Friends-in-arms reveling at the intersection of classical virtuosity, existential poetics, and art-film surrealism, Seattle art-pop duo Glass Heart String Choir weaves golden lyrical threads of haute-art into their achingly beautiful orchestral tapestry. Through their deeply personal and effecting songs, Glass Heart String Choir tell the complex stories of our lives with a unique beauty and eloquence.
GLOBAL TEXAN CHRONICLES
“Powerful before you even hear one luscious note, as GHSC’s Katie Mosehauer and Ian Williams continue their quest to deliver to the world delicate and romantic folk-pop.”
ATWOOD MAGAZINE
“‘Wounds’ is both an inner reckoning and a confessional all wrapped up in vivid orchestral wonder…a spine-chilling display of vulnerability.”
B-SIDES AND BADLANDS
“This song is a finely crafted dagger of emotion, beautiful and delicate, yet with a sharpness that cuts to the quick.”
THE MAY MAGAZINE
"Not just a work of flowing beauty in and of itself, and it certainly is that, “Wounds” marries this beauty with an emotional honesty and depth that is sincere and moving."
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Where are you based? Do you tour to other regions/countries?We are based in Seattle, Washington. In the before-times, we used to tour extensively in the United States and New Zealand and had grand plans to extend the circuit to the UK, Germany, and Italy. Then 2020 happened....We haven't felt that it is safe enough for us or our audiences to be back on the road yet, but we literally cannot wait for that to happen. Join our virtual community to stay in the loop about when that exciting day will come, as well as streaming concerts that are in the works for 2022.
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Wait, there's a harp in this band?"There is! We incorporate quite a menagerie of sounds and base the instrumentation on what will best tell the story of the song. Ian tends to write on acoustic guitar or piano, and then Katie will add violin, viola, cello, harp, piano, harmonium, synths, and/or organ depending on what shapes the music into its ideal form.
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How long have you been playing together?For ONE MILLION years. Not really, but it has been a long time! We met over a decade ago and have worked on a number of projects together since then, including a band called The Thoughts that eventually grew into Glass Heart String Choir. Other projects have included Seattle Rock Orchestra, The Monday Mornings, and the touring band for French for Rabbits.
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Who are your influences? Who are you listening to now?Between us, our influences are all over the map! We find a lot of common ground in Leonard Cohen, Enya, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Jocelyn Pook, JS Bach, Kate Bush, Claude DeBussy, Joanna Newsom, and August and Everything After by Counting Crows. Right now, we’ve been discovering Kirin J Callinan, Mary Lattimore, My Brightest Diamond, Fishbach, Coco, as well as the amazing back catalogs of Vangelis and Yoko Kanno.
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You guys seem...intense. Are you serious all the time?While our music (and press photos) tend to bend to the serious side, we're otherwise two affable people who make a lot of jokes and have a lovely time in the world. As proof of this, I offer you this photo of Ian between gigs during a tour in New Zealand. Just look at that face! The utter image of delight at the little flightless weka that is trying to steal our snacks. Also, flightless birds 10/10.
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How do you describe your music?We live quite solidly between genres, so we're a little bit folk, classical crossover, alternative, experimental....Other people most often use the words cinematic, beautiful, and heartbreaking to describe our work, and we've experimented with labels like art-pop, baroque pop, and orchestral folk. Our goal in life is to come up with our very own genre name as awesome as the niche "Witch House" (which is totally a real thing that you should Google). If you have ideas, we want to hear them!
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Where can I learn more?www.glassheartstringchoir.com