With his new coming-of-age album Y’ALL, the North Carolina native comes home to Asheville with his heart on his sleeve and his feet on the dancefloor. Wonderland slips into his DMs to talk British music, Football Manager, writing about love, and why his late grandpa will forever be the GOAT.

Glaive – born Ash Gutierrez – is in his feels. His new album, Y’ALL, is a maximalist love letter to the forces that shape him most: the rush of young love, the pull of home, and the quiet work of mourning his grandparents. Big themes, refracted through dance-heavy beats that spin the universal into something restless and new.

It’s not the first time he’s bent pop to his will. At sixteen, from his bedroom in North Carolina, he was already part of a scrappy online scene that warped glossy hooks through distortion and made chaos sound like the future of music. Now twenty, and back in Asheville, he arrives with Y’ALL – equal parts coming-of-age diary and statement of intent. There’s teeth-rattling electroclash on opener “asheville”, reggaeton pulses on “nouveau riche”, tender balladry on “Flock of Bluebirds”. The result is a portrait of an artist growing up fast, without losing the spark that made him disruptive in the first place.

Over DM, he’s surprisingly at ease with his emotions, his artistry, and the person he’s becoming. “I wasn’t ever trying to get into tune with my emotions so I could make better art. I was just trying to understand myself and the way I interact with the world so I could stop being upset all the time,” he confides. “I’ve consciously tried to improve myself and I guess that unconsciously improved my ability to create.”

Y’ALL leaves little doubt. What follows is a conversation laced with Glaive’s insistently wise words. Also, he’s pretty damn funny.

[@1glaive sets the theme to a picture of Benson Boone]

@ellabardsley_: Hey Glaive! Dying to know, are you a Benson Boone stan?

@1glaive: No.

@ellabardsley_: What’s with the background?

@1glaive: I just thought it was the funniest thing in the world.

@ellabardsley_: Haha it really made me laugh.

[@1glaive changed the theme to Cats.]

@1glaive: I can’t look at him anymore, I must change it.

@ellabardsley_: Can I ask why you don’t like Benson Boone, or is that off the record?

@1glaive: No, I’m an open book. He’s just cringe, he’s too good at singing and he makes Imagine Dragon music. No hate tho.

@ellabardsley_: And he can flip. Who are you listening to at the moment that does excite you?

@1glaive: Yeh the flipping is a big part of it as well. I’ve been listening to a lot of Oasis, The Kooks, Keane. A lot of British music, I was just in the Cotswolds for 2 weeks so it felt fitting.

@ellabardsley_: Did you manage to get an Oasis ticket? If so, very jealous. What were you doing in the Cotswolds?

@1glaive: Unless they come to North Carolina I probably won’t buy a ticket. But I am going to see NBA Youngboy next month. Me and my friend Kurtains are working on an album so we were recording it in the Cotswolds.

@ellabardsley_: Another album! Is British music becoming a big influence on the new album you’re recording with Kurtains? What’s drawing you to British music so much at the moment?

@1glaive: Yeah for sure, Y’ALL is less like that. I was listening to a lot more country music and Appalachian music but right now I’m on a super British vibe. My mum is British, so she sent me like 300 songs to listen to from her adolescence.

@ellabardsley_: What is it you love so much about British music?

@1glaive: The accents feel safe and comforting because of my mum.

@ellabardsley_: So, when did you start bringing Y’ALL to life?

@1glaive: We started late 2024 in Alaska and then the last recording was done in April of this year at my house in Asheville.

@ellabardsley_: “asheville” is the name of one of the album’s singles, the black and white music video that accompanies it is pretty sick. Can you tell me about the making of it and what inspired its aesthetic?

@1glaive: I got really into soccer because of this game called Football Manager. I was just playing it all the time. And then I found out about these [footballers] Mario Balotelli, Paul Pogba, and Pavel Nedved – and just a bunch of cool looking guys. And I was like, ‘I want to feel like them.’ I felt like music is quite parallel to sport but people don’t really want to be competitive in music I suppose. But I feel very competitive sometimes. I just want to feel like a winner lol.

@ellabardsley_: Did you feel like a winner watching the video back or on the day whilst filming? The Wonderland office also wants to know what your team is on Football Manager? 

@1glaive: Yeah it felt the same way to film it as how it looked, like a victory lap. I managed this team called Weston Super Mare.

@ellabardsley_: In what ways do you see sport being parallel to music?

@1glaive: I’m from a sporting family and every emotion is sort of…it all happens at once. You have this big game and you are either super happy you won or destroyed you lost and there is just so much emotion wrapped to this event. Music is quite similar in the fact that it is intrinsically linked to emotion, like every word matters. Every action can create an emotional response. I just resonated with emotion in sport out of all of it. I’m an emotional guy, so it’s cool to see a bunch of other emotional guys. Sport is art, I guess.

@ellabardsley_: What does success (or winning) and failure (or losing) in your artistry mean to you?

@1glaive: I believe success for me is making something that matters to people and failing is the opposite. It’s making something that is nothing to anyone.

@ellabardsley_: Well you’ve already succeeded then. Do you feel that success then most when you play live?

@1glaive: Yeah for sure, doing a show is like your birthday.

@ellabardsley_: Back to you being an emotional guy. This album Y’ALL is pretty stirring. Obviously, you have the more upbeat, can’t-not-dance tracks. But you have “bennie and kay” which is an ode to the loss of your grandparents, and “crying laughing loving lying” which captures the terror of falling in love. Does this album feel more of a personal release than A Bit of a Mad One and May It Never Falter did?

