Quick & Dirty - Gladshot

By: James Edwards

^{June 1, 2009 – June 1, 2009}

Burn Up and Shine, the latest album from New York's Gladshot, seems an apt description for the way their crisp, infectious alt-pop warms your senses, as well as their suitably sunny disposition.

"I'm a little more rootsy in my writing," Mike Blaxhill begins before Debbie Andrews enthusiastically interjects: "...and I'm pop with some real jazz language, and we'll get an idea and the idea will dictate itself and the direction it goes in. We're open to all different kinds of experiences, especially what came before us."

Blaxhill and Andrews are the dual creative force behind Gladshot, formed in late 2006 in New York City where they had each relocated, Blaxhill from New Jersey and Andrews from Detroit. They both have deep backgrounds in music, whether it's Blaxhill's history in various bands or Andrews' classical piano training and lengthy role in the musical Hair.

"It seems like everyone has a band here," says Andrews about trying to make a name as a musician in a city as musically infinite as New York. "Everyone seems to be here," adds Blaxhill, "but it's great because there's so much going on."

In describing the formation of the group, Blaxhill is characteristically complimentary.

"I really liked Debbie's songs, and her lyrics were amazing, and I was in a band myself at the time, just handing out flyers," he laughs. "As soon as we wrote the first song, we knew we had something, so we just kept going until we had the band together."

The duo acts as the group's sole songwriters in addition to creating the music and concepts. They note the intimacy and collaboration inherent in the relationship, as well as the differences that occasionally arise.

"We'll go off by ourselves to generate ideas, then bring the ideas to the group," says Blaxhill. "Sometimes I'll go to her and be like 'do you want to write a song about this?' 'No!'"

"It's the same with me," Andrews says, laughing. "Often we'll work with a musical concept before we have any lyrical ideas, and we'll argue about whether what we're writing is a verse or a chorus or what."

On their latest offering, the group worked with noted Sonic Youth producer John Agnello.

"We had self-produced our two previous albums, so we were kind of skeptical that someone could come in and come up with ideas that could actually enhance the music even more," Blaxhill says. "But it worked out wonderfully."

Last year, Agnello produced The Hold Steady's Stay Positive, an album whose title seems to have more than rubbed off.

"There was a really light mood, so everyone could just focus on working well with the music," Andrews says, "which is the whole art form right there."

The group's manic energy is even apparent in their enthusiasm for the studio's mascot.

"They had a hound dog there," Andrews remembers. "It took up the whole couch, and there was only one couch."

"They told us that bands would be recording, and if the dog got off the couch and walked away they'd get all paranoid and worried about the music," Blaxhill adds with a laugh.

The band currently has a video out for Burn Up and Shine's "Fabulous Friends", featuring The Lovin' Spoonful's Joe Butler as a manic infomercial host. The group met Butler after one of their shows and quickly formed a friendship.

"[Director] Matthew K wanted to work with us, and it was crazy," says Andrews, noting the 90+ degree temperature in the apartment setting. "It was a long, hot, day, but we had a bunch of our friends come over afterward so it worked out."

Blaxhill and Andrews's enthusiasm is replaced by an almost gentle wistfulness when recalling the music of Butler's era.

"That was a renaissance," Blaxhill says of the '60s.

"I don't think pop ever got better," Andrews adds with a sigh and a laugh. "Sure there's jam bands around, but it doesn't do it for me the way perfect three-and-a-half minutes does."

And as Andrews and I discover a shared love for The Zombies, she belts out a line from "Care of Cell 44" that seems to accurately approximate Gladshot's view of its audience:

"Good morning to you, I hope you're feeling better, baby..."


Video: "Fabulous Friends" by Gladshot