with Glenn White

Late Winter (January 2012) Edition 

Isaac: What do you feel is the one aspect of making music that gets you the most discouraged?

Glenn: Finding an audience. I have played far too many times to a room populated with little more than the waitstaff and the sound man. I've tried everything . . . email lists, Facebook blasts, hiring publicists, putting together bands with brand-name players, and by and large it has all amounted to the same thing. And it's like this for a vast majority of the concerts I go to as a listener. It would seem that the days of performing as a means of building an audience are over. It just seems like so much work with so little pay off.

Isaac: Do you feel that Indie music gets the respect it deserves? Why or why not?

Glenn: Sure it does. We're in an age when major labels consider a new release a success if it gets a few hundred thousand sales (as opposed to the multi-platinum releases that were commonplace before iTunes). The only possible explanation for such huge declines in major label sales is that people have turned to Indie music en masse.

Isaac: In your opinion, what are your thoughts on how the most unusual place you've ever played a show or made a recording impact the qualities of the show/recording?

Glenn: While I can think of some funny stories about places that I've played over the years, most of them aren't followed by stories of things coming out better as a result. Suffice to say, when you're in your element, you play better, and the audience feedback is more rewarding.

Isaac: I am interested in knowing if in what ways does the place where you live (or places where you have lived); affect the music you create, or your taste in music?

Glenn: I moved to New York (three times) specifically because nearly everyone I listen to who is alive lives here, and I want to be part of what they are part of. I grew up in Phoenix, and have also lived in Denver, Boston, and Fairbanks. And while each has their merits, the circumstances surrounding my presence in these areas had more to do with non-musical reasons.

Isaac: If you knew that you would never gain fame and fortune with what you are doing now, would you continue to make music? Explain.

Glenn: I've been performing, composing, and putting my own groups together for more than 20 years without fame or fortune. What do you think?

Isaac: I think you are doing what you need to do successfully no matter the financial outcome is.

Isaac: As you continue your own path for making music, do you find yourself getting more or less interested in seeking out and listening to new music made by other people...and why do you think that is?

Glenn: I'm always looking for something new to listen to, whether it be something altogether new or something older that I just haven't discovered yet. I have always been a sponge for new information, and am constantly on the lookout for people who find new ways of composing, improvising, and producing.

Isaac: As far as your influences, what would you say are the musical periods or styles do you find yourself most drawn to as a listener?

Glenn: I tend to gravitate towards what most people would call modern or progressive jazz. My favorite group of all time is the Miles Davis Quintet of the late 1960's, but I'm also a huge fan of Miles's Bitches Brew period, and all of the side projects that that amazing music inspired.

Isaac: What is the best site/s that you can be found on the Internet?

Glenn: http://GlennWhite.net