Temecula, CA: Q&A: Tyler Glenn of Neon Trees

Tyler Glenn is getting some well-deserved quiet time at his parents' house in Southern California. It's a rare break for the singer/keyboardist, whose band, the Provo, UT-based Neon Trees, has been dubbed music's latest buzz band, thanks to its synthesizer-fueled hit "Animal," from its major-label debut album, "Habits."

The arena-ready anthem "Animal" reached the top of the Billboard Alternative Songs chart after 32 weeks, completing the lengthiest journey to the apex in the list's 22-year history. The song, too, has been used in a slew of commercials and movie trailers, making it one of the most recognizable songs of last summer. But that's not the only thing about which Glenn is thrilled.

"My biggest excitement was putting out a record, having a record in a store," Glenn told SoundSpike. "I've always been that dreamer kid who's wanted that since I was able to listen to music. I just think that's awesome and exciting. Then, the fact that people actually like it and are listening to it is cool. I try not to pay attention to numbers and stats and what people are talking about -- like sales. I'm more focused on whether people are coming to the shows and having a good time. And to see that, and to see people come just to see us -- just to see the growth in the last six or seven months -- has been crazy. "

One of those gigs was the renowned Lollapalooza festival in Chicago's Grant Park in August, 2010, joining the likes of Soundgarden, Erykah Badu and Lady Gaga. It was the last show of a seven-week summer jaunt.

"It was incredible," Glenn said. "Our album had only come out six and a half, seven months ago [March 16, 2010]. But we've been a band for five years. We've been working hard. To most people, we're a brand new band. So just to get on the bill was incredible. To be there and to have the time slot that we did on the stage that we played, we were the last band on the stage.

"The band before us was called Semi Precious Weapons. Lady Gaga was there to watch them because she's friends with them. They're both friends from New York. She did her big stage dive that got reported on. I was pretty like, "OK, how can we top this? Lady Gaga made a cameo -- everybody's going to leave." But no one left. Everyone sort of multiplied. There were about 8,000 to 9,000 people watching us by the time we went on. It was like one of those moments where I'm thinking, "I'm going to have the best time I can." I really did. It was really incredible to see the smiles and the hands up in the air and the people singing."

Glenn spoke to SoundSpike about "Habits," the personal songs that he writes and the placement of his music in varied media.

SoundSpike: Are you looking forward to your tour?

Tyler Glenn: I always look forward to touring.

You have a pretty amazing story. Tell me about how you landed your record deal.

Back in 2008, we were still the band playing out of Provo, UT. We started after Chris [Allen, guitarist] and I moved there. We started the band, really inspired by the scene there and the culture there, which sounds weird because a lot of people would think Provo doesn't have that. But I don't know, it was very inspiring to see an actual scene of kids playing in bands, friendly competition and things. We played out of Provo for three or four years. Back then, we were just doing regional touring set up by ourselves. We played in Vegas and, through a couple different birds, Ronnie [Vannucci Jr., drummer] from the Killers was told, "You should check this band out."

We were still playing in some of those areas to friends and family members. It was a particularly small show that he came to see. I think he just saw something in it. He remained a friend of the band. He asked us to play a few dates with them, which was unbelievable for a little band from Provo. It started to grasp the interest of industry people. While there had been a little bit of talk here and there from different people in the industry before that, I think that kind of said, "OK, maybe we should pay attention to this band." The label remained friendly for a little while and kind of courted us for a little bit. Our A&R guy, Evan [Lipschutz], came out to Logan, Utah, to see us play for about 50 people in this hall. He signed us.

That's amazing.

It was crazy. It was very much like some of the stories I've heard about my favorite bands being signed -- A&R guy came to see this little hometown show, loved it and believed in it. It takes so much work to get to that point. At that point, we were like "'Oh, we're signed. This is exciting.'' But I think a lot of people don't realize that's when the actual work begins and you kind of ask yourself, so four years of all this laboring for no money and hardship and not having anyone believe in you, that's not work. It's kind of a weird mind trick to play on yourself.

What is the scene like in Provo?

