Glyn Styler
Glyn Styler is a New Orleans-based vocalist in the tradition of Scott Walker, Leonard Cohen, Iggy Pop, and Laura Nyro.
Glyn Styler is a character created by Brent Newman, a reclusive, middle-aged mattress salesman who lives an alter ego in New Orleans nightclubs where he can become suspended in time and mood. With a "swanky" wig on his head, a microphone in one hand and a cocktail in the other, Styler sings wrenching songs about lost love, betrayal and loneliness that come straight from his bleak, nihilistic and broken heart.
There is speculation based on Styler/Newman's alluding to a background including an unstable marriage, two kids, and a string of stays in mental health facilities that his music is a genuine cathartic expression.
Recordings include Live at the Mermaid Lounge (1997), recorded at the New Orleans music club of the same name (which has since shut down), and The Desperate Ones, a 1998 EP on which he sings a duet cover of Jacques Brel's song The Desperate Ones with Lydia Lunch and also includes the drum machine flavored Won’t Stop Loving You and an instrumental version of the title track.
In 2001, Glyn Styler appeared in legendary exploitation filmmaker Doris Wishman's "Satan Was A Lady" as Ed Baines.
Styler was mentioned recently in the popular New Orleans blog Slimbolala, which mentions a real-world encounter with the singer at his mattress salesman day job, where Styler revealed he will soon return to his live act after a hiatus brought on by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.