Formed in the fall of 2012, The Glad Machine set out to write some of the catchiest rock songs on the vibrant Western Massachusetts music scene. Drawing influence from Cheap Trick, The Posies, Jellyfish, The Beach Boys, and Superdrag. The Glad Machine has honed their sound into a power-pop vessel to be reckoned with.

The sing-along choruses, the fist-pumping guitar riffs and cutting leads and, the nuanced but rock-steady rhythm section.

The Glad Machine is drummer Mike Franklin, bassist Neal Robinson, vocalist Brad Thayer and guitarist Greg Saulmon.

 

Which is the song you wish you had written every time you hear it? And why?

Mike: There are a lot of those. Brad’s written a few actually. The bastard. Ha! The first
one that comes to mind is New Mistake by Jellyfish. More hooks than a bait shop. The
bass line in that one (I believe that was “T-Bone” Wolk) is so amazing too. It’s like a
counter melody for the song. I love kitchen sink production and this one has so many
wonderful things going on throughout the track. The outro kills me. The song works well
acoustically, but the phenomenal engineering and production just take it to another
level.

 

 

Do you feel part of a community, the Power Pop community?

Brad: The Glad Machine owes a lot to the international Power Pop community. We are
based in Northampton, Mass, and while we have lots of friends in the music scene
here, other than a couple amazing DJ’s by the name of David Sokol, and Jim Neil, We
have had a hard time garnering support locally. The Power Pop community, on the
other hand has been crazy supportive, and embraced our music globally, giving us
way more exposure than we could have dreamed of.

 

 

Every family birthday, same story. Again, you have to explain what kind of band you
are in. What’s the story this time for aunt Jenny and uncle Clive?

It really depends on the person I’m speaking with and what I can perceive of
their musical vocabulary. For “Jenny” and “Clive” I would reference The Beatles and The
Beach Boys as an influence on the music. That’s pretty broad and I imagine nearly
everyone is aware of those artists. Cheap Trick is usually a good reference point too for
the “we kinda sound like” answer.

If you could tour the world with two other bands, who would you ask to join?

Neal: I would love to see this bill, Cheap Trick, The Glad Machine, and Potty Mouth.
Kind of like a 3 generations of power pop thing. Plus I would get to tour with 3 of my
favorite drummers. So someone gets on that.

 

At what point, during writing, rehearsing, recording, did you knew you were on to
something special?

Mike: I can usually tell in rehearsal when we have something that the band is really
digging. The song or songs in question are typically the first requested when we
practice. Everyone’s body language is a good giveaway. I can tell that they’re enjoying
the music and having fun. I know I am. And we go back to the song(s) a few times in the
same session