Aside from the bizarre moniker, Penguin Prison himself is a fairly extraordinary concept as far as musicians go.  It’s fair to say that since his foray into making it as an artist began, his wildly vast experiences have not welcomed success. Whilst his ability and substance have not been called to question, the opportunities posed just never seemed to stick.  Unashamed to cite his desire for fame and success as major driving forces behind his efforts, no one could argue against the willfulness of this electronic-pop deviant who has failed to set the music world alight on more than one occasion; but convincingly this time Chris Glover aka Penguin Prison seems to have it nailed.

From performing arts school in New York where he participated as part of a gospel choir to an upstate bohemian arts college attended by the likes of the Beastie Boys which drove him to form a highly successful, yet “faux” boy band, Glover has learnt from the best. Perhaps it was this which enabled the brazen targeting of prolific industry veterans including hip-hop legend Q-Tip through sending out early demos, providing the next ill-fated opportunity to come knocking ater Q-Tip himself expressed the desire to sign Glover to his own label.

“That was kind of a surreal experience for me. He [Q-Tip] called me back and said he wanted to meet me, so I met him at this restaurant called Bubby’s in Tribeca but actually all I remember was that he ordered macaroni cheese”.

Whilst this meeting never came to fruition in a professional capacity it was one of the driving forces behind his ensuing signing to Interscope Records and the financing of an album that sadly never saw the light of day.  “Too experimental” was the official line after the record reportedly was made up of songs that were individually vastly different in sound and style to every other.

“That was the main reason yeah, every song was totally different and the radio people didn’t feel we had even one song that could be played on the radio.  They had catchy melodies and stuff like that but I guess they were all crazy in relation to each other”. 

Not one for allowing inevitable demoralisation to take over, Chris Glover has worked this situation to his advantage as he comes to the end of writing and recording a new album encompassing his new-found electronic directions and relishing an environment free from compromise.  Perhaps also the resonance of the Penguin Prison sound within audiences can be cited as a valid reason for his willingness to develop and progress away from the eclectic experimentalism of his former experiences, bringing him squarely up to date with an industry that literally chomps at the bit for decent music within this remit.

“Before now I just think I was trying to prove to the world that I could do everything, I wanted to be this guy that could make every kind of song that there is,  but then after a while I stopped caring about that and wanted to do what was best for me.  Its an amalgamation of pop, dance and electronic sounds together, with lots of instruments in there and also this disco element that seems to stand out”.

“I think it’s quite interesting because by the standards of what I did before, this album all fits together but by the standards of most people they will probably think the songs are all different.  Sure they are quite different sounding but I like that, it makes it interesting when you compare it to most people’s records where every song kinda sounds the same.  I guess people will be able to judge for themselves when it gets released later on this year”.

The Penguin Prison sound is most definitely interesting.  Rich in detail and overridden by non-synthetic pop and influenced by late great, the King of Pop as well as that other seminal musical institutions including Prince and Talking Heads.  The kind of music us 80’s kids listened to growing up and the only music that realistically can manipulate the pop market and those who create within it.  Many commentators have pointed out similarities to early George Michael, although as Glover himself claims, the two-time Grammy winning English singer-songwriter has never actually been a reference point.

“No, not George Michael, I never listened to him growing up so I don’t get that comparison myself.  I mean there must be a reason a lot of people are comparing me to him especially because these people are not talking to each other so I guess they individually hear something similar in there.  But Michael Jackson was the big one for me, although I listened to everything from The Beatles to old disco, so maybe you can find all of that in there”.

Not content with merely performing, Chris Glover has hold of the reins in the production sense as well as being an avid and in demand remixer.  The 2009 remix of current darling of the British new music scene, Marina and The Diamonds’ 'I am not a robot’ went ballistic across the blog world and this affiliation with New York label Neon Gold led to the release of debut single ‘Animal Animal’ at the end of last year.  Finally the fruits of Glover’s labour under the guise of Penguin Prison were available, working to generate a thirst for more amongst the hipsters, tastemakers and UK audiences alike.  And if his recent stint of UK shows were any kind of indication as to how much people were willing for this thirst to be quenched, Penguin Prison delivered to decent crowds a taste of what is set to come from the LP.  

So, what can we expect?

“I just try to keep a sense of humour, especially about my lyrics so I spend a lot of time on them because I like them to be bold statements around this mix of electronic pop and dance.  There’s a track called ‘Don’t fuck with my money’ and I’m basically saying if you fuck with my money you will be sorry, which is like the most bold you can probably be.  I think its good to have songs with lyrics that get a reaction, so I guess that can be shocking but not in a distasteful way."

Working in collaboration with Dan Grech-Marguerat on production duty, the man most renowned for winning a Grammy for his engineering work on pioneering Radiohead record 'In Rainbows' must have also added to the already interesting sound that Glover was pursuing.

“I have been really lucky, I did a lot of the album on my own with friends in New York and then I took all these songs and brought them to London into the studio with Dan and we finished them together.  We basically spent time adding parts and re-recording things that didn’t sound that good and perfected everything I guess.”

Now with the record reaching its final destination this summer ready for release in the Autumn, Glover is now contemplating what kind of label will be it’s home, if any at all, after all the music market is so easily accessible by anyone and everyone now label support other than financial is not really necessary.

“I've had a lot of experience of labels before and its weird because I feel I have in me already what a label would be saying to me; I say that to myself anyway.  So maybe its unnecessary.  But it’s not like I am fighting against some big machine or anything, I just want to make music and have it be out there and this is just the way it has to be.  There’s no formula to what I do”

There you have it.  Penguin Prison, electronic whizz kid, remixer, choir boy.  Enjoy wisely, just whatever you do, don’t fuck with his money.

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