Neon Trees
With: Smallpools and Nightmare the Cat
When: 7:30 p.m. June 14
Where: The Wiltern, 3790 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles
How much: $27-$34
Call: 800-745-3000
Online: livenation.com
What began as snippets from its frontman’s multiple therapy sessions ultimately turned into Neon Trees’ Pop Psychology, the third album from the Provo, Utah-based pop-rock quartet, which dropped in April.
This year has been a big one so far for Tyler Glenn, as the vocalist came out in a March interview with Rolling Stone, sharing he has known since age 6 that he’s gay. He first told longtime producer and collaborator Tim Pagnotta, then his friends, family and the rest of the band.
“Everyone was so loving and accepting of it,” he says during a chat last week on a small backstage patio at Humphreys Concerts by the Bay in San Diego. (The group also plays Saturday night at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.)
“The band was like, ‘We should do this publicly.’ I thought about it, but I didn’t want everything to become about that. Then Rolling Stone wanted to do a story and it ended up being really great. I’m glad it’s out. I finally found comfort in my own skin and going to therapy helped me become more comfortable with things I just wasn’t OK with before.”
Neon Trees was formed by neighbors Glenn and guitarist Chris Allen in Murrieta, before the pair relocated to Provo, where bassist Branden Campbell and drummer Elaine Bradley joined. They found commercial success with the smash “Animal” off their 2010 debut, Habits, and their 2012 sophomore effort, Picture Show, spawned another hit, “Everybody Talks.” The band soon landed spots on late-night talk shows and opening for acts like Thirty Seconds to Mars, the Flaming Lips, Maroon 5, Taylor Swift and the Offspring.
Throughout all of that, however, Glenn says he was severely conflicted. Before going in to record a third album, he’d wondered if being in a band was the healthiest life decision.
“I was really unhappy and crying at weird times and lashing out,” he recalls. “When something is your passion and it’s something you love, but you also feel like maybe you shouldn’t be doing it, that’s scary. I had to take some time off.
“Now, I’m stoked. I haven’t had one bad day on this tour and it’s been three weeks. Everyone is entitled to having a bad day, even if you do have things kind of figured out.”
The biggest difference in performance now opposed to a year ago, Glenn says, is that he’s flashing his pearly white smile much more often – and more genuinely.
“It wasn’t that it was fake before,” he says. “I would still smile, but now it just feels like less of a stage persona and more like it’s just me. I think the fans now get a little more of the nuances within the songs and there’s a bit more of a connection. I can definitely feel a different, more palpable energy.”
For Pop Psychology, Glenn and the group once again teamed with Pagnotta, who has helmed works for American Idol winner Kris Allen, 311 frontman Nick Hexum’s recent solo project and O.C. indie band the Colourist while also serving as lead vocalist and guitarist for Santa Barbara outfit Sugarcult. Yet, though the album carries a more upbeat, fun sound, lyrically these are some of the most brutally honest words Glenn has written.
“This could have been a really dark record,” he says. “I think we ended up with the most celebratory-sounding version of the album we made.”
“Teenager in Love” is a sad song, he admits, detailing his struggle with identity and being in love with someone he couldn’t be in love with. “Love in the 21st Century” is basically the 30-year-old’s open letter to himself and all his friends past that age who are struggling to find stable relationships while seemingly “window shopping on dating apps. It hasn’t really worked out so well for me.”
Despite their bittersweet nature, however, those tunes could follow the same path as previous Neon Trees songs that have been covered on Glee, American Idol and The Voice.
“That’s pretty sweet,” Glenn says. “I never want to stop anyone from covering a song of ours and I think it’s sweet when I see fans do it on YouTube. On the shows, it’s nice, but then those contestants never win. They get booted like immediately after. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a hard vocal or what it is, but my advice is to just not do our songs in competitions.
“They’re great songs, but sorry, you’re just not going to win!”
Contact the writer: 714-796-3570 or kfadroski@ocregister.com
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