Pas que cela ait marqué durablement le monde de la musique mais fut un temps, Daryl Palumbo de Glassjaw avait lancé un second groupe plus pop, Head Automatica. Après un sympathique « Decadence » et un passable « Popaganda », le groupe était censé sorti un troisième album, « Swan Damage » qui ne verra jamais le jour ! Malgré qu’il ait bossé dessus en 2009, le frontman n’a pas donné suite en regard d’une brouille avec son label de l’époque, Warner Bros (déjà responsable, si je ne m’abuse, d’une brouille avec Billy Corgan pour l’album « Zeitgeist » que vous ne pouvez trouver sur les services de streaming et sorti en 2007). Ne voulant clairement pas jouer le jeu du label à la recherche du tube, Warner lui aurait suggéré la fin de la collaboration tout en retenant les masters des titres enregistrés à l’époque.
“I don’t know. I feel like it was insinuated that things weren’t great at the label. ‘Do you want to make hits? Are we going to put a bunch of hits on it?’ Shit like that. That was part of it. And I was like, ‘That’s not where I am. That’s not what I’m about. Look, I’m not trying to make 10 [versions of] ‘Beating Heart Baby.’’
And I think it was just [the label saying], ‘You know what? You can have your masters, and you can split from the label if you want.’ I think that part of it was Glassjaw getting off the label, too. I think that was all one moment where we were parting ways in every capacity. And if I could get that record, then that was great. And if Glassjaw could get away, that was great, too. I just feel like all that at once, you know? And that was it.
I think it would’ve been worse than not coming out, had the Head Automatica record come out on Warner [Records]. It was getting to the point where I couldn’t even get tracks. It was not happening. So I don’t even have files. Glassjaw you can’t get any information about. We couldn’t get any information about our history at the label. There was nobody to talk to. It’s just like a fantasy. There’s no way to work with a label in that capacity.
You couldn’t get masters. Maybe I have wav files of all these Head Automatica tunes, but they’re not… I feel like it’s mixed, but they’re like there’s still things that I feel like we’re gonna be changed. Everything was very up in the air when we parted ways. And that was it.”
D’ailleurs, Palumbo se veut lucide quant à la sortie des titres enregistrés à l’époque et doute sérieusement que ceux-ci aient une valeur réelle de tubes en puissance :
“You could put out a fucking record of MP3s that you had into the world. A lot of people maybe would never know that. Maybe, I guess I could. I don’t think I’m on their radar enough for anybody to be like ‘Those are those magical songs we thought we could have made 1 billion.’ If they thought they were gonna make a billion dollars, they would have begged me to put out with them over a decade ago.
It might come out at some point. I don’t know. But it feels old at this point. Maybe that’s just because I’m familiar with it. Feels like it’s from a couple of lifetimes ago.”
Quant à l’avenir du groupe, là aussi Daryl est plutôt du genre à passer à autre chose puisqu’il a enchainé avec le groupe Color Film et avoue ne pas avoir reparlé aux autres membres du groupe depuis :
“I haven’t really talked to those guys in a minute. I’m just the type of guy that always wants to wash the slate clean. It’s not necessarily that I outgrow anything. I’m not pompous. I just think sometimes you get that taste in your mouth. Like, it’s time.
And toward the end of the Head Automatica zone, I think it was right as ‘Swan Damage‘ got finished and [we] were playing some more shows. I really started playing a lot with my buddy Rick Penzone. We started playing together full time. And then we were writing so much together that we were like, “Well, it’s not Head Automatica.” This is the next thing, Color Film.
When I’m over something, I guess I’m just over it. You just get that hair up your ass that does something else. I’m not saying that in any weird pointed ways. And then that was the end of Head Automatica.”
Source : RSTLSS