Friday night's Glorium reunion show marks the final pinnacle of Emo's 15th anniversary celebration. Glorium are one of the vital pages in Austin's long musical history.

The band originally formed in San Antonio in 1991 and immediately began to make a name for themselves by using avant-garde aesthetics with lessons learned from the hardcore punk scene. The result was an explosion of emotional and musical creativity; pushing the boundaries of lyrical imagery and human stamina.

Taking cues from performance art and bands such as Big Black, The Birthday Party, and Gang Of Four, the band was also one of the first to cross punk's racial thresh hold by being one of the few Texas-Hispanic bands in the underground at the time.

Their landmark album, Cinema Peligrosa, is a sonic still from the soundtrack that documents the lives of the group and of Austin at the time. Bands such as At The Drive-In, Fugazi, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have not only played with Glorium, but have cited them as a highly regarded influence.

Also playing at Emo's tonight are the apocalyptic Horse + Donkey, who bring their brand of psychedelic destruction to the stage. The mighty Faceless Werewolves will be delivering hot-blooded cranking raunchy rock. Matt Oliver of Sound Team opens.

We had a chance to ask a few questions to members Ernest Salaz and Paul Streckfus about the reunion. Follow the jump to read on.

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[Glorium Official]
[Glorium Myspace]
[Horse + Donkey Myspace]
[Faceless Werewolves Official] [Faceless Werewolves Myspace]
[Matt Oliver Myspace]

Glorium, Horse + Donky, Faceless Werewolves & Matt Oliver
Friday, June 22nd
Emo's Inside
Doors 8pm, Show 10pm

Archival Images courtesy of GLORIUM.
Band photo by Aasim Syed

So how did the reunion come about?

Ernest: Actually, the band never officially broke up. To us it's just another show, except it's more of an event. After the brothers Streckfus moved back to Texas in the last few years, we knew some new shows would materialize quickly.

Paul: It's funny that everyone is calling it a reunion. Because I thought we did that in 2001, 2004 and now again? Is every show from here on out a reunion? It's kind of silly. We don't play out as much as other groups. But when we do it's more special.

How supportive was Emo's to you guys back then? How important was Emo's in terms of the scene?

Ernest: Emo's is like a punk rock Cheers, where everybody knows your name. It feels like home. Over the years it's become an important institution.

Paul: Emo's has always been extremely supportive of us and the shows that we wanted to put together. Emo's was sort of a mountain for many bands to climb up to. We played at house parties all the time and smaller places like Blue Flamingo or Manor Rd Coffee House as well (now El Chile). We started our own venue at East Fifth St Market. We liked playing in different places all the time.

To me, Glorium was one of those bands that really captured the imagination. What inspired you then?

Ernest: We were inspired by our desire to make music that reflected our lives. Glorium as a band was always supportive of so many kinds of rock music in Austin, so all those disparate styles seeped into our songwriting. I think we were just trying to impress our friends, whose opinions were always so crucial and meant everything to us.

Paul: I've always been inspired by the work of others. There were so many bands with imaginations in overdrive. Every band on the Golden Hour label were all pushing the envelope of songwriting and performing. I can't speak for everyone in the group but I was always inspired by the other bands around us like New Girl Art Trend Band and The Prima Donnas. Other than that I was inspired by a lot by the literature of Kafka, Lafcadio Hearn, Burroughs, and surrealist art of Remedios Varo. I would watch a lot of films too. But I always enjoyed playing shows where all of my pals could hang out at and it'd feel like a party.

What did your parents think of the stuff you were doing?

Ernest: Not sure, I never asked them. I think they think its "artsy". They think I am troubled.

Paul: My dad recently told me, "Give it up already." But he's also said he enjoys the stuff on Close Your Eyes.

Ernest: Paul's dad is an amazing reviewer. He once called the sound of johnboy "two brothers fighting over the last piece of pie" which I thought was brilliant.

Would it be an insult to call Glorium the first generation of Emo-Core?

Ernest: Yes, this is highly insulting, to us and Emo Phillips. The term "emo" has such lame connotations now, doesn't it?

Paul: I prefer to think of us as fourth generation freedom rock, third generation punk, second generation new wave, and tenth generation blues.

What was the essence of Glorium?

Paul: Tears, mixed with zest of ginger.
Ernest: That works for me.

I saw your in-store at Sound Exchange over a decade ago and was totally blown away by it. Why is this a right time to work together again?

Ernest: My wife was at that show too! Sound Exchange was the foundation for so many bands. It seemed like every Sound Exchange employee had a label at some point. This was before the internet, too. We all just believed in getting the music out there whichever way we could.

Paul: Sound Exchange was an awesome place to play, surrounded by all that vinyl. I love it when there's no stage and the audience can massage my back. That was the hub of the scene. Sadly its gone, But it's the right time because we're all back in Texas again. Playing together for us will always be a possibility because we've done that forever.

Any plans to record and release new material?

Ernest: That is always a possibility. We have lots of ideas to explore still.

Paul: We have tons of new material that we're constantly trying to give birth too. It sounds like chocolate.

What does Cinema Peligrosa mean to you?

Ernest: Dangerous theater. It's a soundtrack album.

Paul: Our first album. Cinema is the result of a lot of hard work, and captures feelings from a certain time period. Some of it is hard to listen to these days because it's so chaotic and layered. The songs change their meaning for me as time goes on. I'll internalize what the songs are about differently.

What does the future mean to you?

Ernest: I think we need to get serious about the earth or else there is no future.

Paul: I hope to live in a desert oasis, with an army of irradiated survivors ( I'll still be playing music with my friends).