9am on a Monday morning would possibly be the worst time of the week to try and meet to interview a band. It’s bad enough for this reviewer who has spent the night previous living it up at the ITM Christmas Party let alone four musicians whose main hours of working don’t start until well after the sun has set. Nonetheless the four members of the Gloworm Trio agree to get to their rehearsal early for this one occasion so the readers of ITM can find out a little more about
the Gloworm Trio before their highly anticipated gig at Breakfest on Boxing Day.
Things began for the Gloworm Trio a little over a year ago towards the end of 2001 out of a mutual respect of ones abilities and style between three students of the highly regarded West Australian Conservatorium of Music. Drummer Ryan Grieve, who was already a member of Perth funk band Flux Capacitor, was getting into the bass sounds he was hearing from Troy Glennoe. Glennoe knew keyboardist Luke Davoll from another Conservatoriam based band they were involved with, The Ziggy Bey Jan Group, and the three started jamming together. As Davoll explains there was not necessarily any immediate intention for it to become anything
significant. “We didn’t really decide we wanted to go this way or that, we just sort of let the music guide us”
And constantly evolve their sound has. With strong jazz roots between them there was an initial desire to play more down tempo jazzy music, or as Luke refers to it as “café music”. After taping a support slot the group played at Mojo’s one night Ryan gave the recording to well known Perth DJ and producer Dan tha Man to see if he would be keen on remixing some of their work. It seems he liked what he heard and as
Ryan says “he gave his input and ideas and made us take things a bit more seriously”.
In trying to dissect the ongoing musical evolution of the Gloworm Trio you quickly realise that they go through phases quickly as their sound constantly evolves and that at this rate there is no telling where they are headed next. On their initial
aspirations in café music Davoll responds “I think we were only café music for about two months”. The more songs they wrote the more their sounds grew. As Ryan states, the recent addition of Dan in the last few months as a regular member of the trio (quartet?) has “opened different possibilities for sounds”. 
So what does the Gloworm Trio of now sound like? Not such an easy question for a group of musicians who are not keen to have their vast range of musical influences and inspirations catergorised under one name. Luke suggests jazz before qualifying it with “but it’s also very much not jazz at all”. Willing to give anything a go you can expect to hear from these guys sounds of hip hop, jazz, funk, house, drum’n’bass, dub and whatever else they work into a jam in their next rehearsal. Luke explains the creative process into writing one of their tracks. “Troy will do like a groovy sort of bass line you can click your fingers to, Ryan will bring in a beat, then
I’ll come from a completely different angle using some jazz sort of stuff, then Dan will bring in another perspective again”.
The question has got to be asked as to whether this is just another band for a bunch of music students to get involved with and explore one side of their current musical tastes or is it something they want to take further. Dan’s response offers some insight into why the DJ of 11 years initially got involved with the trio and the potential he sees for the group to create
something truly unique in the Perth and Australian music scene. “Dance music traditionally, especially in Perth and Australia, has always been electronic based. The sound that these guys have put out is similar to that in the way it is formatted and structured but it’s really organic, they all play instruments and it’s not so electronic. Globally there’s a lot more of that happening.” The feeling coming from the guys in
respect to this is that they know they are onto something special and keen to follow as far as it will take them.
So what about recording some of this on to CD for us all to take home and listen to? The main problem the guys stress is the aforementioned issue of the evolution of their sound. Recordings from when they first got together would only see them as more down tempo jazz, recording from even from six months ago wouldn’t show the influence Dan has had on the group recently. The other issue in recording this year has
been one of time with all four having flat out years studying (Dan studies Sound at the Conservatorium). Attempts have been made but always result in wanting to rerecord it later because they know they can do better. As Ryan explains “we’re still discovering new possibilities and ways of doing things…when we do record something we want it to be a quality recording”.
So thus far the only real chance to check these guys out is by experiencing them live. With less than a dozen gigs this year ranging in size from stripped back shows at the Jazz Room to supporting Blackalicious at The Globe they share the common
belief that they don’t want to over-gig. Instead preferring to put more preparation in to each time they play and always being able to sound fresh when they play. It has been through a couple of key gigs such as the first birthday of the Velvet Lounge and some performances at the Inglewood which has sparked an interest amongst the local scene as a group to watch out for. 
With a 1pm slot pencilled in Break Fest some may be wondering what to expect. Dan fills us in; “I think it will be a cool opener for people as they arrive at Break Fest. When you get there it’s pretty hot still and you’re not really up to go hard straight away.
It’s a chilled kind of picnic vibe to start with. I think Gloworms will handle that kind of vibe and ease people into the day because at the end of the day it’s going to get a little crazy. So your going to hear the real slow tunes to ease peoples mind in the sun and then warm up into something a little more crazy. I think it’s the perfect kind of start for Break Fest.”
So, when you wake up on Boxing Day with that full Christmas belly and want nothing more to hang with some mates listening to some tunes why not get to Break Fest early and park your butt under a tree or pull out the hackey sack and enjoy the sounds of the Gloworm Trio as you prepare for what’s shaping up to be one of the highlight events of the year. The Gloworm Trio hit the stage at 1pm sharp following an opening DJ set from Dan tha Man.