@1glaive: All my music is deeply personal but I think every album just gets more in touch with my emotions and I’m able to express it in a more honest way. I think a year ago I couldn’t have made a song about my grandparents passing away because I couldn’t have found the words to give them the respect they deserve. So, it’s more personal because I know myself better as a person, not because I tried to be more deep or profound. If that makes sense…

@ellabardsley_: Do you think that comes with growing up, growing in confidence as an artist, or both?

@1glaive: More so from growing up, I’ve never really cared to become better as an artist. I think that’s just happened because I’ve tried to better myself as a person.

@ellabardsley_: For “bennie and kay”, the song about your grandparents, where did the words come from in the end?

@1glaive: It’s from my grandfather’s Polo Hall of Fame induction speech, which my mom sent to me after he passed. It was a super surreal watch. He was a man of few words as I knew him but to hear him speak so open and honestly was beautiful. You should watch it. He looks so fucking cool. I’mma send.

@ellabardsley_: I’d love to watch it, that’s so beautiful.

[@1glaive sends the YouTube link]

@1glaive: [Watch] 44 mins in. Obviously he ain’t your grandfather so it doesn’t mean much to you. But even so, I think just watching a great man speak, there is something to be gained from that for everyone.

@ellabardsley_: He’s so funny and eloquent, I like the opening line about him being more comfortable if he was on a horse, rather than doing a speech.

@1glaive: My dad once said if you can grow up to be half the man your grandfather was, you’ll be one of the best men I ever knew. Thanks for watching, that means a lot.

@ellabardsley_: I read this is the first album you’ve created whilst being in love, is that correct?

@1glaive: Yeah I’ve made a lot of music whilst being in something, maybe, I thought it was ‘love’ but ya this one is for sure a different feeling. A much more intense and hard to understand one for sure.

@ellabardsley_: I’m all about love right now, I got engaged last week. How has being in love affected your creative process as an artist?

@1glaive: Congratulations! That’s fire. I’m trying to get there one day too. I mean, it impacts your being. It’s like a mirror you are forced to deal with all the ugliest parts of yourself because it doesn’t just affect you anymore. It’s scary, it’s exciting, it encapsulates every human emotion into one thing. You can live a whole life within your love for someone. And trying to write about it is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, because what do you say?

@ellabardsley_: It’s like no word or sentence can satisfy the intangible feeling you’re trying to pin down.

@1glaive: Exactly, and everything sounds too cliche or too overly complicated. But I like the way I’ve put it into songs. Basically, I don’t know how to say anything about love but I love you and I’m not sure what that even means but that’s the beauty.

@ellabardsley_: You’ve captured it without cliche which is a feat in itself, and in your own way which is true to the love you feel that only you can experience fully. Do you have a favourite song on Y’ALL? And, what’s the significance of the title?

[@1glaive goes offline]

@1glaive: I fell asleep, I’m not gonna lie. But I’m back, sorry! I think the song “veni vidi vici” is my favourite, I think it really well encapsulates what I was trying to say. I came, I saw, I conquered – in Latin. And “I would rather kill myself than be anything like y’all” is just an awesome bar.

@ellabardsley_: Is there a song you’re nervous for people to listen to?

@1glaive: Is it alright if I say no?

@ellabardsley_: Of course! How would this album best be listened to? Set the scene…

@1glaive: Alone I’d say, I recorded all the songs alone. In an ideal world it would be a sort of dialogue between me and the person listening, like I would love to hear what people think as they listen and if they agree with me on some of the philosophical points I make. But in reality, just listen to it at the crib…maye a glass of rose…a little vibe…

@ellabardsley_: What do you hope this album represents for people?

@1glaive: I hope people that have known my music for a while can see the growth, and I hope everyone that listens just sees that I’m living proof that nothing is really the same forever. In both a good way and a bad way.

@ellabardsley_: Let’s do some fun ones. What are you binge watching at the moment?

@1glaive: I watched Succession recently. I know I’m late on it, but I thought it was acutely interesting.

@ellabardsley_: What did you last get in trouble for?

@1glaive: I shoplifted from LAX. But it was fine, the lady was cool about it.

@ellabardsley_:  What was your first concert?

@1glaive: My mom took me to a WALK THE MOON concert when I was 13. I thought it was so fucking stupid.

[@1glaive sends a screenshot of “Shut Up and Dance” by WALK THE MOON]

@ellabardsley_:  Hahaha that’s such a throwback. If you could swap lives with anyone for a day, who would it be?

@1glaive: 42 Dugg, and just rap all day.

@ellabardsley_: Who was your first celebrity crush?

@1glaive: Anne Hathaway when I was young, young. Then, Madelyn Cline when I was 15, she was my first serious celebrity crush…

@ellabardsley_: What’s the weirdest DM you’ve ever replied to?

@1glaive:  I get a lot of weird ones. I remember this kid sent me the manager of his favourite soccer team and he told him about Glaive and [my home state] North Carolina. Let me find it lol.

 [@1glaive sends a screenshot of the DM with a picture of the fan with Croatian football manager Igor Tudor, who currently manages Serie A club Juventus and the message, “I told Igor about Glaive and North Carolina.” Glaive replies, “No wayyyy bra.” The fan replies, “[Igor] said, ‘It sounds like God smiles on that place.’”

@1glaive: ‘It sounds like God smiles on that place.’ Beautiful.

@ellabardsley_: That’s a good album title. Maybe for your next project. Describe YA’LL in three words.

@1glaive: Jolly good fun.

@ellabardsley_: Thanks Glaive. Wonderland has the album on repeat in the office. Really appreciate your time. Hopefully, you can go back to sleep now.

@1glaive: Thank you so much for a very interesting conversation. God speed in marriage, twin, have a blessed afternoon.

@ellabardsley_:  Hopefully, see you live in London soon.

@1glaive: Fa shit sho.

Words by Ella Bardsley