Stereo Embers The Podcast 0154: Tyler Glenn (Neon Trees)

“A Level Presentation Of A Human Being” That’s how Tyler Glenn describes how after all this time of being in a band he’s finally arrived at a mindset that takes in both criticism and praise. Being level means he’s not dazzled by the positive or felled by the negative. “I don’t feed into the good or bad anymore,” he says. Well, when it comes to Neon Trees, there sure is a lot of good. The California born Glenn and his bandmates put out three albums in four years—2010’s Habits, 2012’s Picture Show and 2014’s Pop Psychology. And that concentrated level of activity yielded some pretty impressive results, like nabbing Billboard and BMI awards for the alternative chart topper "Animal," touring the world and opening for everyone from Duran Duran to the Flaming Lips to My Chemical Romance, playing the Macys Thanksgiving Parade, performing on Kimmel, Fallon, Leno and Letterman, doing an episode of Live From Daryls House, and having their single "Everybody Talks" in a commercial for the Buick Verano. And that’s just a partial list. Rather than me running through their Linked In profile, let me say this: Neon Trees are one of the most original, arresting and utterly satisfying bands on the planet. Every song has a perfect dose of edge, melody, musical precision and infectious choruses. Breaking a 6 year silence, they're back with I Can Feel you Forgetting Me, a sterling collection of one manic pop thrill after the other. From Nights to Everything Is Killing Me, Glenn and his bandmates swing freer than ever and it results in one of the very best albums of 2020. In this conversation Glenn talks to Alex about his love of The Smiths, how he’s coping with not performing, and how to retain an air of mystery while still being accessible to his fans. They also talk about the catharsis of both coming out and leaving the Mormon Church, why Springsteen is such a great performer and the perils of co-dependency….