Cinematic Songwriting with Stolen Jars:
Cody Fitzgerald Discusses His Band’s Immersive New EP, Glint
Interview by Nick Hodgins
When Cody Fitzgerald of Stolen Jars sits down in his room to write a song, he starts from a small and simple place, oftentimes one note, expanding upon a single idea and seeing where it takes him. In a sense, this is not unlike how his band Stolen Jars came to be.
Fitzgerald began his songwriting career when he was in high school in Montclair, NJ. Since then Stolen Jars has grown under the influence of fellow friends, musicians, directors and animators, as well as his own proficiency in scoring films. The band just released their new EP titled Glint, which consists of five songs each accompanied by a unique visual under a different director.
“I’ve always felt it helps the song a bit and pushes it forward into a new direction,” Fitzgerald said over a phone call from his apartment in Brooklyn. “I think being someone who also scores movies, my music is automatically a little cinematic or fits in that vein, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to have five different people comment on themes of the EP and see what they could come up with.”
Currently there have been two videos released from Glint for the songs “Long New York” and “Eliot.” The first one is a live video directed by Abie Sidell depicting the story of a child and a sort of imaginary friend composed of childhood objects, and the latter a mesmerizing animation by Evelyn Jane Ross.
True to the album’s namesake, each song begins from a small glimmer of a sound before gradually evolving into a full blown score of rhythmic tapping guitars, delicate drum patterns, keys, and swelling horns, in addition to carefully contrasting male and female vocals.
“I think that the album itself is about these small reflections of the past becoming clear in the present, but not clear enough so that you can hold onto them,” explained Fitzgerald, who handles the bulk of the songwriting. He continued, “the beginning of each song is kind of like the first glimpse of that moment.”
Fitzgerald found early success when a song off his first album was picked up for an Apple commercial, something he says may not have done much at the time in terms of getting the band’s name out there. But the moment was a realization for himself that a career in music was something he could pursue as a full time job, as well as using it to help others.
The band will be donating 25% of all album sales to the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a legal aid organization that serves low-income people who are transgender, intersex and/or gender non-conforming, an act that Fitzgerald views as a necessity following the latest election cycle.
“I think that every time we’re putting something out at this moment it just feels like there’s nothing to do but at least donate some portion of it to one of the 4000 portions of the population that are being attacked by the current political climate,” he said.
This isn’t the first time the band has donated to charities. Last year Fitzgerald, along with some friends, put on a festival in Montclair called the “Clearmountain Festival,” which featured eight bands from the area and raised money for the NJ Arts Education Partnership.
Glint is out now on various streaming services and can be purchased from the Stolen Jars bandcamp page. They recently wrapped up a four-show run between NY, DC, Philly, and Boston, and have a larger tour planned for July. They’ve also already got new music in the works.
“I’m excited about it, and I’m excited to put out these last few videos, tour for a little while and play a bunch of shows,” Fitzgerald concluded.
