A visceral sound

GLARE returns to its roots at Cine El Rey

From its visceral, raw and constantly evolving sound, GLARE has built a huge following from the ground up. Fresh off their European tour, the Valley’s own phenoms are set to return to Cine El Rey for a homecoming show.

GLARE is set to perform at 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the historic Cine El Rey, located at 311 S. 17th St. in McAllen.

In a candid interview with The Rider, guitarist and vocalist Cesar ‘Izzy’ Izaguirre talked about the band’s roots, the emotional weight of their album “Sunset Funeral” and the striking new visual dimension of their live shows.

Rather than being shaped by outside influences, Izaguirre’s musical voice grew from the sounds of his friends and the disconnection from major music scenes.

“I always refer to the Valley like a microcosm,” he said.  “Very much like its own little cultural pocket.”

This allowed an organic style to blossom, and this local, community-driven influence is what he feels personally shaped him and, by extension, the band’s unique identity.

“I feel like GLARE is just sonically a representation of, like, just a bunch of our different likes and tastes,” Izaguirre said.

Despite the band’s shoegaze sound, he said he never personally identified as a “shoegazer.” He listened to bands such as My Bloody Valentine but was unaware of the “shoegaze” term, so he wasn’t able to define it as such until much later in his career.

Izaguirre said he believes the current popularity of the genre is a reaction to a period of highly polished, pop-focused music.

“I think a lot of people, especially during [COVID’s] self-isolation … were just looking for something, like, raw and vulnerable, you know, just as they were feeling,” he said.

Shoegaze has always been a “niche pocket,” that has been alive and well for a long time, the musician said. But now, there’s a wider public need for the type of connection it offers.

He said the music “wails like a scream, and it feels visceral”—whether through the lyrics or the sheer sound—and is meant to be felt.

“I feel like people are looking for something raw and authentic and true,” he added.  “… [And] they want to find it themselves.”

Izaguirre interprets the band’s latest album, “Sunset Funeral,” as a sojourn through the stages of grief, and how it manifests itself in various forms, from a hopeful feeling to a self isolating and dreadful one.

“It kind of covers a lot of different, like, spectrums of that same one emotion,” he said.

He added because the songs were written over a long period, they capture the evolution of the band’s members and their different feelings over time.

For their upcoming two-night performance at Cine El Rey, Izaguirre said fans can expect a major departure from previous shows.

“It’s definitely not going to look like the GLARE you’ve seen before,” he said, crediting their new “wonderful” team behind the performance.

It will be a full auditory and visual experience, he added.

While he doesn’t want to give away too much, he explained the visual elements are designed to complement the feeling of listening to the album with your eyes closed, where the music might take you somewhere, “like a color scheme in your head.”

“Try to imagine that, but more like, actually in front of you with … visual elements,” Izaguirre teased.

Looking to the future, the band is “trekking on,” constantly exercising its creative muscle.

Glare is not a band that “sticks to one thing,” he said, adding that its sound and aesthetic are “always up in the air.”

This has led them to actively explore new creative and sonic directions, as its ideas have evolved significantly in just a few months.

 “It’s kind of cool to keep people on their toes,” he said.

Tickets for the two-night event are available for purchase online through major ticket vendors.

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