Worm or Die: An Interview with The Glowworms

By Kelly Darroch

There is a faint luminescence igniting the stage of the famed Windmill Brixton in South London, and it isn’t just the stage lights. The Glowworms, a London-based indie rock 5-piece, enveloped the audience with the rich warmth of their arrangements that radiate with the familiarity of the most heartfelt 2000s indie classics. This performance took place just weeks before the release of their debut EP, W.O.D. (Worm or Die) on October 23rd.

The Glowworms. George Lavender, Sam Hodder, Dan Fawcett, Cass Begg, Dov Sikowitz [left to right]. Photograph taken by Darcy Voller.

What began as the vision of Los Angeles-raised musician Dov Sikowitz (lead vocals, rhythm guitar) has blossomed into a collaborative explosion, or metamorphosis if you will, between Sam Hodder (drums), George Lavender (bass), Cass Begg (keyboard, vocals), and Dan Fawcett (guitar, steel guitar). Each member is a student at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, and met one another at university. After meeting in the ID card distribution line and working on uni projects together, Sikowitz recruited, or as he describes it, “blindsided” Hodder and Lavender into bringing these songs of his to life, and it only grew from there. While Sikowitz, Hodder, and Lavender have existed as the consistent band lineup since its creation, Begg and Fawcett have undertaken roles as key players in the band more recently. The upcoming EP is a culmination of the last 2 years that The Glowworms have spent sharing these songs on live stages, adjusting them in the studio, and finding the perfect balance between those two spaces. 

I sat down with The Glowworms before their set to discuss the making of their EP, their development as a band, their love of the steel guitar, some musical hot takes, and more.

Kelly Darroch: How did Glowworms come to fruition?

Dov Sikowitz: I think it was maybe like two years ago now. I had a solo project in high school, and I kind of felt like I outgrew it. I wanted to do stuff that was more sincere or a bit more out there. I went home to LA, and then I came back and recruited Sam and George separately. I kind of blindsided them. Like, I made plans with each of them separately, and then I went to them and I was like, “Yo, I got these songs, and I want to do a band that sounds like this artist and this artist,” and just kind of went from there. We've played with people over the years, but it was always me, Sam, and George. It feels like we really found our core with these five a few months ago. I f**king love working with these guys. 

KD: Since you also play shows in LA, would you still consider yourself more of a London-based band?

DS: Totally. I do it in LA because I’m there, and it would be a shame not to. But it doesn’t ever feel like it’s the full effect of playing with these guys. I play solo or I play with other people, and it’s fun, but it’s hard to get to where we [the full band] are when it’s just for such a short time.

Sam Hodder: Just fly us out man.

DS: Well, that’s the dream, right? I’m just doing it because I want the music to reach further, and we hopefully want to get this group playing shows in a bigger radius from here. 

The Glowworms at Windmill Brixton. Photograph taken by Elliana Martell.

KD: You present Glowworms as a band, but did it initially feel like more of a solo project when you started it, or did you have the idea of it being a whole collaborative effort?

DS: I think at first it was hard for me to ask people to commit to something if we didn't even know what it was going to be. So maybe at first it felt more like my project and my baby, but the longer we've been doing it, the more collaborative it's become. Everyone's writing now, and I'm really happy about that. I trust their taste so much, and I’m down to lean on them for that kind of stuff. For example, we’ve been working on stuff where Cass sings lead, or we have songs on the EP that Sam has written. I’m really glad about that, I want it to be more collaborative.

KD: What is the origin of the name The Glowworms?

DS: So I watched a YouTube doc about a ship that became lost at sea called The Glowworm. I was just like, “That’s mad emotional.” Like, oh my god, these poor guys ship and they got lost and blah blah blah. It’s also just like a nice evocative image, thousands of little worms that, from afar, are just a faint glow. 

KD: So it’s kind of like an insect thing and also nautical.

DS: Yeah! I can wax poetic with it and be like “Oh, it’s about like the fragments of it,” but it just sounded cool, really. 

KD: Since you’re based in London but Dov is also from LA, what London and LA neighborhoods do you think are most representative of Glowworms?

