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MIRRORGLASS were formed in 2022 and are based in Cavan, Ireland. Spearheaded by 19 year old Joshua Bowles, the band made their live debut at Rockathon 2023, just after Joshua Bowles’ 17th birthday.Here is Joshua with the background on Mirrorglass:
What are the origins of Mirrorglass? And, how long have you been playing together?
In 2020, when I was 13, I started working on getting my first band together. Some of the musicians I was playing with at the time were a good bit older than me, around 17 or 18. I learnt a lot of little things from them that influenced me going forward. It was very hard during lockdown getting anything going, so it all kind of died out by 2021. I decided to start focusing on myself and write a lot of music.
By 2022, I started finding that I actually needed a band if I wanted to make that jump into making the music I wanted and playing live. I started with people from my old band, and I went through a big process of trying to get an incredible live band together. I had many different lineups all the way up until the first gig, and when that gig came around, that iteration of Mirrorglass was only around one month old.
What should people expect when they check the band out? How would you describe Mirrorglass?
Expect barrels of energy. We don’t play live that often, especially more recently, but when we do, we always try to make it the absolute best show possible in terms of our set, the overall atmosphere, and spectacle. My hope is to get into a position where we can start playing more frequent shows again. If the conditions aren’t right, though, we just won’t do it. The grassroots gigging industry needs to change a lot, and I think more bands need to take this position because it isn’t fair on the musicians or the fans. Taking every possible gig you can get is all well and good until it ends up killing the band before they’ve even started, which happens more than people realise. I don’t think smaller gigging bands actually understand how rewarding it can be to play less. I feel way more excited for shows when they’re spread out, which of course gives me the energy to put my all into each and every experience.
We have a hometown show for the day after our album is released, and that’s all we have booked right now. Everything is coming together really well, and we’ve had a lot of time to focus on just that show. The Savage Hearts are playing alongside us that night, fronted by Evan Walsh, who was in The Strypes, so it’s going to be an amazing night.
How did you feel performing your first gig as a band, and how was it?!
Our first gig was absolutely incredible. It was a main stage slot at Rockathon 2023. The stage was sick, the location was amazing, and the atmosphere was unbeatable, but I felt absolutely horrific. A few days before, I developed a really bad chest infection. There was no way I was going to pull out of the gig because of something like that. So, that morning, I just swallowed every bit of medication I could find, and I got out there. I screamed my way through the set, and I thought I sounded horrific, but screaming your lungs out works in rock and metal, so everyone thought I was fucking unbelievable, when in reality I was just busting my vocal cords.
What are you working on at the moment that people can check out?
We’re working on the show in September. I’m also getting more merch together, so keep an eye on our website, our debut album is already up there on CD, and it’s ready to be shipped out to you now if you want it for your collection.
As for me, since full rehearsals haven’t started yet for our show, I’m working on demos for Mirrorglass’ second album. It’s already coming together, and I have quite a clear idea of what it’s going to be. All the songs are written, and I’m not really one for waiting around.
Regarding a similar audience, which band at the moment do you feel that Mirrorglass would be best suited to open for?
I think we’d be an amazing opening band for Ghost. I don’t think there is a band out there better suited than us to open for them. In a lot of ways, we’re a lot like Ghost, only in human form. They haven’t had openers on their latest tour, but if they did, and if they would come to Ireland… then there is no band better than us to open for them.
Another band I’d love to open for would be Those Damn Crows. They’re playing a show in Belfast soon. I’d love to bring Mirrorglass up to Belfast at some stage soon.
Excluding yourself, which new band would you like to see break out and become a success?
I’m good friends with the guys in Brake Loose. They’re doing absolutely amazing, and I couldn’t be happier for them. I met them at Rockathon 2022, and we played alongside them the following year at Rockathon 2023. We were meant to play a show with them in Cavan last year, but it was cancelled. We were all gutted about that at the time. I’d love to make it right at some stage soon with them and put on a killer show together.
What frustrates you about the music business?
I could talk about this for days, and I’d say every musician in the business would agree. Social media has always been a love-hate sort of thing for me. It seemed like the ultimate tool for freedom, and that it would level the playing field, but now it’s painfully obvious that all of this stuff is just the shackles and chains of our time. It’s rotting the world to the core, and music too. It used to be the music making the trends, but more and more, year after year, it feels like the trends are making the music.
We haven’t had a major culture shift due to music in my lifetime, when it seems that in the past, music changed our culture year after year. I like to believe that there will be a reckoning, and the next time music influences a culture shift, it will be a huge one, but the future seems so uncertain right now.
What are your first musical memories? And what lightbulb moment made you say, “I want to do that”?
I’ve been playing guitar since I was 5, but I never fully took to it until later on. I loved rock music all my life, and it’s always been a huge part of me, but the frustration of learning always made me leave it in favour of other things I was good at. It was 2019 when I went to my first concert, and I saw Metallica alongside Ghost in Slane Castle around my 13th birthday. That day, I made a pledge to myself that that would be me someday. I already started getting pretty good at guitar a while before that, and I was playing regularly for a year, but I remember specifically it was during Master Of Puppets, when I made that pledge. As they were up there playing the solos, I’d made my mind up what I was doing with my life, and I’ve not looked back since.
What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
I just saw Iron Maiden in Malahide Castle the other day. It was an absolutely amazing experience. Halestorm was amazing too. I heard their music a few years ago, so I was excited that they were opening, and they didn’t disappoint.
What current social issues are you particularly passionate about?
Well, when it comes to social issues, it’s hard to even know what to be passionate about. The world’s a mess, and I think it’s getting to a point where we’re completely spiralling out of control. “Crazy Man” is everything you need to know about where I stand. I wrote it in 2023, and it’s actually scary to me that it seems to describe us more now than the time it was actually written. It was just meant to be a light-hearted piss-take.
The album that you have in your album collection/Spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
I don’t think there’s much in my collection that would surprise people. Maybe Nick Cave, although I don’t think that should be much of a surprise. I saw him in Dublin last year. One of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, hands down. It won’t be topped because it was just so unique. I bought a Phil Collins album a while back, but I mean, Phil Collins is a legend.
Everybody is a fan of something. Who or what are you a fan of?
I’ll continue in the spirit of the previous question because I don’t think people realise how much of a Fleetwood Mac fan I am. Everything seemed so unique about them. The sound, the energy, and the songs all have this something special. I believe it’s all hidden in Mick Fleetwood’s drumming.
I’m also a huge Guns N’ Roses fan and I always have been, and of course, Ghost is the current band that I can’t get enough of. I know almost every word to every song!
What new music have you been enjoying so far this year?
Ghost’s new album “Skeleta” is amazing, and it actually came out the same day our album “Handle With Care” came out on CD. There’s another album that came out that day, too, that I absolutely loved, and I’d never listened to the band previously. H.E.A.T’s new album, “Welcome To The Future”. It’s really cool. I like it a lot.
Other than that, Brake Loose released their EP a month ago, called “Frantic”. It was really good. Even though I’d already heard all of the songs, it was nice to hear them all in a collection.
What does the rest of 2025 hold for Mirrorglass?
Hopefully, we’ll be getting to work on getting some more shows together, and we’ll be getting ready for our big show in September. Other than that, I’m going to be working on the second album and making sure everyone listens to our first!
How active are you on social media, and where can people connect with you?
You can find Mirrorglass on Instagram and TikTok. I’m always posting every now and again, when I feel like it! Our handle is mirrorglassofficial. Also, our website is mirrorglassofficial.com. We have an email list you can subscribe to over there.