Well, me and Chris grew up in Temecula and Marietta, CA. While it's a lovely suburban town, I think it really strangles a lot of creativity as far as arts. There's a big winery and balloon festivals, but there's never been a particular movement in music coming out of [Temecula]. In high school and after high school, it was very hard to be a band in this area because there's no scene. Anytime a scene would start to sprout up, it would get strangled because there wasn't a place to play. Or the venue that was having show was closed down because the local government didn't like it. I was a hater at first, when we moved to Provo. What can be in Provo? I followed Chris because he needed to go to school up there. I was like, "I still can't play music without you." I'll go up there where there's nothing to do. So when I got there, I was totally surprised at the caliber of bands people that were starting and the bands that had been playing. There were places to actually play with stages and lighting. There were people who took it seriously. To me, that was really exciting, because I always wanted to be a part of a scene or a movement like that. I think because it is Provo and a lot of the bands are religious or LDS [Latter Day Saints] or have different moral outlooks, I think that sort of like changes the way people create art because there's a conservative forefront. There's a unique underground community. I think because kids aren't doing drugs or drinking or playing bars that there's opportunities for people to take it a little more seriously or work a little harder at it.

Tell me about the inspiration behind "Habits."

The whole theme of the songs on the album and a lot of what I write about -- and probably will write about for awhile -- is the mistakes we make in life and how we learn and grow from them. The whole album talks about actual habits in love and habitual practices that we do in relationships and the way we communicate with each other. I'm fascinated by human psychology and sexuality and spirituality and such. To me, it's an exploration of how we talk and the way we communicate. Also, it's a very accessible, fun record to just put on if no one's even listening to the lyrics. I'm glad there are songs of substance on there, too.

Who produced your record?

Tim Pagnotta. He's the singer of Sugarcult, and they had their heyday in the early 2000s. They were touring on one of their last tours. They needed an opening band in St. George, UT, and we were asked to open for them. Tim was really interested in us and sort of took a liking to us, sort of like Ronnie did. We just remained friends. I would just bounce ideas off him. We became close friends in music. I think when it was time to write the record, we did a lot of demoing and a lot of traveling around to different cities in New York, Los Angeles and Utah even, to try to find a producer that would sort of make the songs come alive on the album. We would always go back to Tim. We were like, "Well, Tim really knows how to do this." I like how Tim works. It was a kind of fun experience. I like looking back on summer [of 2009] and the making of the album and all last year [2009] of writing it and hanging out with him a lot. It was an awesome opportunity. What's cool about him is we stayed in contact and we stayed friends. He calls when he hears "Animal" on the radio. Or he'll e-mail us when he has a story about somebody talking about the band. Or he'll come to shows in L.A. It's been a good situation.

It seems like it would be beneficial to know your producer well.

I think it cut a lot of awkwardness out of the way. I'm not saying it was a completely breezy process, because I think anytime you have people in a room with creativity and a lot of opinions, they're going to get those times when it's a little awkward. That's only because everyone's fighting to make the first end result. It was a nice time.

What is your favorite song on "Habits"?

It changes. I love the album and I'm proud of it. I love "1983." I think it could be a real anthem if people took to liking it. I love "In the Next Room." I think it's beautiful. I love the closing track, "Our War." It's a more personal song of mine. "Love and Affection." I think it's very quirky and I'm proud of the whole thing.

How would you describe yourself as a writer?

I'm definitely one of those writers who writes because it helps me get through stuff. I've always been that way. People ask me, "Do you guys have any new songs? Are you writing a new album yet?" I'm like, "I'm always writing. I always have new songs whether they're songs for the band or songs for myself." If they're ever going to see the light of day, it doesn't matter. I don't think it was hard for me to be personal. At the same time, I was like, "All right. This is my first opportunity where, if this album really gets heard by as many people as we're hoping, they're going to kind of know my thoughts and they're going to know what makes me tick a little more." I had that in mind, but at the same time I didn't. I hope the next time around when we make another record, I hope I can have the same mind set and environment that I did this time around so I'm not self-conscious of that.

You've been fortunate in that you've had a lot of placement in television shows and movie trailers.

Yeah, there were a lot of offers. I don't think we ever wanted to be on anything. We weren't just going to take whatever offer came. At the same time, we're a rock band and a pop band. We always wanted to be accessible to people. I think we chose a couple of the things because we liked the things. ["Animal"] was on a "Bones" commercial, for the TV show. It was on the Vegas ads. Branden's [Campbell, bassist] from Vegas. There are certain reasons behind why the song is on there. It's cool. It does help pay off some of the debt to the label.