Glass Cloud’s Jerry Roush on His Constant Career Changes and the Story Behind His New Band’s Name

In the past few years, Jerry Roush's career has been a rollercoaster ride. From 2007-2009, the 25-year-old Virginia native fronted Sky Eats Airplane and then followed that up with a stint singing for Of Mice & Men, before finally finding his true calling in Glass Cloud. Also featuring 8-string guitarist Joshua Travis (The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza), bassist Travis Sykes and drummer Chad Hasty, the new band will be releasing their debut album, The Royal Thousand, on July 10.

Noisecreep recently had the chance to speak with Roush and the first thing we asked the singer was if he ever feared that his fans would get restless with his constant band changes: "Unfortunately, I had to take time off to get everything set up with the new band and make sure the business side was straight. I'm lucky cause the fans have been patient. They also know that Glass Cloud is a band that I created, as opposed to joining something that was already going. When I was in Of Mice & Men, for example, I would have people telling me I was singing the songs wrong, or whatever. But they can't say that now because these are my songs. That feels great," admits Roush.

On Glass Cloud's unique album title -- which sounds like the name of some long-lost art film to us -- Roush said, "The Royal Thousand doesn't actually mean anything specifically. We just wanted something that wasn't typical and we liked the idea of having our fans be part of the "thousand" – something bigger."

The cover art for The Royal Thousand features a striking photo of a lion and Noisecreep noticed that while one of its eyes is hidden in a shadow, the other seems to be reflecting some kind of mysterious image: "That's been really cool so far. Everyone that has seen the album cover has said that they see something different in that eye. I'm not really good with the visual end of being in a band. If I was good at art, I'd probably be doing tattoos or something [laughs]. But yeah, I don't think the eye thing was planned out, but I think it's cool either way."

Roush then reveals the inspiration behind the Glass Cloud band name: "We had a few points that we wanted to touch when we were choosing a band name. I want something that was very visual. Like my old band Sky Eats Airplane, which I think is a really good name because when you hear it you automatically picture something in your mind.

"I think that Glass Cloud is that kind of band name where it makes you think of the visual. We also wanted a band name with two syllables or words. I feel like all of the big companies like MySpace, YouTube, Yahoo – they all have that going on. Oh, another reason we loved Glass Cloud was because it was easily searchable on Google [laughs]. Something like Trashcan would be tough to find on there."

Roush admits Glass Cloud almost settled on another name that could have had disastrous consequences for the group: "We almost went with the name Gold Rain, but then someone said that people might think we're referring to a golden shower. That would have been bad."

We don't know about you, but Noisecreep is relieved (pun intended) Roush and company didn't go with Gold Rain as their band name.

The Royal Thousand will hit stores on July 10 via Equal Vision. Pre-order the album now at this link.

Check out Glass Cloud on the Scream It Like You Mean It tour (Red & Gold lineup dates only):

Jul 05 Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom

Jul 06 Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance Theater

Jul 07 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium*

Jul 08 Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights

Jul 10 Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock

Jul 11 Charlotte, NC @ Amos' Southend*

Jul 12 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade*

Jul 13 Birmingham, AL @ Sloss Furnace*

Jul 14 Memphis, TN @ New Daisy Theatre

Jul 17 Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street Amphitheater*

Jul 18 Pharr, TX @ Pharr Events Center

Jul 19 Austin, TX @ Emos East

Jul 20 Dallas, TX @ Trees*

Jul 21 El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls

Jul 22 Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theatre

Jul 24 Pomona, CA @ Fox Theatre/Glasshouse*

Jul 25 Ventura, CA @ Ventura Theatre

Jul 27 San Diego, CA @ Soma*

Jul 28 Las Vegas, NV @ Fremont East District*

Jul 29 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades

Jul 31 Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater

Aug 01 Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion

Aug 03 Des Moines, IA @ Val Air Ballroom*

Aug 04 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave*

Aug 05 Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot*

Aug 07 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection

Aug 08 Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall

Aug 09 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE*

Aug 10 Louisville, KY @ Expo Five

Aug 12 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar

*Gold lineup features: Red lineup (Attack Attack!, We Came As Romans, Woe Is Me, Abandon All Ships, Texas in July (Jul 27-Aug 12), Like Moths To Flames (Jul 5 - Jul 26), In Fear & Faith, Close To Home (Jul 5 - Jul 26), Secrets, Glass Cloud, and At The Skylines) with Blue Lineup(The Acacia Strain, Oceano, Impending Doom (Jul 27 – Aug 12), The Chariot (Jul 5 – Jul 26), Like Moths To Flames (Jul 27 – Aug 10), In Fear & Faith (Jul 5 – Jul 26), For The Sleeping, Close To Home (Jul 27 – Aug 10), Volumes, and Hands Like Houses)