DS: Someone from London, take the London one.  

George Lavender: I don’t know if I’m going to answer.

Cass Begg: I would say Shoreditch.

DS, SH, GL, DF: Uhhhhhh…

CB: Okay, I take that back. 

GL: You know what? Like fucking Hampstead. We’re kind of like the Hampstead of bands. 

DS: I’m gonna say we’re like my neighborhood. We literally have the song “cally park.” I live off Caledonian Road, Islington. So I would say that.

KD: I guess you can probably answer the LA one. 

DS: Dude, the LA one is going to be like Palms. It’s just there, it’s kind of overlooked. You know everyone wants to be in like Echo Park or Los Feliz or whatever. But there’s just a warmth or a familiarity, maybe. That’s what I associate with it. Palms or Culver City.

KD: So you’re about to release your debut EP, W.O.D., but you’ve also released some singles previously. What is the development you’ve noticed during the process of making this EP, either production-wise or with songwriting?

SH: I think that the first track is very much Dov’s vision, but the thing with the EP is that we recorded it after we’d all been playing as a band for a while. So everyone has their parts, and it felt very easy to record because they’re songs that we’ve been playing live for ages. It feels like more of a group project kind of thing, and because of the production stuff that lots of us do as well, everyone's been very involved in different aspects of all the recording and playing. Different ones of us mixed and produced different tracks.

KD: So is the EP fully self-produced by all of you?

DS: Yes, and Leon, our really good friend and close collaborator. He had a studio space in North London, in Haringey. We did the bulk of the EP at his place. 

KD: How long has the EP been in the making? 

DS: To be technical, we started playing “cally park” and “east bay” and stuff in like January [2024] two years ago. Me, Sam, George, and this other guitarist, Tibo, played our first show in public last February. So I guess you could say that around then is when we started workshopping it, and that’s when we made the parts for that, or the beginning of what would be the parts for that.

SH: We finished recording it in July this year or something like that, so pretty recently. 

DS: There were a few late entries, and we’ve made a lot of other stuff in that time. But it came together in the last six or seven months. 

KD: If you had to describe The Glowworms in one simple sentence to someone who has never listened to or heard of you, what would you say?

Dan Fawcett: I think it feels like a very warm hug, some nice little twinkles. You feel some twinkles while you’re getting the hug.

DS: We’re definitely going for a warm fuzzy, very full kind of feeling, you know? Like it’s happy music, but I want it to be still very fraught, with that feeling like when you’re just so full.

The Glowworms. Photograph taken by Darcy Voller.

KD: Something notable about Glowworms is your use of the steel guitar, which is not as widely used an instrument. How do you all think that this instrument elevates both your work specifically or music in general? 

DS: This is a crazy question because I actually wrote my dissertation last year on the use of the steel guitar, like as an artifact of American folk music, and part of that was about what its future could be. It is really on the come-up right now. Dan sent me some memes that are like it's becoming like the “stomp clap era,” they had a guy playing the floor tom. They're like, “It's becoming that.” 

DF: And I disagree.

DS: I also disagree, because I think hopefully it'll have a bit more staying power than that, because it is a great sound. It's not like Imagine Dragons.

SH: I want to be the floor tom guy.

DS: Fair enough! But what I was really interested in is that it hasn’t been around for that long, all things considered. It’s sort of an instrument that never stopped being invented in the sense that new steel players would invent new tunings, or they would add another neck or another pulley system that could change the pitch in a different way in response to what the music demanded. So, I think in maybe a decade or so, it won’t be this pastiche of “Oh, that’s like a folk, country instrument.” But as far as the sound, it’s really special. It’s microtonal, but it’s really easy to listen to. It has kind of a voice element. 

KD: I also heard through the grapevine that you have a specific guitar tuning that you always use -  what is the tuning?

DS: I don’t know if I should leak this… no, we can leak it. The middle two strings are down a semitone. So, it’s like E A C# F# B E. So, it's like an open sixth chord kind of. I literally can only play in that tuning. I could not play you the most simple chord progression in standard, I just never learned how. 

DF: Well, the way you came across that from the ukulele, I thought, was really interesting.

