcamp.com
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
John Norman: I grew up in a small town called Livingston, Texas. It’s right outside of Houston. I wanted to become an artist because of the people I grew up around. They all played guitar, and that kind of thing is infectious, so I took up guitar and the rest just fell into place.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
JN: Recently I’ve been pretty into the band “Mad Season”, so that’s where the “Mad” in it comes from. I just thought “Glory” sounded cool.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
JN: It’s a good way to get music out. All I’ve ever done is give my music out for free. I don’t really know much about music distribution, and wouldn’t know how to go about getting people to pay for it.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
JN: Don’t get discouraged.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
JN: My go-to band for inspiration is The Beatles. If I’m in a bind and can’t come up with anything, listening to Revolver usually helps me out. My songwriting process is just sitting down, finding a chord progression or riff that I like, and sing out gibberish lyrics. Then, after I’ve got a verse and a chorus and all the other good stuff, I’ll sit down and write down some actual lyrics.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
JN: We’ve got a Bandcamp, madglory.bandcamp.com, our Twitters, @Johnlikesurmom @Broboymatt, and our Tradiio address, https://tradiio.com/madglory/
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
JN: I’d probably just buy myself things. I’d buy a few new guitars, and take my mom out shopping. Whatever I have left over would go to my college funds, I guess.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
JN: Matt handles the promotion stuff. He uses Twitter and Facebook, Tradiio and Bandcamp mostly, I think.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
JN: Mad Glory has an EP coming out sometime this year.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
JN: I have no idea. I’ve been in it for so long now.
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
JN: I’m sure it’d be difficult if I let it get to me, but I don’t.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
JN: Be on the lookout for Mad Glory’s new EP