A Dirty Dozen with PLASTIC RHINO – September 2021

Photo Credit: Simile Photography

According to a recent press release: “Ever wondered what it would be like if TOOL & In This Moment had a baby? The answer is emerging rock band, Plastic Rhino – fronted by husband and wife – Atara and Jack Glazer. The duo is gearing up to release their new single titled “Euphoria Now” produced by Tom Chandler (Diamond Lane, Desecrate) on September 21st. The music video features riff-heavy instrumentation and powerful raw vocals from front woman Atara Glazer that give you spine tingling chills. Plastic Rhino, wrote the single during COVID Lockdown – Atara was stuck at home for 4 months jobless as productions halted – while Jack couldn’t burn bodies fast enough as a funeral crematory operator in Los Angeles. The viewer is subjected to the theme of losing your mind by doing the same thing every day over and over. Every day the same routine, where you lose yourself so much that a mutated “variant”of yourself is created to take over. “This track specifically focuses on an all-to-relatable concept of being stuck somewhere against your will for a long period of time. Everyone is forced to face demons of all sorts, including the ones they thought they did not have.” said Atara & Jack Glazer. Plastic Rhino has been featured in VENTS Magazine, Metal Assault, Music Junkie Press and many more.” We get the duo to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Jack: A couple of the songs utilize standard tuning to serve as a bridge for the older material into this latest release. We took a page out of the Deftones’ book, and went heavier, and lower in tunings like they did with each record.

Atara: I love to throw word play into my lyrics. On this upcoming album and single release, I mention song names in the lyrics as little Easter eggs for people that know their Rock ‘N Roll. There’s one in “Euphoria Now.”

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Jack: Seeing Metallica play at the LA Coliseum when I was younger was the night I realized that I had to be a part of it all. The energy of a live crowd is like nothing else. It’s really something to have people go bananas while you play music that you composed.

Atara: Music is a part of my life since I can remember. My parents would play music all the time and MTV was always on. I sang and danced to everything I heard. My ear loved music. I always say MTV was my babysitter. I was obsessed with watching music video after music video.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Jack: Metallica inspired every person that wants to play heavy riffs and I am no exception. Not too long after that, my father exposed me to Van Halen and Led Zeppelin. I believe Eddie Van Halen is the greatest guitar player of all time, the perfect mix of flare and emotion.

Atara: I was a child of music, so I evolved with the times. Michael Jackson and Kate Bush were my idols of the 80’s. Then grunge came along, and Alice In Chains changed everything for me. The amazing harmonies over such heaviness, I was hooked. Then NIN came out and that industrial rock sound I could not get enough. While listening to Spice Girls, of course! But then I got to see Pink Floyd live during the Division Bell tour, and I realized the power of a live show with amazing music and the impact it has on us. I knew I wanted to perform music somehow.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Jack: Trent Reznor. It’s incredible how he utilizes the oddest sounds, even out of tune in compositions. Most importantly, he really knows how to bring emotion out of songs.

Atara: I’m gonna agree with Jack on that one.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

Jack: I love anything trivia related. Jeopardy is always on at home. I’m also a big fan of All Elite Wrestling. It would be killer to do something with them in the future, like a theme song for a wrestler or a show!

Atara: Watch scary movies. I wrote a horror script and am in rewrites, so I need inspiration constantly.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Jack: That’s tough for me to say what we sound like. We collectively have so many influences, I like to think all of them show in one way or another. The one comparison we get a lot is Evanescence. I believe that usually comes from folks who don’t listen to a lot of rock or metal. When they hear female vocals over heavier music, it’s a familiar assumption.

Atara: We also get Paramore a lot and again what Jack said, people think they are heavy rock and they aren’t and we sound nothing like them, but cool! To each their own.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Jack: I do the cooking and playing. Atara does the talking and singing.

Atara: I make Jack crack out the acoustic guitar, and he always fights me on it.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

Jack: I ran into Corey Taylor of Slipknot once. We have a couple of mutual friends, so I had an ice breaker ready to go.

Atara: We ran into Jerry Cantrell at a bar in Hollywood, and our friends we came with knew him, and I had to follow my friend over, hide behind him, and then try not to gush too much about how big a fan I was, while showing him the tattoo I have on my arm of the album Dirt. I must’ve been so red in the face and swear I was having a heart attack. He was so nice and really impressed by the tattoo! Thanks Louie Perez @ Tip Top Tattoo Parlor! Hi Jerry!

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

Jack: With the internet and technology that’s available to everyone, there are no limitations to what you can create, musically and visually. Being a full-time musical artist is the dream job. Even though music isn’t my main source of income, I would love it to be someday soon.

Atara: It’s amazing how easily you can either write a really good song or a really bad song. The best part of creating original music though is when everything just clicks. The guitar chord, the vocal line, the lyrics, the tone of the song, the theme. Sometimes you have exactly what you want in your head, and other times you need your band mate and producer to add to the idea. Music can be a single project, or a group project. It can be your therapy, or your decent into madness. No matter how hard you try to study it and learn, there is always something new to discover. It truly is a religion all its own. I work in the film industry as a costumer, and I have to say between music and working in an industry I love, I have two dream jobs.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

Jack: My favorite horror movie character is Michael Myers of the Halloween franchise. He doesn’t have any dialogue but is able to convey thoughts and emotions through movements alone. The most common question is what our influences are. I like to let those show through our work.

Atara: You did a pretty good job asking some good questions! So thank you! Yes, who do we sound like… I have my opinions, but I love to hear what other people get from our music.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Jack: I would’ve stayed away from partying and studied music. I have no formal musical education.

Atara: I would’ve moved to LA right out of college. It’s a young town and the music industry loves to snatch artists up young.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Jack: I would like to be a fly on the wall for the recording of Metallica’s Master of Puppets. It would be like witnessing the birth of Christ or something along those lines.

Atara: Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. That album is the greatest masterpiece top to bottom ever recorded. I just wanna see all the magic that happened.

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Category: Interviews