DS: Yeah, during COVID, I had wanted to start playing guitar, and I knew a couple of ukulele shapes, but I was too lazy to relearn guitar shapes. So I was like, "Oh, I'll just tune the low four strings of the guitar to the same intervals." I was just trying not to hit the top two strings. But then I found that if you hit the top two strings, it actually sounds kind of cool.

KD: What instrument did you originally start with?

DS: Piano, I studied jazz piano and then classical viola too. I kind of gave that up, though. 

DF: I think the tuning is really cool. I just play normal tuning, but something about the tuning you use, all the chord shapes have such a recognizable sound to them, which I love. 

SH: It’s really intuitive to play in as well. I’ve been playing guitar in standard mostly for years, and then Dov showed me this tuning. I don’t know what it is, whether it’s the sounds or particular chord shapes or just the intervals between the strings. Every time I play in it, it feels a lot more intuitive to just play and jam in for a bit. It’s actually been kind of fun because I’ve written a couple of things for Dov, and I know I have to use that tuning, so it’s a nice little challenge. 

KD: What are each of your favorite songs to play live off the EP?

CB: I think “eastbay.” It has so many phases, and it swells, and it has a journey. 

SH: I kind of like playing “cally park” for the same reason. Really like the last two and a half minutes of that song when it feels right, it’s the most satisfying shit of anything.

DS: I’ll say “cally park” too, it’s really easy for me to get into. It’s just super fun to play and to sing. We used to always open with that, and it was a good way to open.

DH: I would say “you do not matter,” and “trench coat.”

DS: He’s got the fat solo in that!

DH: I think they’re just both very different great tunes. I’ve just learned “trench coat” recently, and it’s fun exploring that. It’s like a nice little waltz, it’s really a chill vibe.

DS: Dan has amazing solos on both of them, so I’m really excited.

GL: I really like how we do “you do not matter” because I love the song. Like you [Dov] wrote that, and the recorded version is just you, guitar, and cello. So I was just a fan of that, like I had nothing to do with it, but then the way we've adapted it for the band is really fun. But otherwise, “cally park,” the kind of end section of that, as you said, when it feels right, it’s very satisfying.

KD: What is the most emotional song to play on the EP?

DS: So “hand” is about a friend of mine who passed away. We took a break from playing that for like a year. It could be really taxing. But I'm in a good place with it right now. I'm really happy we're playing it tonight. At the same time, it's also really fun to play.

KD: What is an influence for the EP that you think would shock people?

DS: I think it’s funny, when we were making the EP, Sam and I were like, "Yeah, we really love this by this guy." And then it came out, and it's like, "Wow, you really can't hear that at all." Like Towns Van Zandt. We love Towns Van Zandt. That's one of my biggest influences for songwriting. I don't know that you could really pick that apart in any of the songs. But also when we were doing these long days in the studio and I needed to detox from the indie folk thing, I would listen to Ramona Ayala or Vicente Fernández, like just ranchero, old mariachi sh*t. That was the one thing I could think of to completely get any inkling of an indie folk NPR thing out of my mind. There are also a lot of jazz people at the table, which might shock people.

KD: You’ve described your music as something between stories and hymns. What drew you towards creating these full, rich arrangements rather than leaning into the more stripped-down, traditional folk music?

DS: I may outgrow it later, but right now it's just more fun to play. That's it. The only reason I want to be the guiding thing for everything we do is like, “Is this fun to play with all of us?” And that's how we write the best stuff, I think. There's obviously a place for the stripped-back stuff, but right now, that's what excites me.

SH: Also, like five people and seven or eight instruments on the stage, there's only going to be so much stripped back.

KD: As a band, which other band do you think you reflect the most in terms of how you all collaborate or operate? 

DS: I don't know because I don't have like so much of an inside scoop on like the ethos of a lot of bands. I don't actually know how they operate behind closed doors.

KD: Maybe how they lie about how they operate?

DS: Yeah, we try to go for a Fleetwood Mac vibe…

SH: Oasis kind of thing.

CB: One direction.

SH: That’s it, that’s the answer.

