It takes a few crucial ingredients to ignite a “Major Spark.” First, a solid foundation— a renowned producer, engineer, and songwriter with a client list spanning the music scene, including Dispatch, Marina and the Diamonds, Weakened Friends, and many more. Then, the spark itself: someone with deep roots in the fabled indie/underground music scenes, and the founder of the band Magnet, which featured collaborations with Moe Tucker of The Velvet Underground and David Lowery of Camper Van Beethoven. Enter Mark Goodman and Brian Charles—two Boston-based, longtime friends and musical partners in crime. In terms of their sound, they make no promises. Drawing from a wide range of eclectic influences and crafting their music with an immense collection of vintage gear, they commit only to staying true to their indie rock spirit, “lifting the mood,” and sending listeners off on magical sonic adventures.
As the first single for Walk Among The Poppies, the band’s highly anticipated album set for release in September, “The Other Side” captures the essence of Major Spark’s dynamic, back-and-forth creative process. Their meticulous attention to detail is revealed in layers, each one building a unique soundscape. Songs with this much oomph typically involve a large cast of musical contributors, but here, the driving forces are Brian’s keen ear and Mark’s resonant writing. At the core is a propulsive drum loop performed by the legendary Moe Tucker of The Velvet Underground, reimagined from the 1997 Magnet track “Julie.” Above it, driving guitar hooks shimmer with indie punk charm, punctuated by ripping harmonica solos about as bluesy as they come, entirely brought to life by Brian. Though written as words of encouragement for a young friend facing life’s darker moments, Mark’s comforting, plainspoken lyricism is undeniably spirit-lifting. Now and then, we all could use a reminder to embrace our true selves, live without fear, and come out on “the other side.”
Major Spark’s positive, rebellious attitude takes center stage in their visuals, and “The Other Side” music video is an exciting glimpse into the vibrant world of their next creative chapter. Directed by Roger Metcalf—the visionary behind Major Spark’s “Beautiful Noise” and “I’m Not Gonna Stand Around” music videos — this video is less of a narrative and more of a bottled feeling: freedom, empowerment, and release. Here, the youth of the world are singing, letting their hair down, and cutting loose, taking Mark’s words of wisdom to heart. True to their love of vintage sounds, Major Spark drives their messages home with retro flair—this time through black and white footage of classic car races, adding a jolt of urgency and momentum to the visuals. The message is loud and clear: it’s time to go, move forward, and keep it moving. In a world full of uncertainty, “The Other Side” is the ultimate indie rock pep talk. Major Spark is in everyone’s corner, and luckily, they’re not going anywhere.
Take us to the moment Major Spark was born. What motivates you to make music today?
Brian and I started working on a project 5 years ago to make uptempo music initially based on EDM grooves. Our background is in rock and related genres, so we naturally integrated years of rock and production tricks into the making of our debut, Beautiful Noise. We just finished our second album called Walk Among the Poppies. The motivation changes from album to album. We do not write like a band. We take weeks to craft songs and try different things with each song – whereas bands create via playing together as a unit.
Major Spark is a collaborative effort at its core. What makes you and Brian work so well together as a team?
Our skills are complimentary. I (Mark) can generate song ideas pretty easily, and I can write pages of lyrics. Brian is immensely talented at taking a basic song and creating beats and virtually all the instrumental parts. He provides tons of feedback on lyrics, so there’s never a moment of saying; “well… those lyrics are good enough.” He’s a great vocal producer – very good at getting the right approach for each song. And – most importantly – we are not afraid to be critical with one another. It’s a low/zero ego project.
As a songwriter, how do you balance personal storytelling with creating something universal for listeners?
A great story is usually something that will appeal to a broad swath of listeners. But – our songs are not story based like classic folk music. If there’s a theme on Walk Among the Poppies… I guess the voice of the songs is aiming to lift up characters in the songs. Most of the songs are about real people and situations we’ve recently observed. Some are a bit dark – and others amusing.
What inspired you to reimagine Moe Tucker’s drum loop on the 1997 Magnet track “Julie?” How did you build off the loop to create “The Other Side?”
For Beautiful Noise Brian created drum loops for me to write songs to… and that was different than playing with a live drummer. It was a new experience for me – and sometimes an awkward one. Challenging. I wanted to write more familiar grooves for this new project, so we started with one of all-time favorite drum parts; Moe’s playing from “Julie”… it was the first thing we did for Walk Among the Poppies. The groove is classic Moe; simple, beautiful, pounding.
The music video has a youthful spirit. How involved were you in the production process of the visual?
Brian and I worked with Roger Metcalf to craft the moments in the studio. It was Roger’s idea to include the vintage car racing, and we thought it worked well. We gave direction to Lily on how to shoot the footage of the actors, and she (and they) did a great job. We did not want just mouthing of lyrics… we wanted a variety of looks into the camera. There’s something about a person just staring into the camera that can be effective.
You wrote “The Other Side” to help a friend through a dark period. Do you hope “The Other Side” helps audiences through dark periods in their own lives?
Well. That was the motivation for the song. But I think it’s really just a very good driving, head bopping song. I think there’s very good down tempo sad music being written today. But there’s less knucklehead “let’s rock out and feel good” music. We wanted more of that vibe.
In your opinion, what sets your artistry apart from others in the indie rock genre?
Well. That question implies that we have “artistry”… Brian’s new studio, Rare Signals, is an amazing facility. He has excellent vintage gear and a beautiful Neve console – and the understanding of how to use all the tools around him. I am always looking for new sounds to inspire ideas for new songs. There’s a playlist on Spotify called Major Spark 2.0 that includes some of the songs that inspired Walk Among the Poppies. Example; Speedmarket Avenue created a song called “Tell Me No” that has an awesome thumping (Moe-esque) groove and catchy melodies. I would prefer to stand with Spoon, Hinds, Parts & Labor, New Order and others on that playlist vs “being apart”
What goals does Major Spark hope to achieve next?
Great question. We have two goals. We would like Walk Among the Poppies to find a few fans. There’s gazillions of songs being released every day, but we are hoping to get our songs out to ears via tv and film placements, radio, Youtube and other forms of … getting music out to the ears of the world. Our other goal; We are currently writing and recording album #3. I am inspired by the current political shitshow taking place in our country. We have created a set of rules for writing for the album; not going to use real names, not going to write whiny folk ballads, not going to write angry thrash punk (cuz others do that better)… so it’s threading the needle of writing about what we are seeing without it being a total downer. We are hoping that some of the songs have a dark humor. So far… its lyrics first… as opposed to drum grooves first. And – it’s actually song titles first… I was kind of inspired by Pavid Vermin’s album Brutality Is My Only Friend. He used a random death metal song title generator to get the titles – and then wrote amazing happy sounding 60s pop rock gems with the darkest, violent lyrics you can imagine
Follow Major Spark
https://www.majorsparkmusic.
https://www.youtube.com/c/
