Glenn Main is more old school than you think. His sound is timeless.

While in many instances, the synthwave universe is clearly inspired by the 80s but with modern electronic polish added. Glenn’s music is such that you could listen and be genuinely unsure it when it was composed and recorded. Was it 1985 or 2025? Who knows? Case in point, the synth in “Electronic Secrets – Part 4” has a tone darn near what I’ve heard in multiple Van Halen songs. He mentions inspirations such as Depeche Mode, Tangerine Dream, Kitaro, and more. Kitaro… I haven’t heard that name since I bought a Pure Moods CD as a kid (if you make fun of Enya and Yanni, I’ll fight you). Clearly I’m out of the loop on Kitaro… but if you want to vibe out, I can attest Main’s tunes are a good medium for doing so!

With all of this in mind, let’s “Jump” into getting to know Glenn Main, a synth veteran based in Oslo, Norway that is signed to RetroSynth. Check out our Q&A with him below:

Tuned Up: What resonates with you about the synthwave/retrowave culture? What first drew you in?

Glenn Main: I have been making synthwave since “the 80’s” 😃

Is there a core memory from your childhood that you can directly tie to your creative process today?

I had a synth studio back in the 80’s with my Atari St1080, Korg Poly61, korg MS 20 and Roland JX8P

Is there a core memory that you can tie directly to your love outrun/synthwave culture?

I was born a «synth dude». Got my first synth when I was 13 years old in 1984

What drink best pairs with listening to your latest release?

Any tropical drink, or an ice cold beer

If the sky’s the limit – what would be involved in production of your live show?

Lots of lasers, palm trees, mega screen with sunset and the stage should be a enormous Delorian 😃😃

What creative influencer (artist, producer, or someone else) needs more recognition?

Jean Michel Jarre and Jan Hammer

What excites you about the future of synthwave culture and its adjacent genres?

I just love the return of the 80’s

What synthwave cover of a popular song needs to exist, that doesn’t yet?

Oh.. that’s a hard one. The list is endless.

What is there to be excited about in your creative world, at the moment?

That we are able to re-create good old synths via VST. Back in the day, I really wished for a Fairlight CMI or a Synclavier… but it costed a house….now you can enjoy it for a handful of coins 😃

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Follow Glenn Main on Instagram.

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