GL: You're [Dov] going to hate me saying this, but you're like the Jack Stratton to Vulfpeck. You're like the band leader, and you bring all the red Power Rangers together. But it's funny, it's like a spider web, you're in the middle.

DS: Well, I think the other thing is, and this is not like the most glamorous way to say it, but I want this to be a good work environment. These are my friends, and I want to keep the vibes good, and like that's the main thing.

KD: Do you have a dream artist or band you would like to open for?

SH: I want to open for Broken Social Scene at some point. I think that would be sick.

DF: Maybe Dijon?

DS: You know Peter Cat Recording Co.? I would love to support them. Or like Beck would be fire. 

KD: You’ve covered a bit of Adrianne Lenker and Big Thief’s music. Is there a song that you think most aligns with your sound?

DS: I mean, the amount of times we've used “Simulation Swarm” as a reference, like “We need to get the drums to sound like this or the guitars to sound like this.”

SH: It’s literally like every time that we’re doing references.

DS: It’s just so well produced. 

SH: Also, just the way that all the parts interlock together on that song. It's insane.

KD: Do you have any fresh, controversial music takes?

CB: Say your Jacob Collier bullsh*t.

KD: Is it anti?

DS: It’s anti. Actually, I think yours [Cass] is more controversial.

CB: My controversial take is that I like some of what he does.

GL: I also like some of what he does, I find him quite annoying, though. 

DS: Okay, my take is I don’t like when bands are at a massive festival or something and there'll be an interview, and they'll be like, “Yeah, we just started playing like four of us in the garage, and we don't know what happened!” Like it’s okay to be ambitious and to want to try. But there’s this whole anti-trying and anti-caring thing.

KD: People are too nonchalant sometimes. 

DS: We need to be a little more chalant. Oh, I’m also pretty anti-playlist. It’s like, the mood you made the playlist in, it’s in the wind. You’ll come back to the playlist later and you’ll be like, “Skip.”

KD: Do you feel an affinity towards other bug-related bands?

DS: Bugbear! Cut Worms are amazing. I would love to open for them one day. 

SH: The Beatles.

DS: Oh, they’re coming up right now! Or Glasshouse Red Spider Mite, they’re a London band and really f**king good. Drainfly, another London band.

The Glowworms. Photograph taken by Oscar Keeys.

KD: So, the EP is being distributed via Apollo Distribution. Are Glowworms in the motion of any other signings or deals?

DS: We just signed the distro deal with Apollo in May. We’re not exactly looking for a label right now. I don't think it makes sense at this second, but we're looking more for live representation. Like live booking and stuff, which is much more thing here than it is in the States, I think. I'm really happy with the track that we're on right now. The Apollo people are lovely, and it feels good to have them in our corner.

KD: Are there any other London bands you like to work with or hope to work with in the future?

DS: There's a lot of kinship in the London scene. Drive Your Plow, we've done so many shows with them, and they're f**king fantastic. They inspire me so much. We also picked both of the bands tonight [Bugbear, Little Grandad], and they’re fantastic. When everyone was showing up for sound check today, it felt like a real family vibe. Sam and I play with another guy named Blake in a band called Family Stereo, and that’s really fun. Dan and Cass have their own project that is fantastic. 

KD: What is that called?

DF and CB: Pending.

DS: But there are so many great bands in London. It’s really easy to feel like there is that connection.

KD: What can we expect from Glowworms in the future, short or long-term?

SH: I mean, short term, we’ve got more music that is pretty much finished that’s coming out.

DS: And that’s with these five people. 

SH: We’re pretty proud of it. Long term, who knows?

DS: Yeah, we have another EP in the tube after this one that's almost finished, and we really want to keep playing as many shows as we can and hopefully do some out of London, especially next year. Right now, recording and writing with these guys is so fun and easy. It feels like the faucet is on. The Dan Fawcett is on. I'm just excited to see where that can go. There's some talk over Christmas break of us going away somewhere to write. I just think we're starting to hit a stride.

Album cover artwork by @wati_bakan on Instagram.

The Glowworms' debut EP W.O.D. releases on streaming platforms as of yesterday on October 23rd, 2025.